At the age of 1 1/2 Ruff weighed almost 90 lbs. By this time he gotten so used to strangers telling him how handsome or gorgeous he was he must have thought those were his other names. Here is a picture my wife Jackie took in July 2007. I was just able to still pick him up at that time.
Click the pictures to see a larger view.
In October 2008 we took him back for a visit to see his father in Burlington, Kentucky. Ruff was almost 100 lbs and when he met Kentucky Colonel, Ruff looked just like his father. Kentucky Colonel is owned by Cliff Haffer who also breeds Rottweilers on his horse farm. Cliff owns five Rottweilers and three horses.
Ruff had another surprise that day. We spotted Cliff's three horses out in the field and I asked if it was all right to take Ruff out to meet them. The horses were familiar with the Rottweilers Cliff owned so I didn't think there was any danger to letting Ruff get up close to them. Here is a sequence of photos of that moment.
I don't know if Ruff was able to tell how big the horses were because he never saw one before but as soon as one of the horses started walking towards us Ruff leaped back. Then the horse stopped and Ruff started staring at him.
Then the horse lowered his head and shook it back and forth. I have seen my Rottweilers do this same thing when they are in a playful mood so I am guessing Ruff recognized this as a friendly gesture. Then the horse walked slowly toward Ruff and got closer and closer.
Ruff and the horse were now nose to nose. I could tell when Ruff looked up how amazed he was at the size of this animal. Ruff has never seen anything this big before let alone get this close to one.Then the horse notice me taking the pictures and started to walk over to me when Ruff ran around and got up very close to the horse's face.
Then they touched their noses together and I saw a truly amazing sight.
Ruff kissed the horse.
Then our brave but foolish young Rottweiler did what he he does to every animal he meets. He went around and checked out the rear end of the horse. Cliff, the owner told me if the horse hadn't been use to Rottweilers he would have instinctively kicked back with his hind legs and force would have ended Ruff's curiosity.
From that day on Ruff has shown a special reaction every time he sees a horse. If the horse is on television Ruff walks up to the screen and sometimes touches his nose to it, especially if the horse looks like the one he met in the field that day. The one that he kissed.
All photographs contained in Living With Rottweilers are copyrighted by Nelson Abdullah and may not used for any commercial purpose.
