The Story of Scruffy (written by his best friend Dianne)
"Scruffy" showed up on my door-step in 1985 and said, "Hi, I'm staying". He meant for a while, but when I found out that he wasn't wanted by his former owners any longer, I said "you have a home." He came with the name and looked the part until he was groomed. He thought he was Benji. He was a roamer at heart and would go for long walks when given 1/2 a chance. He had a longer rap sheet than most hardened criminals - LOL.
He is definitely the ruler of the roost with my son and I, as seen in the attached pics. Yes, he really did watch television and of course he thinks he is King Tut. These pictures were NOT staged. I don't let him have the remote often, after all he is a male - LOL.
When our family moved to Atlanta, of course when the couch went out the door with the movers Scruffy was walking under it. I had had a reoccurring dream that I got to the airport with two dog carriers and only one dog. (We still had our wonderful Ebony then, a pure black tiny schnauzer.) After searching all of his "I got loose" haunting grounds, I waited. I sat on the floor in an empty house with an empty box for a table and an empty can with a candle in it for light for 2 hours. He always came home after his little treks with his "just site seeing attitude". About 2 hours later he did indeed come home with a note inside his collar that read, "He comes to visit often, we don't know his name, please call me and the phone #. Luckily, my phone had not been turned off yet, so I called. I told the sweet woman his name and that we were moving and that if she should see him after that night, to please tell him he missed his plane and to give him a good home. He always kept his rabies tags on, thank goodness, but had gone through more name and address tags than most children go through house keys!
Anyone who tells you that dogs do not understand everything you say or that they cannot converse between themselves is wrong!!! Ebony did not very often leave the yard even if given an opportunity. One evening, when a freeze was predicted, we knew we had to visit our boat to protect and remove some items. My Son-In-Law stopped over to see us and I inadvertently (stupidly) told him we were on our way to the boat. Upon our return, we found a hole under the fence and two missing dogs!! Five neighbors, the dog pound and our family in separate cars scoured the neighborhood. I heard "They went that-a-way" so many times during that search. Three hours later, the dog catcher found them -- 5 miles up the highway -- on their way to the boat. Obviously we had forgotten to take them along -- according to the dogs anyway. They were together and knew exactly where they were going!! At first I was surprised to find them still together, but then realized they knew and planned the whole surprise visit.
Scruffy had an uncanny knack for direction. Every time we would go to visit my parents out of town he would start "singing' about 5 miles away. He knew he was going to see Grandpa. I moved back to my old stomping grounds in Illinois in 1997 I had been very careful not to take him near the old neighborhood! Eventually I purchased the home across the street and down three houses from the home he grew up in. He was going blind and was hard of hearing, so he didn't pay much attention.
He was much better about staying home at that time . I was misdiagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis nthen and he could tell me when I am having a bad day before I even realized it. Some days he would not leave my side. His intuition was uncanny. Thank goodness I got better (Lyme disease) but he just got older.
His "sister" Ebony lived with us for 10 short years. She was a tiny black schnauzer with one tiny white spot on the front of her neck - thus the name Ebony & Ivory. She was a devil in a black fur coat. She loved getting into things and never did really grow up. During her last two years she suffered from cataracts and was hard of hearing. One day she just couldn't make her back legs work :-( She would still walk and stand if I picked her up, but couldn't get up on her own. I carried her and helped her until she could no longer stand on her own and I could tell she was in pain. Hindsight being 20/20, she also had Lyme Disease. If I had not had her cremated she could have helped me with my own diagnosis. Ebony went to doggie heaven on 8/2/97 through euthanasia. Her ashes are on my bookshelf, so she is still very close to me. I miss her something fierce yet.
I have never been without at least one dog. Toto, our first family dog is pictured below. Toto helped spoil that little boy (now 33) something awful. She refused to ever allow him to cry and he was a colicky baby! Toto would grab whatever clothing or hand she could reach and drag me every time he whimpered. TJ never knew a day without her and when she passed away he stopped sleeping well. His buddy wasn't there to keep him warm. We purchased Ebony six months later. Then Scruffy came to "visit" a few months later.

Scruffy always stayed in the yard or the far end of the garage. He knew where he was then. One weekend we went to visit my son. One of his cats came home with fleas. They treated the cat, so all the fleas descended on Scruffy. The night after we got home, I went to a church meeting. My hard fast rule was to put the car in park, open the garage door, lead Scruffy either into the yard or the house and then put the car in. The day before, I prayed to God to help me make a decision. I knew it was time for him to go, but I just couldn't bring myself to put him down. That night he was wondering the garage because all the fleas had not died yet. I got home and somehow hit the garage door button while I was still moving. Scruffy walked under the front tire and was gone immediately. Somehow I believe that God answered my prayer. I took him to the veterinarian and had him cremated. When I was holding him I told him to go find Grandpa when he got to heaven. When my Dad passed, even though it wasn't Lilac season I got the overwhelming scent of Lilacs as the Coroner was taking him away. I asked the EMT if she could smell it and she couldn't. I said "My Dad just got to heaven". She agreed and stated that she had been through many other instances just like this. Six weeks after Scruffy died, I was in my lower level family room (winter) and the entire room filled with the scent of lilac. I just looked up to heaven and said "You had to go site seeing before you went to find him, huh? It made me feel much better and I will be so happy to see all of them when it is my turn.

Dianne