of his way. Tux, trying his hardest not to look interested, stepped beside her as if she would allow him to follow. She could tell she already had him wrapped around her paw. Then, without notice, the firey female shoved stunned Tux aside with a stern growl. He immediately got the message.... "BACK OFF". She proceeded to the door, nose high in the air.

"Wait!" he called after her "I....I don't believe I caught your name..."

"Don't believe I threw it," she snapped as she stepped out of the dog door.

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Ruffian stamped into the barn, her tail popping side to side with anger. She wore a perpetual snarl and was, of course, not in a good mood. The barn was certainly old, complete with rusty-hinged doors, cob webs everywhere, and the thick scents of pesticides, hay and animal manure. Ruffian leapt up onto a hay bale to find two sleeping dogs. One was a purebred miniature pinscher, who looked as sharp and uniform as her breed's name suggested. The other was a mix of miniature pinscher and rat terrier. She was thick and hardy, also having a good bit of light brown on her underbelly and face. Ruffian barked, waking the the two suddenly.

"Angele, Nicki! We got a problem...." Her voice was low and course.

"Awwww, c'mon girl! Ain't like I got all day to break, you know that," the min pin, Angele, yawned.

"Tough!" retorted the furious Ruffian.

"Alright, what's going on Ruff?" asked Nicki, the cross.

"There's a DOG in our house," Ruffian hissed.

Nicki gave Angele a peculiar look. "Ummm, Ruffian... I know this might sound crazy but- we kinda' are dogs"

Ruffian came between her two friends, sweetly at first, "I mean, DEAREST Nicki, a dog......... NOT A BITCH YOU IDIOT!"

"Oh," Nicki giggled.

"So what's the problem?" teased Angele, "He fixed?"

The two fell over laughing, Ruffian growing more and more annoyed by the second.

"Some snotty fox terrier the humans probably spent a whole lot of money they could have on us for; thinks he can park himself anywhere he wants and starts chewing my bone and laying in my bed like he owns them both. Would have skinned the pussy alive but I guess I'd rather let nature take its course and wait for the coyotes do the work for me," she told them, still steaming mad.

"C'mon now Ruff, you know that's just how males are......especially being a terrier," said Nicki.

Ruffian glared at her, though not truely offended.

"What she's tryin' to say is, well, maybe he ain't that bad. Bad first impression maybe? Might turn out that you're missin' out..." Angele winked. She and Nicki quickly left Ruffian behind in the barn, off to meet the new dog.

"Fine with me," she barked after them, "I'd rather "miss out" than be some pretty boy's doormat!"

Ruffian flopped onto the pile of hay. 'Who did that guy think he was anyway? I should have run him off when I had the chance; it's MY house, MY family, MINE!' her mind screamed. A lump of anger welled up in her throat. Ruffian had lived out the entire three years of life as the top dog of the farm. She called the shots and she always, always got her way. A cocky male intruder who could possibly endanger her place as the dominant was just too much to let fly with so much at stake. So there on the hay bale Ruffian stayed, convincing herself over and over that the newcomer would vanish in time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tux was busy exploring the kitchen when Nicki and Angele sprung through the dog door. He sunk under the table, fearing another encounter with the defensive Ruffian.

"Whoa baby, we ain't gonna' hurt you none," assured Angele, peeking under the table.

Tux flinched. His pure black ears were nearly flat against the back of his pure black head. 'Gorgeousness!' Nicki thought, waving her paw daintily at Tux.

"Hard to tell who's going to hurt you and who isn't around this place," he replied, crawling back out. "Some hotheaded bitch jumped me a little after I first got here. Looked like one of those Jack Russell dogs, you know her?"

"Ol' Ruffian-Rose? Know her good enough. Doesn't mean I get her most of the time; she's got a head harder than nothin' else. Now come here and let me see what she done to you," insisted Angele.

The min pin was soon at work cleaning the bite wounds on Tux's neck. He was surprised; no dog had ever treated him with such sencere kindness. In fact, the only dogs he had ever come in contact at all were the catty, two-faced, hopped-up-on-high-protein-kibble show dogs of his rigorous career. Most of them hated his guts for some reason or another, usually for stealing their spotlight. This dog was different. Very different.

"There 'nah, all cleaned up. She didn't do her worst that's for 'sho," Angele nodded at Nicki.

"Sure didn't! Almost took this one dog's eye out last spring when he came wandering around the property, she did."

"You'd think her mama was part alligator," Angele added, shaking her head. "Ain't no way to go about findin' a descent male."

"Tell me about it," Tux said to himself. "So........exactly where am I?"

"Lyonelles. It's a little farming town alright but we're big on hospitality....most of us at least," Angele answered.

"Wow. Well, uh...." he stumbled over himself, "I'm Champion Veux Carre Lorango-Peluche's Black Tie Affair, please call me Tux, and I'm from New Orleans, bred and born there."

"You must be one of those fancy show dogs like on the Animal Channel!" Nicki yapped.

Tux, finally getting comfortable, scratched behind his ears,"Yep, I'm one of the top Smooth Fox Terriers in the entire state.....well, I was at least."

Tux suddenly felt another pang of hopelesness and started to wander solemnly to his unfamiliar bed.

Angele nudged him before he could go a step further "Hey now honey, don't think that way. You gotta' be positive. You got us now, and wait till' you meet the rest of the gang. We're a fam'ly Tux and you just got to leave everything that's in the past behind you and give us a chance."

The two females smiled back at him, Nicki wagging her tail blissfully. They seemed so simple and pure......maybe this is what real dogs were like.

Tux smiled back. In his heart he was willing to try again, to start his troubled life over no matter how hard it may be.

Evening came quickly and the human family was soon sitting down to dinner. Instead of his regular dining hour in the morning, Tux was given his dish while the family ate. His new metal bowl was filled with an apparently unmeasured amount of hard, tasteless kibble. He was so used to special, prepared meals that he hardly touched the crude meal until Nicki hinted, "Eat it....you'll like what comes next."

And something did. After the family had finnished eating, they offered their plates full of scraps down to the three awaiting pets. This kind of thing was never EVER allowed in Tux's old house. No respectable show dog ever ate scraps; human food was awful for the figure. But when Angele offered him a piece of half eated barbeque rib he couldn't resist. The sweet flavor kissed his tongue. It tasted, to him, almost a thousand times better than any BARF stew ever did. The father, David, reached down to scratch him behind the ears, "Eats like he's never seen food in his life." Tux wagged and looked up at him thankfully.

Just then, Ruffian burst through the dog door. She glared coldly at Tux as she made her way over to David, giving him a stern growl. He moved aside and watched her genious at work.

Ruffian gave the man the biggest of puppy-eyed looks, scratched playfully at his leg then waved her paw in the air. Her adorable request was met and down flew the biggest steak bone Tux had ever seen. She caught it in mid air and immidiately took it to her bed. Ruffian turned her back on everyone and began to savagely feast on the t-bone, as if she was a starving lion. Tux was immobile with reverence, though there was no use in hoping that she would teach him how to beg like that.

Tux's first night in his new home was serene. The three other dogs were sound asleep as the moments ticked on. He noticed any and every sound that made itself present: the ticking of the kitchen clock, the whirr of the window unit, the single locust calling outside. In the city there were constantly noises much louder, but Tux had always easily tuned them out. Here the night sounds were small but seemed to echo in ones head like familiar voices instead of being mere annoyances. He looked over at the three females, all resting peacfully. Nicki was the closest to him, beside her slept Angele, and Ruffian was nearest the door to the living room. Illuminated in the faint moonlight, she was the last thing he saw before nodding off into the most pristine sleep of his life.

Tux woke late the next morning. All through the night he had enjoyed a most wonderful dream, but try as he might he could not remember what it had been about. All he could recall was warmth and the rapturous feeling of heartbeat against his own. He stretched himself out, leaving the dream behind in his bed. After a quick breakfast, complete with delicious soggy Cheerios, he followed Nicki and Angele outside- Ruffian had accompanied David on a routine checking of the livestock and was still absent- to be properly introduced to the farm and the "fam'ly". The two walked him through the barn to meet the various farm animals living there. The newest residences were Dusk and Dawn, two almost newborn goat kids. They stared out of their pen at Tux, wide eyed and flicking their tails with interest. There were also chickens, pot bellied pigs, rabbits, and a sagging Jersey milk cow called Lou. Behind the barn lay the pastures. One seemed to go on forever beyond the property. In it were kept David's large herd of cattle, nonchalantly grazing on the long, new grass. In a nearby little feild fenced off from the large pasture stood a striking horse, almost completely white if not for two black splotches on his rump. He stamped the ground and