Did I mention my dog died?

So in 2009 my family chose to adopt a dog from a friend who could no longer care for it.  BEST DOG EVER.  This dog, who was rather dubiously named Rufus (and we never changed his name)  had been a "beach dog" in the late 90s and had been taken in by my friend who didn't want to see him die.  Many dogs in the UAE are killed rather cruelly by people who do not understand animals or who are trying to rid the world of wild dogs.  This would be a different matter if it were humanely done, but that is not the situation here.  I am talking about cruel and vicious treatment of a defenseless animal, from small pups to older dogs.  They are strung up and pelted with rocks, or dragged by vehicles, etc.  This is well within the definitions of cruelty to animals.
SO my friend adopted the dog. And he lived for 11 years with her, but then she adopted another dog who was in fact a vicious beast and could not be trusted around another dog.  She had been trained as an attack dog.  So, my friend asked me to take Rufus.

Rufus was the best dog ever.  He was quiet, only barking when the workmen came by the house or when strangers were at the door.  Never noisy, he would stand at the door when he wanted to go out and wait for us to let him out and then back in.  Well mannered, the kids could sit next to (or even on) him without him even raising his head.  He was "part of the pack" and we adored him.  Regrettably, Rufus had one bad habit that no one could break him of.  He had been a "beach dog" which means he had run free and wild for the first year of his life.  Every once in a while he would run out of our gate and take off for a run.  He always came back, but we live near a busy major road and of course the inevitable eventually happened.  Rufus had run out the gate and was hit by a car and killed instantly.  My husband buried him in the sands behind our home and we were dog less.

It was a great loss to the family.