Tuffy was born in 1930 in a hole in a haystack in the Cheyenne Indian Reservation on what they called Red Coat Creek, near Faith, South Dakota. Cowboy-owner Ger Orvedahl decided to make that little black, white, and tan Australian shepherd/collie mix the best-trained and most useful cow dog in the area. Ger believed in obedience and discipline. He...
Scientists at UCLA tested Tuffy's intelligence. Tuffy passed the tests with flying colors. Dr. Knight Dunlap declared, "He may not be the most intelligent dog in the world, but he is certainly the most intelligent I have ever seen."
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Tuffy's name is misspelled "Tuffie" in the credits of "Daredevils of the Red Circle."
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Sylvia Sidney once offered Ger Orvedahl $2,500 for Tuffy. Ger turned her down.