This story focuses on my two favorite characters from Open Season 2, Charlene and Rufus. An annoying muzzle, a romantic dinner, and an epic rescue mission await them! Doesn't all this sound familiar…?

Charlene, Rufus, Reilly and Ian belong to Sony Pictures Animation.

Lady and the Tramp belongs to Disney.

It was a sunny summer evening at a camping spot. Two camper vans parked there. Out of one came an elderly woman walking the beautiful Cocker Spaniel Charlene, and out of the other one came a young man walking the handsome Airedale Terrier Rufus. Both lovebird dogs greeted each other.
“Hi, Rufus! There’s my shinin’ star!”
“Hey, Charlene! Look at yourself! Prettier than a glob of butter on top of a stack of wheat cakes, as always!”
“Gee, you always make me blush with that.”
After greeting each other, both proceeded to sniff each other’s butt.
“So, how’s everything going?” Rufus asked.
Charlene sighed and said:
“Honestly, not so good. My owner is now pregnant. Since then, she doesn’t love me as much as she used to. She barely has time to play with me. Now she spends most of it knitting clothes for the baby and stuff like that. Her husband went to buy some milk, I think, but… he hasn’t returned in quite a while. Also, what’s weird, he took all of his belongings. It will be harder for my owner to take care of the baby now that he’s gone. I hate to see her stressed and sad.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Aw, you poor thing.” Rufus said. “Don’t worry, my dear. I’m pretty sure your life will get better someday, somehow.”
“You mean it? Thank you, Rufus. And how you’ve been?”
“Well, my owner is preparing to move to somewhere else, and just like you, he now doesn’t pay me attention very often.”
“Wait, your owner’s moving? Does that mean you’re going with him? What if I don’t see you anymore?”
“Let’s hope not. All I know is after we move, my owner will care about me again.”
“Um… good for you, I guess.”
“But for now, my owner just finished packing, and we came to camp so he could take a break from the move. Well, now that we’re here together, how about if we have a little picnic?”
“Oh, yes! I’d love to!”
Both dogs snatched some food from their owners’ baskets and went to eat away from the humans. After lunch, they had fun for a while chasing each other, playing hide and seek, and rolling on the grass. By the time they finished, it was already afternoon! They had to return to their camping vans as fast as possible. When they arrived, Rufus and Charlene said goodnight to each other.
Next morning, Rufus went out of his camping van to greet Charlene.
“Good morning, Charlene! How’s the Braeburn apple of my eye?”
But when Rufus saw Charlene, he had an unpleasant surprise!
“Golly! What’s that thing on your beautiful snout?” he asked her.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you.” Charlene explained. “Since my owner is too busy taking care of her baby, she left me in charge of an old woman. And she doesn’t really like me. So after we ran away, she got really mad at me and scolded me. Then she decided to put this muzzle on my snout as punishment.”
“Oh, that’s really unfair.”
“Yes, it is.”
“How can we get this thing off you?”
Rufus thought for a while. Then, he had an idea:
“I know! We can go visit a friend of mine with big, sharp teeth!”
“Who? The bear?” Charlene asked.
“Nope. A beaver.”
Rufus and Charlene went to the beaver dam at the forest to search for help. There, they found Reilly.
“Hey, it’s the two lovebirds!” Reilly said. “What do you want?”
“You see, my girl here, Charlene, has a serious trouble.” Rufus explained. “Her cruel caretaker put this muzzle around her snout, and we need help to take it off.”
“Why didn’t you say it before? I can handle this.”
Then, Reilly pulled out a CHAINSAW!
“Oh, goodness me!” Charlene yelled.
“Whoa, whoa! Hey, wait a minute!” Rufus said.
“Oh, now what?” Reilly said.
“We don’t need that thing. Why don’t you just use your teeth?”
“My teeth? That’s just too outdated. But, if you insist…”
Reilly stood behind Charlene, grabbed the back of the muzzle, and with a BIG bite, he freed Charlene from it!
“Wow!” Charlene exclaimed. “Now I can freely move my mouth once again! Thank you very much, Mr. Reilly!”
“Heh, no prob. Now, please watch your step as you leave.”
Charlene and Rufus tried to leave the dam carefully. However, they accidentally stepped on a loose piece of wood, then fell off the dam and down the river! They hanged tightly onto the piece of wood and were carried away by the current. Finally, they drifted to shore. Once they were safe, Rufus asked Charlene:
“Are you ok, sugar cube?”
“Yeah, I’m alright. Golly gosh, now that was a wild ride!”
“Indeed, thank heavens it’s over. Now, let’s go for a walk, shall we?”
“For you, darling, anything!”
Charlene and Rufus went for a relaxing walk through the woods. After a while, a grumble was heard.
“What was that?” Rufus asked, startled. “Could it be the bear?”
“No.” Charlene answered. “It’s just my stomach. I’m getting hungry.”
“Well, then let’s search for a place where we can eat.”
Both kept walking until they found a mobile Italian food stall. Then, they stood in front of the owner and did puppy faces. The owner obviously couldn’t resist their charm! So he served them a bowl of spaghetti with meatballs, just for them to enjoy. He also placed a radio near them, which played Italian opera music. Charlene and Rufus had a delightful time. While they were eating, Rufus slurped one side of a spaghetti noodle. Charlene slurped the other side of the noodle. They kept slurping from both sides until…
SMOOCH!
Both dogs blushed, then kept eating. In the end, there was only one meatball left. Rufus pushed it with his snout toward Charlene.
“You can have it, my love. Seeing you satisfied is the best meal I can have.”
“Oh, Rufus. Your words are music to my ears.”
Later, after they finished, both headed back to the camping spot. On their way, they saw a stream. Mama Duck was swimming in it, followed by her baby ducklings!
“Awww, look! How cute!” Charlene said.
She counted the ducklings.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! … I think six or seven would be just right.”
“Six or seven what? Ducklings?” Rufus asked, confused.
“No, silly!” Charlene giggled. “Pretty pups, like me and you!”
Rufus was astonished by this saying. They kept walking, nonetheless. Soon, it got dark. They thought it would be dangerous to keep walking through the forest at nighttime. So they looked for a place to spend the night. Luckily, they found a burrow big enough for them, so they accommodated and fell asleep. Next morning, they woke up and found themselves surrounded by hundreds of bunnies!
“What!?” Charlene said. “I didn’t know this burrow belonged to these little plushies!”
“Oops! Sorry, folks.” Rufus apologized. “Let’s get outta here, Charlene.”
After they left the burrow, they prepared to return home. Their owners might be worried! Well, at least Rufus’s. However, as they were walking by the road, they stumbled upon a dogcatcher van! The dogcatcher came out, and he noticed something: Charlene had no collar! It had fallen off with the muzzle. So he caught her, locked her in the back of the van and drove off.
“Rufus, help me!” Charlene yelled.
“Charlene, no!” Rufus cried.
He tried to chase after the dogcatcher’s van, but it was just too fast for him.
“I can’t catch up.” Rufus thought to himself. “I might need help from my friends on the wild side.”
He went into the forest and found Ian’s mule deer herd. He asked them for help. Of course, they agreed to help him. After all, wild or domestic, no human should treat an animal like that! The deer herd ran to the rescue, with Rufus riding on Ian’s back. They got to the road and chased after the van. Charlene was amazed to see Rufus with the deer.
“R-Rufus!?”
“Don’t worry, Charlene!” he said. “Your knight in shining armor is here!”
Ian cleared his throat.
“Oh! And his horsemen!”
Ian smiled. He then commanded his fellow deer to speed up. Soon, they were right next to the dogcatcher’s van.
“I hope you’re used to riding bumper carts!” Ian said.
“What are you talking about?” Rufus asked.
“Hang on!”
Ian and the deer charged into the van. Rufus screamed. Charlene screamed. The dogcatcher saw the deer coming and screamed, too. With a loud bang, the deer knocked the van over. The door of the back of the van broke open and Charlene fell out. She was lying on the road.
“Charlene!” Rufus said, jumping off Ian’s back.
He ran toward her. Charlene had her eyes closed and didn’t move.
“Charlene? No… No… Charlene! Please, don’t! Don’t do this to me! I can’t live without you! You’re the one who brings sweetness to my sour days, the sun that clears the black clouds from my sky, the most special partner I’ve ever met, and I want to be with you for all time… always! I love you.”
Rufus let out a sorrowful howl. Nearby, the deer were crying. Ian tried to hold back crying, but no matter how manly he was, he couldn’t resist to watch this heart-wrenching scene. Suddenly, Charlene opened her eyes and stood up.
“…Rufus?”
“Charlene!? You’re alive!” Rufus exclaimed.
“Alive and kicking, babe!” Charlene said.
Both nuzzled. The deer cheered. Ian smiled. However, the dogcatcher regained consciousness, came out of his van, and tried to capture Charlene and Rufus! But Ian and the deer knew what to do. They had to teach a lesson to the dogcatcher about not messing with their domestic friends. So they grabbed the dogcatcher with their antlers and threw him to each other like if they were playing catch the ball. Meanwhile, Rufus asked Charlene:
“Ready to return home?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be, my love.”
Finally, they arrived to the camping spot. Rufus’s owner was glad to see him back!
“Rufus! There you are, my boy!”
He also noticed Charlene.
“Wow! Who is this beautiful girl?”
“Charlene! Where have you been, naughty animal?” Charlene’s caretaker said.
“Is she yours, ma’am?” Rufus’s owner asked.
“What? No! A lady left her in charge of me. I heard she was pregnant, but since her husband left, she has been struggling a lot to prepare to take care of him.”
“Now that’s cruel…”
“That’s why I have to take care of her dog, Charlene.”
“You know? I’ve always wondered how it feels to babysit.”
“Really? Then why don’t you help her with the baby AND Charlene?” Charlene’s caretaker said, looking at Rufus. “I can see you’re a dog person. You would save me a lot of work.”
Rufus’s owner thought for a moment and asked:
“Do you know if there’s any house for sale near where she lives?”
“Well, there’s actually one at the right side of her house.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Rufus?” he asked his dog. “Miss, casually we were looking for a place to move. Could you please show us the way to that house?”
“Of course.”
Charlene and Rufus were so glad to hear that. They happily danced in circles and nuzzled. Both owners picked up their tents, packed their stuff and prepared to leave. Rufus boarded his owner’s van, while Charlene boarded her caretaker’s van. The latter led the way, and the vans headed to where Charlene’s owner lived. Soon, they arrived. First, the old lady got out of her van with Charlene in her arms and stood outside the house.
“Oh, hello! It’s so nice to see you. Did you and my little angel have fun?” Charlene’s owner greeted the caretaker.
“Not so much. This naughty girl ran away a couple times. I even punished her with a muzzle, but somehow she broke free of it! I hope you teach her how to behave!”
The old caretaker put Charlene on the ground and she ran to her owner’s arms.
“Aw, you poor thing. At least your home now.”
Then, Charlene’s owner turned to see Rufus’s owner getting out of his van while talking on his cellphone.
“Who is he?” she asked.
“Ah, he’s new in the neighborhood. He’s moving to the house next to yours.”
“Really? I should go welcome him.”
She walked toward the young man.
“Hello there!”
“Huh? Oh, hi!”
“I heard you are moving here.”
“Yeah. I and my dog Rufus were looking for a new home, and your caretaker told me about this house.”
Charlene stood next to Rufus’s owner and barked.
“Oh, right! Also, Rufus introduced me to your dog, Charlene. They seem to be quite in love. So I thought it would be a good idea to move here so they could be together. Besides, I heard you’re going to have a baby, and I would be more than glad to help you take care of him.”
“Really? Oh, you’re so kind, thank you!”
“You’re welcome.”
Later, the moving van arrived with all belongings of Rufus’s owner. Once the workers placed everything within the house, he bought it. Now, living next to Charlene’s house, he would help her owner getting everything the baby needed when he was born. But what’s even better, Charlene and Rufus would now live together! Happily, both dogs barked, jumped and danced around, before hugging each other.
Nine months later, the baby was born. Charlene’s owner was now ready to take care of her son, all thanks to Rufus’s owner, who was now there to help her with everything they needed. But she wasn’t the only one to give birth. Charlene and Rufus also had a litter of four beautiful puppies, Cantata, Aria, Melody and Renato. Together, the baby and the puppies would play and have fun everyday! And so, humans and dogs lived happily ever after.
THE END