Roller Sport Inspired Dog Names

There are numerous ways to describe roller sports and roller derby in particular. It’s been called everything from fast-paced, action-packed and non-stop to aggressive, tough and high-contact. But there seems to be one word that encapsulates the sport more than anything: rough. 

For anyone who hasn’t witnessed or attempted it, the sheer amount of energy needed to propel yourself around either a flat or banked track is strenuous enough, let alone the amount of awareness and balance needed to maintain a proper trajectory to execute the complex moves necessary to complete a successful campaign. And if all that wasn’t enough, there’s also the constant threat of being knocked over, run into or just plain flattened, which is what makes a good team so important. 

But there’s another team of “ruff” and tumble players who have been embracing trouble since their inception over half a century ago: Dennis the Menace and his dog Ruff. 

Originating as a single-panel comic strip back in 1951, Dennis the Menace saw success early on. It spread like fire through both local and national newspapers and within nine years, quickly transitioned into a live-action CBS television sitcom. It soon developed into several television movies, feature films and two animated series. 

Although Dennis was undoubtedly the most popular character, his partner in crime, an Airedale-mix named Ruff also received a fair amount of fanfare. Unlike a few other characters featured throughout the many iterations of Dennis the Menace, Ruff was a mainstay even from the very first cartoons. Though he remained a typical, non-anthropomorphic character, Ruff accompanied Dennis on many of his adventures, including everything from bike rides to helping to perpetuate both intentional and unintentional mischief — which was even more fun when his long coat carried some of the evidence home (not unlike our own less-than-subtle furry troublemakers).

Since Dennis was relatively limited in terms of friends, at least outside of Tommy and Joey, Ruff was one of Dennis’ most consistent companions, receiving the kind of affection normally reserved for a best friend or a brother and even without an articulate way to respond, seemed to understand and communicate with Dennis nonetheless. Though he was “voiced” by nearly 10 different human actors, Ruff’s most endearing qualities were his actions, proving that the most reliable companions are not always the ones who offer the right words at the right time, but never fail to appear by our sides — even if we’re making trouble.