Rufus

"Find Jack!"

- John Marston to Rufus

 is a Minor character featured in Red Dead Redemption. He is the Marston family dog; a yellow Labrador Retriever, he accompanies John and Jack on several hunting missions near the very end of the story.

Background
Not much is known about Rufus, other than he is a good tracking dog. In the final mission, he presumably goes missing or is killed. It is likely he escaped as the soldiers focused more on John Marston and his family rather than anything else, although it is confirmed the soldiers do shoot at Rufus when he is out in the open. He can usually be seen roaming around Beecher's Hope after the main storyline is complete.

Interactions
He helps John and Jack hunt elk and wolves towards the end of the game. He also helps John track Jack when he goes after the grizzly bear, saving Jack. He is present during the final mission, "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed"

Trivia

 * Rufus, Charlie, Perro and Lucy are the only named domestic animals in the game.
 * Some players have speculated that Rufus was killed, since he was going around the back as the soldiers came, and, when Jack goes around the house, he is no where to be found. But his corpse is not seen hinting he might have escaped. However, it's more likely that Rufus died because of natural causes during time between 1911-1914. He has however, been seen sitting down behind the Beecher's Hope house after the main storyline is completed.
 * Rufus appears to be a yellow Labrador Retriever, not to be confused with the Golden Retriever. (You can tell because Golden Retriever's ears are the same color as their coat.)
 * During the mission "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed", if you follow Rufus, he will keep walking until he gets into a small room, where he will continual move as if dodging something. If the player moves their camera away, and then moves it back, they will discover that Rufus has disappeared.
 * Sometimes if the player kills a dog while playing as Jack Marston he will say "I guess I just miss Rufus."
 * Sometimes Rufus can be found inside the House (Beecher's Hope) and is found in Jack's room and lies down until he wakes up.
 * The name Rufus could refer to Rufus Hound, a british comedian, television presenter, and occasional actor. It might simply be because Rufus is a common dog name.
 * Near the beginning of Undead Nightmare, while John is tying up Abigail, Jack can be seen in the background chasing Rufus.
 * If you kill Rufus with John, John will die.
 * On rare occasions two Rufus dogs will spawn, but the player cannot kill both of them.