Mister Beau

My name is Beau. I had a different name at the shelter which I'll tell you about later. My human also calls me Beau boy, Grinner (I like to smile), Snacker (I love doggie cookies), Mister Mister and Brave Little Man. I hope you enjoy my story of how I went from a stray shelter dog to a stay forever family dog.

I was born in Georgia on Halloween the humans guessed. I don’t remember my mom and have no idea who my dad is but my humans say I’m a black chow border collie mix with a touch of Labrador. I don’t know what any of that means but when I show off my pink and black tongue, my human smiles and gives me a cookie which completely works for me; I show off my tongue a lot.

When I was little, I ran away from a human with a hat who was mean to me and lived in the swamp for a while. It was scary and I was nervous and shivering the whole time. There were these long skinny creatures that moved on the ground with funny looking tongues that came out of their mouth and these other creatures that had big teeth and lived in the water.

I was cold and scared, had bugs that kept biting me and was very thirsty. My tummy kept making these noises and I smelled weird. I ran so far away that I ended up outside the swamp running on top of this stuff called grass that was soft and smelled good. I rolled around in it for a minute and ate some; my tummy felt really bad after that and I was tired but kept running. These noisy things kept flying by me too; they were scary like big tooth but I kept running. I ran until I was out of breath and had to lay down.

One of the noisy flying things stopped and a nice human gave me some water. I drank it all and then she wrapped me in a towel and took me to the shelter. They were nice to me at the shelter. I had my first bath and ate everything they gave me. The humans said I was 6-weeks old so I got some shots, a pill for bugs and some nasty tasting stuff the humans said would kill the worms. I don’t know what worms are but I know I slept for the first time in a long time with a full tummy and there were no monsters. I was happy and smiled a lot; that’s how I got my shelter name of Smiley.

Life at the shelter was great. I always had food to eat and water to drink. I had my own little cage house with an outside that I used to do my business and check the perimeter for any breaches anytime I wanted. I learned to do my business right up against the fence so I didn’t step in it when I went outside. There was a human lady who would come into my house sometimes; she would give me a cookie and rub my head. I liked her; she understood why I was jittery. Sometimes dogs would get a visitor and also get what they called adopted and other times they went into the room down the hall and never came back. I didn't ever want to go into that room.

One sunny day a human came and wanted to meet me. I wasn’t sure if I liked her but she did smell nice and gave me soft cookies that I’d never had before; the shelter had hard cookies sometimes. Next thing I know, I’m being adopted and I was really scared; she was a stranger even if she did smell good and have cookies. The shelter humans told the lady I was a nervous little guy and didn’t trust humans so it would be slow going. As we were leaving, my favorite shelter human came out to say good bye. She said “thank you” to my new human; “he was scheduled to be euthanized tomorrow morning; you saved his life”; whatever all that means. My car ride home was nice and comfortable with a soft spot to lay down. I slept the whole way.

We arrived at my new house and there was another dog there. She smelled me, gave me a lick and went to lay on what they called a bed. My new human gave me a toy and showed me my bed (my human was prepared). I didn’t know what either of those were and just plopped down on the floor. Soon we all went to the backyard; there were so many smells I didn’t know what to do. The other dog did her business and then played with what’s called a ball. I had to check the perimeter and make sure we were all safe and find the best spot to do my business which took a while since there was a lot of backyard. Then on to the million other smells; I had a lot of smelling to do.

For the next few weeks my human did what she called potty training. I learned when I had to do my business to go stand by the backdoor and bark, then my human lets me outside. I always did my business in the same area close to the fence just like at the shelter except in my new home it didn’t splash up onto my leg. I liked that. I figured out what the bed was for and what cushy means. I took naps anytime I wanted (still do), stole my human's socks and bras and learned how to play with toys by watching the other dog who my human called Rue. Rue showed me how to play and be a dog; it was glorious.

My favorite toys are the ones that squeak. When I’m playing with my noisy toy for a long time my human laughs which makes me happy and I squeak it some more. At night I get to jump up on what’s called the big bed; it’s soft and smells like my human. Rue sleeps up there with us. My human says Rue is a bed hog which doesn’t make sense because Rue looks like a dog to me. I’m grateful to have a bed and toys and pats on my head and food I like and a gigantic outside with no monsters. I love my human and momma dog Rue.

It’s been many years since my human adopted me and we have had a million adventures. We moved far away when I was 1 year old, I think, and used to go to the beach where I would chase the birds; I never caught one but I chased them anyway just in case. Rue would swim back and forth in the water the whole time; I guess big tooth didn’t live in that water.

We got a new house with a big outside and there were these little furry things called Squirrels that ran on top of the fence all the time. The perimeter breaches drove me crazy and I chased them barking the whole time every day. Squirrels are not very smart I decided because all they do is run back and forth on the fence. They sometimes would stop and chitter chatter at me. I didn’t understand what they were saying and just kept barking at them. If I could jump really high, I would have caught one, I’m sure of it.

One day my human told me that Rue went to doggie heaven; we were sad. I missed her and so did my human. After a while, I started playing with toys and my human laughed at my squeaky toy marathons which made me want to squeak all the more. We started playing together again and I got my zoomies back. We still miss Rue though.

It’s just the two of us now and we go on long walks every day except when all the white stuff is on the ground and it’s windy and cold. Sometimes giant squirrels are around and I chase them; my human yells at me to stop; I don’t. She waits and then tells me when I come back panting to not chase the deer, whatever those are, and that the bucks have horns that will stab me. I chase them anyway because well, it’s fun. Besides, those giant squirrels are super fast and I never even get close.

Going from stray swamp dog to stay forever family dog was scary at the beginning. The first time I laid in a bed and played with a toy, got petted and loved on, I knew I had the best dog life ever. My story is filled with a bit of bravery, adventure, a few monsters, bugs, humans, cookies, warm sudsy baths, beds, toys, birds, giant squirrels and most of all, love, patience and understanding which I get to keep forever. I live a charmed dog's life and hope you do too.