Beethoven

Beethovens new Mom 5-30-99

And his new van.

"Driving three hours from Houston to Austin, I had PLENTY of time to think about the dog I was adopting named "Beethovan." My 7 year old son, Sam, had renamed him already, sight unseen, to "Sport" because we had been told he was such a good sport about everything: excellent in disposition, with cats, and with kids. What I found upon arrival at Austin Collie Rescue surpassed all my daydreams of the past two weeks up in Maryland, wondering if this dog could actually be as neat as he seemed on the internet and from chatting to the rescue group. Were they being honest with me? You betcha!   Sport and the ten other collies were gathered at the gate, waiting eagerly for me to come through. He had the most luminous brown eyes I have ever seen, and he did not jump on me a single time! Well mannered is putting it mildly. On the drive back to Houston, he entertained the toll booth women by climbing up to the window and wagging that HUGE fluffy tail furiously as they spoke to him. We would have held up traffic for hours if they had anything to say about it...they couldn't BELIEVE he was a rescue dog, from a kill shelter, that no one had claimed.     Upon arrival at home, Sport quickly figured out that making the four cats scramble for the safety of the kitchen counters or fireplace mantle was GREAT fun! It only took an hour, however, for two of the cats to figure out this huge canine was a softie and just a big ball of fluff trotting along merrily after them. Again, the collie rescue had been honest with me- he was superb with the cats! This is day two, and he is still laying patiently, waiting sprawled on the floor for the kitties to come play...I think it will take about a week.     Sport paced constantly for hours upon hours, patroling the house as collies are known to do when anxious. He was very gentle with Boca, our baby mockingbird that we rescued, who flew out of the bathroom onto his back for a few seconds. He stood perfectly still as Boca flapped wildly, trying to learn how to fly, until I pried his talons out of the thick coat of hair. Today, he laid like a guardian angel outside the door as if to say, "Don't disturb the baby!"            I was particularly pleased that Sport is very well trained. He shakes hands and knows all the commands, knows to go outside to potty, and is very gentle with the kids, ages 5 and 7. We got tickled today because he barks at the squeaky toys, finally showing some spark of interest in being part of the family and less concerned about whether this WILL be his home. Poor guy, he was driven for hours by the sheltie rescue group, the austin collie rescue group, then for hours to Houston! Well, this guy is making our new house a true HOME- what a "gentle giant!" (He seems massive because of all this gorgeous hair!)   As the Austin group knows, I am a children's book author / illustrator, and within a few years, "Sport" will be showing up hopefully in a Haldago Bay book series as a main character! I may sketch one out as a preview for you! Again, thanks so much, Austin Collie Rescue! I hope someone adopts out Blossom, who was another one of my favorites when I visited (she prefers women, and was so gentle and loving she melted my heart!)

Sincerely,

Houston, Texas