Beethoven

When I was younger, we had a dog named Beethoven; he has since passed away at the ripe old age of 13 years. He was a crossbred, part Newfoundland and part Golden Retriever. His fur was the color of golden straw and his eyes were as dark brown as pools of mud. He had the most patient and loving temperament of any animal I have ever met. He would always follow me and my sister around when we went outside. When we were very little, according to stories told to us by our mother, Beethoven was like having a babysitter. He would walk between my sister and I along the shoreline of our large pond, making sure he kept us safe from falling into the water.

Beethoven taking his afternoon nap (Taken by my mom)

My mother used to raise and show fancy breeds of rabbits. One early morning in the fall of 2002, on our family's 20 acres located in Princeton, MN, two Huskies came onto our land and viciously attacked my mother's rabbits. We were alerted to this by my Uncle Rick, whom had heard constant barking from Beethoven. As this was out of the ordinary for Beethoven to bark so, Rick looked up our driveway to see what the commotion was all about. He then saw the two dogs attacking our dog Beethoven. Rick ran yelling at the two dogs, but was unsuccessful in getting them to run away. He came to our door and yelled for my dad. My mom, dad, and me, along with my sister, and two friends, ran from the house out to where Beethoven was. Chained to his dog house, unable to escape from the Huskies, he had been barking at them, as they had been attacking the rabbits. His barks had been what had alerted my Uncle to come running.

Beethoven sustained many bite marks and puncture wounds to his head and body. If it had not been for his insistent barking, trying to help the rabbits, and get free from his chain, my uncle would have never been able to warn us, and many more rabbits would have perished. I feel Beethoven was a hero, as he put his own safety at risk, trying to stop the brutal attack.

I will never forget the time I got to spend with Beethoven, the many a day walking back and forth along the edge of our corn rows. Watching other animals such as deer, fox, and squirrels doing the things that they enjoy. He never tried to hurt another animal. I even remember him sleeping in his dog house with our cat. When I'd be fishing in our pond, he would sit by my side and watch the bobber. You could tell he would have liked to grab the bobber, by the excitement he showed, but he just stayed by my side. He was an awesome companion and loving friend. He will be sadly missed, because he was a very special part of our family.