Bee Bo's Letters
Bee-Bo and his "Auntie Ginna" September, '99
"General Beauregard"
July 21, 1998
Dear Dr. Woolverton:
I just wanted to write you a note and tell you how well I'm doing, & to thank you for finding me a
new home. I am very happy here. I am good friends with two dogs here who are just my size:
Missy & Bob. They were pretty much an item before I came, so I've had to try really hard to make
them like me and want to play with me. They talk sometimes about a dog named Spark who isn't
here anymore; the other dogs didn't like him too much. My mommy is really sad because he's
gone. The neighbors like it because I don't bark at rocks like he did! My mommy brought home
new toys for us to play with - says I'm biting & chewing her too much. I just want to play! We have
a stuffed octopus with rope legs, and all three of us like to play tug-o-war at once. We have rawhide
bones and ropies and all kinds of neat stuff. We get dog biscuits every time we go outside and do our
stuff - it's a big routine here. I've found out where they keep the biscuits, so every time Mom leaves
the laundry room door not quite closed, I go get some more. She's hollered at me a little, but then
just laughs and gives the others biscuits so we'll all be even. She makes me go when we're outside
and I'm beginning to think she doesn't like for me to do it inside, 'cause she's caught me with my leg
up a few times and hollers at me and says "outside" and puts me out the door! She holds me and
pets me a lot, and I sleep on her pillow at night. They laugh at me because I snore real loud each time
I take a deep breath when I sleep. Missy burps and Bob "talks" so we all have our funny habits.
Mom laughs a lot. She's kinda lonesome right now 'cause the big guy's gone on a long trip.
We've just had lots of company. It's fun be 'cause company sleeps upstairs and when we get up in
the morning we get to run up there and wake them up! Cousin Mary Grace just really laughs and loves
it when we all three lick her face at once! There are two real big dogs in the back yard named
Chooch-Bear & Sinny-Bear. They're pretty old; Chooch is the mama dog and my mom & the big guy
have had her longer than they've been married (and Mom just got a dozen red roses for her 12th
anniversary!) Chooch-Bear is blind & a little grouchy, so I just run real fast past her and she can't
get me. Sinny wants to play with me but she's too big! I want to stay inside with the little dogs my
size. Mom says we all weigh exactly the same - 18 pounds. We look real cute together, too, 'cause
Bob is red, Missy is black, and I'm white with some red & black. We're going to have pictures made of
all of us together, Mom says, if we will stay still long enough. She likes to tie pretty little bandanas
around our necks. Me and Bob usually get one just alike, since we're the guys; Missy wears girl
colors sometimes. And they have all this military stuff (Mom and the big guy are in the Air Force) and
we have these camouflage bandanas with little rank pins on them. Mom says she's got to get new
pins for me, 'cause my real name is General Beauregard (they call me Bee-Bo for short), and the
highest rank pin she has is Lt. Colonel (which is what she is). My hair is growing real pretty.
Mom keeps us all looking real nice all the time. Little Missy-girl is a peke-a-poo; she has long black
hair... they call her dustmop. She has funny bottom teeth that stick out and people who don't know
her think she's mean, but she's the sweetest dog I've ever known. She's older than me and loves me
like I'm her puppy. The dog Spark that used to live here - they called him rock-toter. No telling what
they may call me before long! The dog Bob is a real handsome registered dog whose real name is
Killian's Red-Bob Longfellow; Mom says he needs a girlfriend real bad. Maybe you will know about
one sometime since you see lots of dogs at the clinic. She has ordered little bone-shaped name
tags for me and Bob (he lost his) to look just like Missy's. They will have two phone numbers on
them, since sometimes we go to this place called the lake house. Lots of people come and have
fun there. We go out riding on the water in these two boats and it's pretty kool. I love to ride in boats
and cars. Mommy won't let me out without a leash - me and Missy. At the lake, Bob gets to run free
and Mommy calls him good boy for staying right with us. Maybe one day she'll let me try it, but not
now. My cousin let me out by mistake one time and I thought my mom was going to cry before she
caught me. I don't want to make her upset. I was just having fun running to lots of people's
houses! When she gets out the leashes, I pick mine up and bring it to her and hold it in my mouth
waiting to get hooked up. I figure we'll get going faster if I do that, and Mom thinks it's just the greatest
thing and tells everybody to come look at me. They get excited about the funniest things! The big
guy's dad came to visit, and he kept looking at me with his hands on his hips and said "That dog...
has two black eyes!" And then he'd laugh. I think he likes me. All the neighbors here had looked
and looked for this dog named Spark for weeks. Mom found me instead. She put me on a leash and
carried me all over the neighborhood, introducing me to everybody and they wanted to know what
my "story" was. It seems that Mom is pretty well known for taking puppies who need homes.
Sometimes she finds other homes for them, but she has a big heart and just loves puppies just
about more than anyone I've ever seen. She's written a family cookbook, and there's even a recipe
for dog biscuits in it! She has friends, they tell me, who send packages of homemade dog
biscuits for us at Christmastime - something about stockings, too. I'm not sure. I'll have to see
what this Christmas is all about. Mom says she's going to hang little Spark's bandana on the
fireplace in memory of him at Christmas - says it has a jingle bell on it and says, "I don't Fa-La-La
for nobody!" I don't really know what that means, but Mom is pretty sentimental about him.
There's another dog outside in the ground with a piece of pink marble and flowers growing
everywhere... the marble says "Sugar Bear - Love of my Life". It seems like a pretty weird place
for a dog to stay, and I haven't ever seen her. I wonder why she doesn't come out and play? But
Mom keeps the spot looking really pretty all the time.
Well, I'm going to go and play now. Little Missy-girl is asking me to play with her. She tells me that
she lived for seven years outside in a tiny pen all by herself before she came here. She was real sick
and real lonesome. Some people say she almost died! An old couple with Alzheimer's Disease
(whatever that is!) had her and forgot to feed her good food or sometimes bring her in out of the
sleet & snow. She's so happy. She plays with me real hard and then Bob jumps on top of us
and we go rolling around and chewing each others ears, feet, and tails. Missy's real strong for a
little girl! Bob is real lazy and sometimes jealous I think, but I really like him and just tell him I want to be
his friend. I lick his face and we share real good. I don't understand why somebody gave him away
- something about a cat in the house who didn't like him, and he wouldn't get housebroken. He is
pretty stubborn, I gotta say. But Mom is so patient; she says she's proud of us - calls us her kids.
Please send me a note sometime. I want to come see you and bring my friends so you can see
how pretty we are together. My mom's e-mail address is "ecleeland@earthlink.net" and she loves to
get mail. I will come see you sometime, I promise. Thank you so much for finding me this home.
Lots of people who know this couple say I don't know how much I've got it made. I think I'm
starting to figure it out!
Lots of Love,
December 29, 1998
Dear Dr. Woolverton,
I just wanted to wish you a happy new year and tell you that I'm well & very happy. I just found out
what this Christmas thing is all about. It was pretty kewl. I had my own stocking hanging over
the fireplace, and it was filled with goodies that I could get into after I first went outside and did my
business early Christmas morning. I found out that pig's ears are just the greatest things!
I chewed mine for a very long time. My mom took this picture of me on the porch at our lake house,
and I wanted to send it to you. I had been to the beauty shop and had my hair done real pretty.
They tell me I'm a good boy but I don't often stay still long enough for anyone to take my picture!
I love to play with Missy & Bob, and we go lickety split through the house chasing each other
all the time. My little friend Missy-Girl had a terrible accident and almost died! She went swimming
in our friends' pool with their golden retriever, Mandy. The problem was that Mandy wanted to
"save" her and kept pushing her under the water, trying to get hold of her neck and take her out of
the pool. The problem was, she couldn't come up for air and Mandy never got a good hold on her.
When they finally got her out, she looked dead. But the Big Guy mashed her chest and patted her
a lot and bubbles came out of her nose and she finally took a breath and shook a lot. (He says
this CPR thing is good to know!) I was scared that she might get put in the ground with that
other dog called Sugar Bear, and then I couldn't play with her any more. I love my friends here.
Bob is going to the dog hospital this week to get "fixed." They say that might make me quit lifting
my leg in the house so much, and he will be healthier. I'm not sure why - I just want to make sure
everybody understands what my "territory" is, but Mom sure fusses a lot when I do it.
I hope that you had a very happy Christmas. Now I'm hearing about something called "New Year."
I guess I'll see what that is next! I still will come see you sometime, and I do think of you lots. I just
wanted you to know I'm real happy and sleep on my mom's pillow every night. I kiss her face when
it's time to wake up and then I know it's time to get biscuits! Anyway, I wanted to say hello and send
you my picture. And have a happy New Year!
Lots of Love,
Bee-Bo
They sometimes say they should have named me Bozo !?!)
I'm sure you realize by now that I'm the worst letter writer that God has ever made! I do
apologize so much for not writing sooner, but I do think of you every day and it gives me greater
joy than you could ever know to know that you've got such a wonderful life - you have the best family
in the whole world! I just adore the photo you sent... I have it on my dresser mirror, and I look at
it every day. You look so precious! So, so much has happened since you left... my little family has
grown - I have 3 more little dogs like you. There was a big raid on a house... this woman had over 100
dogs in a little bitty house. They were in horrible shape - covered with fleas, malnourished, filthy dirty,
and matted - it was so sad! But we got those little angels away from her and now they are all living in
loving homes. I kept four that were in real bad shape so I could help them get better. I found a wonderful
home for one but kept three that had special problems. Now they are fat, happy, and healthy, and I
love them very much! I have a new job now. I work with a man who is very, very nice to work with.
He lets me do lots of stuff I didn't get to do before and I'm just having the time of my life!
Anyway, please thank your mom for letting me hear from you - I'm sure you realize what a very
