 
Hi just wanted to Thank you for the wonderful years I had with my beautiful girl Beau. It has been over a year now since we lost her to heart failure, and not a day goes by when I don't think of her, and miss her terribly. I am crying now just typing this. She was a very special girl.
We got Beau from you in 1991. My parents and I came to see if there was a dog for us there and despite all the wonderful animals there, we just didn't see any that would really suit us. A wonderful lady working there took us aside and told us she has two puppies out the back that she was only showing to certain people. She took us to see those puppies. They were british bulldog x labrador pups - a girl and a boy. I fell in love with the little girl - a pup with far more skin than she needed (she never really grew into that skin). But my parents were not sure so we went home to think about it. We decided we would take her, so I called up, to find that one of the pups had been taken. I swear I stopped breathing until I found out that it was the boy who had found a home and not the girl. We came straight down to pick her up.
As I was at Uni at the time, she spent all her days with my dad, and was spoilt terribly. When I came home I would walk her, and train her. She took to training well, but then tragedy stuck and my father got very sick.
I had to discontinue training to help care for him. Beau didn't take this well and dug huge trenches under the house, just to be close to Dad. (When Dad was home Beau would lay next to the bed, but when Dad was in hospital, she would search constantly for him). Now Beau was not a little dog - she grew to a labrador size. Despite this, I managed to sneak her into the hospital once when Dad really wanted to see her. She was more settled after that as well.
In August 1991 my father passed away, and Mum and I relied on Beau for companionship even more. Mum, despite not being a dog person, cared for Beau a lot and would talk to her during the day, always ensuring she got her toast for breakfast. In 1997 my Mum got sick too, with cancer just like my father. Beau would once again lay next to the bed and watch over Mum. I bought a house during this time, at Mums request, but left it empty to stay and care for Mum. In December 1997 we also lost Mum. This was an incredibly stressful time for all. At just 26 years old, I had lost both my parents. After the funeral, I took Beau and stayed at a friends place in the country. Beau stopped eating. We tried everything, including hand feeding, absolutely anything to make her feel better and to start eating again. After three days I was desperate to help her, and I took her home to my new house - one she had never visited before. As soon as we got there, she wandered around checking it all out, and ate the food I put out for her then settled down peacefully. It was the first time I had seen her content in ages.
We settled down into a very quiet life. Molly the cat joined us in 1998 (also from aaps and still with me), but with me working during the day, Beau got bored. We tried everything, but nothing helped her. She took to breaking fences and running away, wandering the streets. Eventually I met the man who is now my husband, and together we adopted a border collie x jack russell (Maddison), and Beau was finally at peace. She loved telling Maddy off and keeping her in line. If Maddy played ball too much, Beau would pinch the ball and sit on it. Beau really hated the ball. If you threw the ball anywhere near her, she would close her eyes and cringe, hopeful that it wouldn't hit her. Of course, it never did. With Maddie around, she was happy.
We married in October 2001 and Beau was happy to have another human added to her pack. In August 2003, we misscarried our first child, and Beau knew that nothing more of her was required except to sit and cuddle. She was so good at it. Unfortunately In December 2003 we noticed Beau panting a lot. A vet visit showed her heart was enlarged and failing. My first thought was "but nobody in our family has heart problems" - she was that much a part of our family. We managed to manage it with medication and she came home. Unfortunately she was only home for a week and then she started being very lethargic and was once again off her food. Back to the vets and after more tests, and antibiotics and fluids (none of which she responded to), we made the agonising decision to end her struggle. She was so weary that she
couldn't even lift her head, though she tried when we visited. I don't regret that time or the thousands of dollars we spent. She was worth every since cent. However hard it was, I knew we had to let her go. My
husband and I hugged her tight and told her how much we loved her and thanked her for being in our lives, as she lost her battle with life. We had her cremated and she sits in our loungeroom with us. I often hold the box and talk to her. I miss her so very much. We are now considering getting another dog. Maddy seems quite happy on her own though for the moment, so we will wait until the dog that suits us perfectly comes along. I know it will be at AAPS again.
Anyway, Thank you from the bottom of my heart. She was the best friend I ever had.
This was the final photo of Beau - the day before she died, in the only place she wanted to be then - the bed she had outgrown (see above)
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