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A Buddy for Beo
Photo
Beo, a black Labrador retriever whose owner is stationed in South Korea with the Army, enjoys a swim at his temporary home with Paula and Dom Carella of Northeast Ohio Labrador Retriever Rescue.
By Denise Dick
North Jackson
The four-year-old black lab barrels toward the lake at his temporary home and leaps into the water after a stick thrown by a visitor. Once he
grabs it, he paddles to the shore, jumps out, drops the stick, shakes off and waits for the next throw.
Beo’s temporary home is with Paula and Dom Carella of Northeast Ohio Labrador Retriever Rescue, where he’s one of 19 labs and lab mixes.
Beo’s owner, Private First Class Michelle Delvillan, and her husband, Robin Rodrigues, are stationed in South Korea with the Army.
Delvillan left the dog with a family before she left last September, but that family could no longer care for the dog.
“The family I left Beo with is a great family, but they have three dogs of their own and with Beo’s size and daily need for exercise it was just too much for them to handle,” Delvillan wrote in an email.
Beo was in danger of going to a pound.
“I was absolutely heartbroken when I found out that they could no longer take care of Beo,” the soldier wrote. “I have no family that is able to take in a dog, and no one I could ask for help with this issue. Beo is like a child to me, and to lose him would have been devastating. I felt very helpless being half way around the world trying to find a solution. It was hard to even call anyone at a decent hour with the time difference.”
Delvillan is friends on Facebook with Northeast Ohio Labrador Retriever Rescue and contacted Carella via email. Carella agreed to keep Beo until September, when Delvillan will be on leave for a month.
Delvillan and her husband will pick up Beo and take him with them to Fort Bliss, Texas, where they’ll be stationed next.
Delvillan, a native of North Canton, works with the Patriot equipment in South Korea.
“Basically, if North Korea were to attack and launch any type of missile this way, we have the capability to intercept that missile and destroy it before it reaches any area we are defending,” she wrote.
Carella says Beo is a good dog, and she was glad to help.
“I felt bad for the dog and for the soldier being so far away,” she said.
She was touched by Delvillan’s love for her dog and felt for her situation.
Beo sleeps on a blanket next to Carella’s bed. He’s buddies with the other dogs, Scruffy, a 4-year-old chocolate lab who was surrendered by his owner, and Teddy, a black lab mix who came from the Mahoning County Dog Pound, in particular.
And of course, he loves running, playing and scratches under the chin.
“As a puppy, he was wild,” Delvillan wrote. “He would chew anything and everything he could find when we weren’t home. To combat this, everyday, rain, snow or shine, I would take him for very long walks, play frisbee [his favorite], take him swimming, or just let him run wild, anything to drain the energy a bit.”
He grew calmer as he got older but he’s still an energetic dog, she said.
“He could play fetch for days,” Delvillan said. “He will jump in the air, all four legs off the ground, to catch the Frisbee or ball. Swimming is his favorite, though. As most labs do, if he finds a puddle, he will jump in it and try and swim! When I take him to swim, I can hardly get him out of the water!”
Beo didn’t want to stop playing in the pond at Carella’s either, but like a good dog, he comes when he’s called.
Delvillan named him for Beowulf, the epic poem. His owners sometimes call him Beo-woof-woof.
Delvillan also sent a donation to help other dogs at the rescue.