Dog of the Day: Beemo

This week’s dog of the day is neighbor Ahmed’s cat-fearing, cartoon-like, 70-pound lap dog Beemo.

Whoa!
Squirrels. Beemo!

He’s very intent on them.
Yeah. He’s a very cool dog, except for squirrels, cats, pigeons.

Has he ever caught anything?
No. But he dreams of it.

How did you come up with the name Beemo?
It’s from one of my favorite cartoons, Adventure Time. I couldn’t think of a name for him, and the character made me smile. And I thought, he makes me smile, too. And the name kind of worked out.

Does the name fit? Does he have the same characteristics as the cartoon character?
Yeah. A little bit. Sometimes he’ll be really quiet and then the next minute he’ll be really silly.

How old is he?
Two.

He’s just getting out of that puppy stage.
He’s still in it. He’s a rescue. He’s really enjoying childhood.

What a sweet dog.
Thank you. He gets a bad rap because he’s a pit bull. And he’s obviously a big dog, but he’s really really sweet. He smiles. He literally will sit down and smile at you.

Do you get funny reactions having a pit bull?
People who like them, everyone is always astonished, I get complements on him daily. He’s a “blue nose.” He’s got a grey and silver coat, a greyish nose. They’re sought after by people who like pit bulls. And then there are people who are afraid of dogs, people who have kids, who don’t know any better. People who walk away in fear, walk around him. Which in some ways I understand, obviously. A lot of people don’t know any better. They think pit bulls are bad dogs. It’s a shame, honestly. Back before there was a stigma, people used to use them as babysitters. They used to leave their kids with them. They’re very protective, very good dogs.

Have you had dogs before?
I grew up with poodles. Little poodles. He’s obviously a lot different. He doesn’t realize his size. He acts like a lap dog. Just jumps up on my lap. He’s 70 pounds. He’s no lap dog.

What are the differences between the pit bulls and poodles?
Besides the size… temperament. At the same time, you have a very strong, dominant physical dog who is not shy, not afraid to play with other dogs. Poodles are smaller dogs, they’re used to being indoors and being, I don’t want to say “coddled,” but…

Does Beemo get along with other dogs?
He loves to play. He gets along great with other dogs. Like, there’s a small dog that walked by before. He’s played with him. He just lay down. He let the dog nip at his ears and his nose. I was shocked. And with big dogs he loves to get into a tussle and run around and play.

Do you do leash-free?
Unfortunately because of the stigma, I cannot. Even if he doesn’t cause anything or start anything, he will get blamed. You never know. They’re animals. As great as they are, any animal, when they’re off leash, that’s the thing, they’re an animal. That’s why he’s so intent on cats now. He got attacked by a cat. It jumped out from behind a bush. Jumped on his face and scratched him. That white fur on his face was all red. It all happened in like three seconds. A bloody three seconds.

Is he on edge now when he sees cats?
Yeah, he jumps. It’s like those old cartoons, like Tom and Jerry. You see the cartoons where there’s the big dog. I’m like, oh wait. That’s my dog. Stereotypical – hates cats.

Do you think it’s hatred or fear of cats? Or both?
The natural instinct is that they’re enemies. Whatever happened back in the day.

What do you think happened 3 million years ago that sent them against each other?
Definitely the cats plotted something. Something evil.

And Beemo is going to strike back?
In his dreams.