Dog Names that Start with Be

Pop culture has its share of famous dogs, including those with names that start with "Be".  Two of the most famous dogs that often come to mind are Benji and Beethoven.  As far as movie and television dogs go, Benji is one of the greats, up there with Rin Tin Tin and Lassie.  Beethoven is also popular in a more contemporary sense, and his name also has special meaning to his movie family as he helped his family find his name.  Benji, the character, was featured in a number of films since the 1970s and demonstrated the lovability and intelligence of a mutt mongrel dog.  Benji saved people and animal alike on more than one occasion and won over many people with his adorable antics.  

Beethoven, unlike Benji, is a large dog character in films.  He is a Saint Bernard and comes into the Newton family's house and hearts as a small puppy.  Not knowing what name to give the little pup, the family discovers the smart canine has a love for Beethoven's Fifth as he barks along as Emily Newton plays a section of the symphony on the piano.  

While Benji and Beethoven certainly own pop culture space in the film industry, one other dog with a name that starts with "Be" has made a large impact on both the pop culture and scientific communities.  Belka was a small Soviet-born dog who became the first dog in history, alongside Strelka, to successfully orbit the Earth and return safely.  Being a space dog might not sound like that great of an achievement, but at that time in history, no humans had yet been in space, and a mighty Space Race was being waged between the United States and the Soviet Union, and both countries had their eyes on getting man into orbit.  Belka, an all-white female dog, launched into space on August 19, 1960.  During her short, one-day, in space, Belka and Strelka orbited around the Earth a dozen times and came home safely, giving the Russians the confidence to launch a man into space.  If not for the brave and rigorously trained Belka, the Russians and consequently, the Americans, may not have explored space as quickly as they did.  Today, though somewhat alarming to some people, visitors of The Cosmonautics Memorial Museum in Moscow can visit the hero dog Belka and her companion Strelka as well as see the capsule these two brave dogs flew in during the first day in space.