WARNING: Spoilers are unmarked.
The first film:
- After Varnick frames Beethoven, George finds his kids crying in Alice's arms.
- When George is about to take Beethoven to Varnick to be put down, he briefly sees him as the little puppy he was when they found him. Randy Edelman's score doesn't help things one bit.George: I'm so sorry. You were my dog too.
- George's kids running after their father's station wagon and yelling for him to stop as he drives off with Beethoven.
- While driving to Varnick's office, George admits to Beethoven that he had a dog when he was a child, but it had to be put down and how he always hated his own father for having to be the one to make that decision. This puts George's earlier objection to his family keeping Beethoven in a new perspective; he was likely trying to keep his kids from experiencing the same pain he must've felt all those years ago, and avoid them developing the same animosity he felt for his own father who was simply a man doing what had to be done for the good of his family. By this point, you can't even really consider George a curmudgeon or even a Jerk with a Heart of Gold; he truly is a good father who wants the best for his family.
- When George returns home, he finds his family sitting dejectedly in the dining room. Ted, Ryce, and Emily stand up and leave, and Emily turns back and calls her father "Dog killer!" before continuing on. Ouch.
- This hits even harder when you remember that Beethoven had rescued her from drowning earlier in the movie. Of course Emily would take George's decision to go through with putting Beethoven down worse than the other kids – he had literally saved her life.
- The fact that Chris, the St. Bernard to portray Beethoven in the first two movies, passed away shortly after Beethoven's 2nd was released. St. Bernard's unfortunately have very short lifespans, generally not living longer than seven years.
- In the beginning of the film, Beethoven and a fellow puppy, who is later named "Sparky," escape from Varnick's goons after being stolen from a pet store. Later on, it's shown that while Beethoven was happily adopted by the Newtons sans George (at first) and grew up happy and safe, Sparky has eked out a living on the streets and eating scraps from the dumpster. Beethoven is shown getting food from a Cool Old Lady at a local bakery and bringing it to Sparky.
