This email is from Evangeline and her family from Calgary, whom I have not seen for five years. She wrote a few years ago about how her dog, Butterscotch, tried to alert the family when the bunny got sick. She didn’t send any picture but the write up is impressive so I am posting this:
We are so happy with our Scotchie & we recommend you often. I just got my computer back from being fixed & they had to wipe it so I have no pictures on it right now but I will get one to you asap. She looks like Abby with the same colour of fur but Butterscotch has a very curly coat, almost as curly as a poodle mostly on her back & sides, we get asked a lot what kind of dog she is probably because of this. She also sheds a bit so that makes it hard to keep her unmatted if we grow her coat a bit. We have found that keeping her fur short is very helpful with this as it is hard to brush & brushing hurts her. She is very energetic & LOVES to play fetch anytime anywhere & would play almost all day if she had someone who is willing. She is excited to meet everyone everywhere we go with the exception of some people she finds scary.
Her most impressive trick is when she really wants something she can jump about 5 feet high. Her favorite toys are balls & ropes but especially anything that squeaks. She is a bit of a stinker because when she is unsupervised in the house she will go on the counter & steal the loaf of bread if someone accidentally left it out. Last week, though, she also decided for a reason I don’t understand to chew a brand new dvd set I had boughtas a gift for someone and left it on my bench at the front entrance. She comes camping with us every summer and she also came for a walk around Stanley Park in Vancouver last summer. While we were sitting near a flower garden in the park a bride & groom came to the same area we were in for photos. They loved Butterscotch & wanted her in a few of their photos. Butterscotch did awesome for this, I just wish I had gotten a photo as well. She also gets very jealous when any of us hug in our house & she jumps and barks and wants to be included. I cant think of any other stories to tell you about right now. Thanks for breeding such wonderful dogs. Butterscotch has never bitten anyone but she does try to boss around our now almost 16 year old daughter sometimes, lol.
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Butterscotch was born to Dayle and Einstein, making her an F1B LabraDoodle. Her owners had a great story to share with us:
Hi Margaret-Ann,
Remember us? Of course you do, you are smart and probably never forget a face. The last time we heard from you, you were asking for cute/ funny etc. stories. At the time I did not have one to share with you but now I do and it is a heart warming one.
About 5 days ago one of our rabbits, Skittles, became quite sick, we took her to a vet and got her the help she needed. Two days later, this past Monday, in the late evening time (11:15 pm) Butterscotch woke us up crying so I let her out of her cage so she could tell me what she wanted. Usually when she cries to get out of the kennel she either gets a drink, stands at the door to go outside or by the treats if she wants a treat or she will get one of her toys and try to get one of us to play with her. This time it was different.
When I let her out of her kennel she ran and stood beside Skittles cage, I looked at her and said “what is it” and then she ran to the top of the stairs were dad was (resting in bed), she and I did this several times, it was as though she was trying to tell me something. I knew that it seemed that my rabbit could be getting sicker because she was wobbly on her feet and she hardly moved, I thought it was maybe just the medicine, I was trying to remain hopeful. I took Scotchie outside anyway just in case she needed to go and put her back in her kennel and I went back to bed.
A few minutes later she started crying again and this time dad went to go see her. He stayed with her and the two of them watched TV for a while together and every couple of minutes Scotchie would cry some more. Dad tried to console her not really knowing what was wrong. The next morning everything seemed fine, Skittles was even less active but still alive. Butterscotch didn’t pay much attention to her. Later on in the morning when I came home from running some errands I was about to go and tend to the rabbit when I noticed she had passed away. Butterscotch would no longer go over to Skittles cage and her behaviour was very different. She was behaving more calm and very consoling to us by licking us and wanting to stand close and quiet, not her usual “play with me” self.
In hindsight we think that Butterscotch was trying to tell us in those late hours when she was crying that the bunny was really suffering and she felt very sad that one of her “pack” was feeling so bad. I think when she ran back and forth from the rabbit cage to where dad was she was trying to tell me “get dad (the pack leader) Skittles needs help”. She really is even a more amazing dog than we realized and she never ceases to amaze us of how absolutely wonderful she is.
Thanks again Margaret-Ann for breeding such wonderful dogs. I enjoyed looking at your pictures of Thailand, you are brave to go in a tiger den. Looks like you had a wonderful trip.
PS She has the most beautiful very curly coat like a poodle when it is short and is low shed. Everyone loves her and she loves well almost everyone except tattooed hairy men and a few other rowdies.