At the end of January 2020, my husband and I drove up north of Athabasca to Sylvia’s facility to meet a dog I spotted on the website. She had the same name as me (Crystal) so I figured it had to be destiny! We had a beautiful SCARS dog named Shyla for many years and sadly said goodbye to her in 2018. We were ready for another pet to add to our family.
Sylvia let me know that Crystal had been with SCARS a few months already and would require a lot of work and patience. I knew we could provide the special home she needed – and after a trial month of living with us she became a permanent resident. Our huge dog, Bacon, loves her. Our cats respectfully tolerate her, our chickens mostly love her, and we absolutely adore her!
She is very smart and our Pyrenees/Lab cross, Bacon the dog, has helped teach her so much. She took over his huge bed in the living room on her very first day. It didn’t take long for her to crawl out of her SCARS crate (shown in the photos) and find that cozy place. It’s always been her “safe space” and she enjoys hoarding it full of all of the bones, cat toys, dog plushies, and tidbits of people food that I give her to taste that she doesn’t like, ha-ha!
Having this sweet girl in our life has been extremely rewarding. For example, seeing her rest her head on my husband’s lap while he’s eating dinner. She won’t let him pet her very often but will happily eat a morsel of chicken or two! Also, the first time she wagged her tail when I came into the room; when she learned her new name and belly crawled all the way from her bed in the living room to the kitchen to have her harness put on when I called her for a walk; and the first time she jumped on the couch to sit with me and asked for a belly rub …. the WINS are never ending.
Looking forward to many more years with our dear pup! Thank you SCARS for everything you do!! And thank you, Sylvia, for sharing with me her rescue photo (I’ve included it in my pictures here). She has grown up from a super fluffy, scared little pup to a lovely shiny, tall, deer-legged model of a dog.
PS – She earned her new name of “Pancake Puppy” (a Denny’s menu item!) by going flat as a pancake for many many weeks every time she was scared. Which was a lot! It’s a very rare occasion now for her to act like an unmovable lump, and she has made great progress. I affectionately nicknamed her Little Cakes – such a sweetie.
