'This animal is showing gratitude': How Sweetie the dog helped rescue her neighbour

Sweetie lives up to her name most days, but a few weeks back, John Morocco said she was "bouncin' and barkin'" up a storm.

Morocco and his wife, Joyce, havebeen caring for theGreat Pyreneesfor a few months, acting asfoster parents while she recovers fromsurgery.

But that night, she was "losing it."

John said he couldn't understand what had comeover the typically quiet, docile dog.

She was on the back deck, clawing and trying to clamber overthe railing despite her wounds, so he joined her and peered out into the dark.

"All of a sudden I see an arm stick up," Moroccorecalled.

He ran to an overgrown drainage ditch and found an elderly neighbour wrapped up in vines and weeds, with water rushing below. Morocco helped the neighbour back into their house and said they're doing OK now, but there's no telling how long they would have been left outside if it wasn't for Sweetie's stubborn barking.

Thecouple, who live in Chippawa near Niagara Falls, Ont., believes shehelped savethe neighbourthat night, just a short time after she had been rescued herself.

Still a sweetheart

The dog with the shaggy white coat came to Canada from Kentucky, according to Dianne Cartmell, a volunteer with Niagara Dog Rescue (NDR).

A couple there was driving down the road when they saw her get hit by a car. Sweetiehad a shattered femur and her hip was seriously hurt, said Cartmell.

The pairinsisted on bringing Sweetie to a vet, andwhen her ownerssaid they couldn't afford the surgeries she needed, she was voluntarily handed over to the clinic.

It just so happened that the vet Sweetie was brought to had worked with NDR in the past and reached out, asking if they could care for her.

Cartmell said the dog arrived in Niagara in March. Soon after she landed,she needed to have her surgery redone at the Ontario Veterinarian College in Guelph.

Despite what she's been through, she's still a sweetheart.

"She's amazing," said Cartmell."That's why they call her Sweetie."

'I guess it was meant to be'

The Moroccos started fostering dogsafter the death of their own pet of 17 years. John said they weren't sure they could go through losing another animal, so decided to care for dogs that are recovering instead.

Sweetie has been with them since May, the longest of any pooch so far.

She's got a big "polar bear head" and expressive eyes.

"There's not too many times I don't see a look in her eye that's almost like 'Thank you,' you know?" said Morocco."If a dog can be grateful, this animal is showing gratitude."

When he thinks back to that night, Morocco said he wonders about all the things that could have gone differently.

He could have been away from home that night, or kept Sweetie off the back deck. Then there's all of the stars that had to align for her to survive and be in Canada in the first place.

"It's weird how that all went together," he said. "I guess that was meant to be."

The couple has continued to care for Sweetie, and John said they're looking forward to the day her she's feeling better, running around and just being a dog again even if that means she won't be theirs anymore.

"It's going to be a sad day, but a day of gratitude when we are finally able to say, 'You're healed and you can now go live your best life somewhere.'"