A shitzu/maltese cross on vacation in Windermere proved again why dog is man’s best friend.

Longtime residents Bunny and Alan Turner were were looking after Buddy, the small dog owned by Bunny’s daughter in Calgary. After a typical day last

November, the couple were getting ready to settle in for the night.

Alan, who only experiences 15 per cent hearing, had already put himself to bed as Bunny was flicking the lights off and turning the heat down.

Atop eleven stairs, a misstep on her basement staircase sent Bunny tumbling to the bottom with  broken ankle. At the top of her lungs, Bunny’s cry for help went unheard by Alan.

Fortunately, Buddy knew what he had to do.

“Buddy was just barking and barking his head off — my husband had gone to bed and couldn’t figure out why the dog was barking so badly,” Bunny told The Echo.

Buddy ran back and forth between Bunny in the basement and Alan on the main floor, alerting Alan of his injured wife. Once Alan became aware of the situation and dialled 911, the fire department arrived in about five minutes, Bunny said.

Bunny spent a month and a half between hospitals in Invermere, Cranbrook and

Calgary, largely due to a subsequent heart attack during treatment for her fall.

Ironically, it was a stroke of fate which found Buddy staying with Alan and Bunny during the night of the accident.

“I’m 76 and I didn’t want another dog in my life, but she I just couldn’t say no,” said Bunny.In hindsight, it’s a favour that she’s now overwhelmingly thankful she was able to take on.

As a preventative measure, Alan now keeps his hearing aid on while he’s in bed.

“To still be around is a miracle,” said Bunny.