She was the only girl puppy born to the last litter of our original Scottish Terrier, Miss Scotty Campbell. Scarlett was Born Sept 5, 1991, in the bottom half of a huge dog crate which was nestled in a quiet corner of our kitchen , she came out in my hand, plump, sturdy and just as big as any of her 4 brothers. She was the SPECIAL puppy that I had waited so long to get. She was beautiful!  She was my perfect Scotty dog - good conformation, good disposition, loved to play, loved to eat, easy to train, and was MY puppy!

I had been reading the sequel to Gone with The Wind about the time she was born so I named her Miss Scarlett. All of my Scotty dogs had the last name of Campbell in honor of my Grandmother, Willie Price "Pricie" Campbell and her Scottish heritage

I started taking her with me in a little basket lined with a baby receiving blanket when she was 4 wks old. At the time, I was holding the School Bookstore open before school 3 mornings a week.  Scarlett accompanied me and the children loved playing with her. By the time she was 5 or 6 wks old, I would give her a chance to "Potty" before taking her into the building.....and she never had an accident.

As she got a little older, after our Bookstore time, I would stop at Burger King and get her a double cheeseburger and throw away the bread- oh, how she loved that!

 Scarlett seemed to have her Daddy's easy going disposition with many of his conformation characteristics and had her Mother's sweet disposition and smart mind.  She loved to curl up on a pillow I put behind mine during the night.  As soon as she woke up in the morning, I woke up and whisked her outside to potty. 

On Christmas Day when she was 4 months old,  she gave me a wonderful Christmas present, she whined to go out for the first time.  And from that day on she never had an accident in the house

Scarlett loved her toys, was not destructive, just liked to throw them around and chase them.  She would throw a ball down the stairs just so she could run after it if we weren't playing with her.  And she loved to play fetch, racing after the ball or toy lickety split. Tug of war was also her idea of fun.

Fred made her a "Throne" of landscape timbers in the corner of the picket fence in the front yard so she could be off the ground and watch what was going on up and down the street....and did she love it!

In her older age, she got very creative.  She loved Garfield the Cat's tuna which we kept on top of the counter.  While we were gone, she would somehow jump up on the counter and eat the tuna, usually not messing up anything else.  We would move the counter chairs, thinking she was jumping on them and then the counter....but she still got up there. 

Marshmallows.....I had a package of mini marshmallows in big bowl that sits on the counter that  hold various stuff. When we came home there were a few marshmallows in the bedroom. I looked everywhere for the plastic bag and couldn't find it. Thoughts were running through my head  - what if she ate it? Finally, I was walking down the hall, noticed a tiny piece of plastic sticking from beneath a magazine rack in the study.....whew! we wouldn't have to have her cut open! Needless to say, Scarlett loved mini marshmallows and begged for them whenever they were around. Actually she liked just about everything except lettuce.

At the time Scarlett joined our family we had her Mother, Scotty, and Father, Commodore, step sister Katie, with her son, Big Mac. On Feb 12, 1992 I was on my way to work  - without Scarlett, thank goodness. A boy hit me from behind and I found out you really can be wrapped around a utility pole.  It didn't take long before I realized I couldn't take care of all the dogs anymore. So we placed all but Scotty and Scarlett in good homes.  Scarlett was a lot of comfort to me, curled up in my lap during the long recovery period.  She was MY dog.  Scotty was Fred's dog.

When Scotty and the other dogs got out under the fence and went visiting around the neighborhood, Scarlett just stayed and barked to let me know the others were gone.  She never had a wondering spirit, unlike her Daddy who would get out and run away.

She was happy to fuss at everyone as they came by from her "throne" which Dad made for her out of landscape timbers. In fact, he made 2, one for the front of HER yard and one in the woods.  She never was a digger, didn't bother the plants at all except if they were near the fence in the corner - she liked to bark at dogs and cats and people in the corner.

Sometimes she would take a " sun bath" lying on top of the fish pond ledge. She was curious about the fish but never got in the pond...liked to lean over and try to get the floating fish food.

Because of my auto wreck, some of her training never got done. She was never properly trained on riding in the car but boy did she love to go "bye-bye". But then if we got out and left her in the car, she would go bonkers, barking and moving her paws ever so fast on the windows, slipping and tearing the door covered with  soft foamy plastic.  But Dad fixed it, he covered the top portion of the doors in duct tape. However, we could never rent a car and take her someplace for fear she would tear it up.

Morning ritual - Dad always shared some of his breakfast with her...eggs, ham, bacon, oatmeal. Then she would sit on the stairs as he went down, he would stop and she would give him a kiss and he would give her 2 Iam's doggie cookies.  Just the rattle of the cookie jar got her excited.

Afternoon Ritual - when Dad came home, if she was outside, she would bark and get all excited to come inside to see him. And how excited she was to see him, covering him with kisses and playing with him on the bed.  Then he would say, "Do you want to go get the mail?"and she would jump up tail wagging and head for the door.  She couldn't wait for the door to open so she could race out and down the walkway to the mailbox, checking out the area, and then back up the walkway and into the house.

Supper time Rituals - If  Mom wasn't in the kitchen making supper by the time Scarlett thought she should, Scarlett would find her and poke her on the leg with her nose, and then wiggle around and be just as sweet as sugar.  We call her "pre-wash" as she would get really pushy if she didn't get to lick our plates - hopefully with some meat left on it but if not, just wanted to lick the aroma. In the last year or so, after dinner she would climb up in Dad's lap, and start whining a little - this was her way of saying she wanted to do the "sing along thing".  Dad and sometimes Mom, would throw their heads back and howl...so would Scarlett and she really seemed to enjoy it. After supper she always wanted to go outside.

Night time Rituals - She would go out for one last potty time late in the evening then run and jump in her basket in the study - her bedroom.  But long about 3am she would come into our bedroom, jump on the bed and snuggle up to her Daddy. By 6am, when she was younger, she was ready to go outside, which I took care of. The past few years, she would wait to go outside  until Daddy got up - even if 9 or 10 am.

Scarlett was my once in a lifetime "special" dog. She has been my constant day time companion these past 11 years.   I've given her all her favorite foods, I've done everything to make her more comfortable, I showered her with sweet words in a happy upbeat voice and I've cried buckets of tears. Soon we will both have to live on in each others hearts. 

On Wednesday we had a gloriously happy day together....2 bye-bye's, a trip to the beauty shop which she always enjoyed, and a trip to Burger King for 2 double cheese burgers.  She waited eagerly as we drove home and gobbled hers up before I could get mine out of the wrapper. She was so lively and happy, I thought we were going to have her for a few more months.  I am so thankful to have had that last happy, happy day with her.

Thursday was a different story, her time had come.

She will be laid to rest tomorrow under her "Throne" so she can keep an eye on the neighborhood and we can sit by the goldfish pond and feel that she is still with us. 
 

Good bye, my sweet, sweet Scarlett.  Thank you for giving me so much pleasure and joy these past 11 years.

Love you,

Your Mommy