Do you know a children's chapter book where the plot is about a little girl who finds a tiny dog on a beach?

Looking for this book for a friend. She says she read it as a kid (aprox. 10 years ago). The only details she can remember is that is was about a little girl walking on a beach who finds a dog no bigger than her hand. There was a Butler involved in the story. It is a thin kids chapter book and the cover might have been yellow. She (my friend) was about 10-12 years old living in Ottawa Ontario (if it happens to be a local or Canadian book).