I just saw Mark on Hannity & Colmes & oh,how I could relate as he spoke of the depth of his loss! I, too, went into a deep depression some years back after putting my beloved Abby (Afghan) to sleep. I was unprepared for the depth of grief I would experience. I had the veterinarian come to my home & put her down so that she would be less stressed being in familiar surroundings & yet still I could not shake the guilt & grief for sometime to come. I could not imagine ever going through such pain again! And, lo and behold, a couple of years ago, right in the middle of a haircut, my cell phone rang. My daughter, who worked summers as a wrangler at a nearby horsemanship camp was calling with the sound of urgency in her voice. They had found a dog on the campgrounds. He was in very poor condition & looked like he was starving. They had to remove him from the campground, and she begged me to let him come to our home until we could nurse him back to health and find him a good home. I reluctantly agreed. Buddy, a large black lab mix arrived at our home a few hours later.

His ribs were protruding and the pads on his paws were nearly worn away from his travels. Buddy came complete with worms and fleas. I spent the next couple of weeks fattening him up and had him neutered, all the while trying to find someone to adopt him. I was unsuccessful in my search for a home for him, and I just knew there was no way I could keep him. He was a big dog, and needed alot of room to run. I mentally took note of all of the reasons why it would not work for me to keep Buddy. Sadly, I decided to make arrangements to bring him to our local no- kill shelter so that they could find him a home. It was a very difficult decision because over the past weeks I had grown to love Buddy. On the day he was to leave, I took Buddy for one last walk down to the beach (oh, how he loved that!). I spent time grooming Buddy and said my good-byes.

Leaving him at the shelter was heart wrenching. After a long and teary weekend, I called the shelter first thing on a Monday morning. Yes, Buddy was still there and yes, I could come back and get him!! When I arrived at the shelter, Buddy heard my voice and nearly knocked down the door trying to get to me! Buddy is my “forever” dog now and he absolutely worships me. In fact, he won’t even eat his food unless I am in the room with him. He will hardly let me get out of bed before he starts howling for me to take him down to the beach. Yes, one day I will go through the awful pain of losing a beloved friend again, but I can say with certainty that it will be worth it (for Buddy and for me). I better run – I need to order Mark’s book – don’t ask me why I am going to put myself through this – I know there are going to be some heart- wrenching parts to read- but as a dog-lover, something just compels me.!!

Jodi from WA