On June 28th, 2001 our beloved Cocker Spaniel named Barney passed away. His passing coincided with what would have been my mother’s first birhtday after her own passing. Suffice to say that what had already been an emotional day for me only got worse when my wife called to tell me that he had passed.

I loved that dog but my daughter (she was 10 at the time) and my wife adored the dog. In fact I had always joked that my wife’s preference placed me third behind our daughter and Barney!. I always said that in jest but the reality is that I understood this hierarchy! The loss of this “member of our family” touched us all tremendously.

My wife made a comment shortly thereafter that she didn’t think she would ever get another dog because the loss was too emotional. I remember telling her at that time that she would of course bring another dog into our lives because the joy that these wonderful pets bring far outweigh the sorrow though that is a concept that is unfathomable at the time of the loss. Low and behold, a few months passed when I walked into our home office and witnessed my wife browsing the internet on websites for “rescue dogs”. The process moved rather quickly and we picked up our rescue dog “Benji” in October of 2001. I recall the thoughts I had the day we picked up Benji. At the time he was very thin, he hadn’t been well groomed and we were told he was 2 to 3 years old. I remember thinking that he was not a particular beautiful dog at the time. Boy was I wrong! We placed him in the backseat of our Explorer for the drive home and I found myself transfixed on him while looking into the rear view mirror. Not the smartest thing to do while driving. Benji proceeded to place his head on my shoulder as we drove home and from that moment on he had my heart.

While reading “Rescuing Sprite” I could not help but think that these two dogs and many others like them are in fact angels that are sent to us to enhance our lives. I found myself laughing at the similarities that these dogs have with regard to some of their habits from barking at the delivery folks, their reluctance to be groomed and of course their unwavering affection that is unconditional. Our Benji is now either 8 or 9 though the vet suspects that he may be older. We too are in denial that the end is closer than we care to think. I know this much, I will appreciate each day we have left with our Benji because I had the privelege of being able to read this wonderful book. I am so very glad for the success of the book and I believe there will be many reprints to come.

One last thought regarding Benji, I am still last in the pecking order and I am more than o.k. with that!
God bless and thank you for writing this book.
Jeff Hentz

P.S. My wife has not read the book yet but I predict it will be her favorite and she has about ten “dog” books on her nightstand right now!

Jeff from NJ