I received your book yesterday and read it last night with my beloved Emily sleeping up against me. My eyes are still swollen. Thanks for putting into words what we dog lovers think all the time. Our Emily was found as a puppy in NYC 13 years ago by my daughter. She had some health problems including mange. This was not a great time to be bringing another dog into the house as “Arnold”, my lab mix was dying of cancer and we were in the process of potty training our 2 years old son! Of course my daughter would not bring Emily to a decent shelter as we told her. Well, 13 years later, she is still here and has brought so much joy to us all. All dogs have something special about them, and in the case of Emily, she has a fondness for shoes.

Not for destruction , but to greet each person who comes into the house, whether it be a family member of friend with a specially selected piece of footwear, be it a shoe, boot or slipper.. She’ll grab one and and circle that person like a shark while trying to say, “Look what I have, I want to share it with you!” Emily now has a couple of age related health issues including arthritis in her hips (the injections of adaquan from our vet every five weeks works wonders) and Cushings Disease .I know that we will be facing those dreaded decisions shortly. My son has said to me, “Mom, I don’t know if I ever want another dog after Emily is gone, I don’t want to go through that (anticipated) grief again”. I tell him to think of two scales, one has sorrow on it, the other, Joy. Which one is heavier….

I do study the Bible, and I can only speculate that animals have some kind of connection with the angelic realm. My dog Arnold (a colossal giant with the heart of a baby)who has been gone for 13 years just loved all of my Church friends and they loved him. There was one strange lady who visited and suddenly he became aggressive and unsettled. I was tell my minister about this and he mentioned that animals can sense demons, and he believed that this lady had some serious problems in that area. Well, she never came over again…it was a pretty scarey thing for me. My dear daugher “found” another U.B. (short for Urban Blend, a politically correct term we made up….something you would “like”) 7 years ago. By then, she had her own place and took him in with the intention of “cleaning him up” a bit. Well, 7 years later, I am “Grandma” to Slappy. He and Emily adore each other. Such laughter and joy they bring. It is pure innocence personified.

Thanks again Mark for your books and you support of all the 4 leggeds!

Lisa from NJ