I have just finished reading, “Rescuing Sprite” and it has to be one of the best books I have ever read. Only someone who has experienced this kind of relationship can truly appreciate every thing this family has gone through.

I have a beautiful English bulldog. Her name is Katie. My husband and I do not have children, so she became our daughter. We both worked so we worried about her being lonely during the day. After all, she was at home by herself everyday from 8:00 to 5:00. So after about a year, we decided we would get her a little brother. We found the perfect bulldog for her.

We named him King Charles but it was obvious he was a Chuck. After Katie got used to him being around, she soon fell in love as much if not more than we did. These 2 dogs were inseparable. They spent every waking hour together and Chuck slept with his head propped up on Katie’s hip. Every step I took, they followed. They even went to the bathroom with me.

One time Katie had to spend the night at the vets. She had to have surgery on her tail. Chuck spent the night walking the floor looking for Katie. He cried and howled all night. The next day when Katie got home, Chuck ran to her and one of the sweetest sights I have ever seen happened. Chuck put his mouth to Katie’s ear as if to say, “where have you been”. Katie turned to Chuck and did the same thing. I guess she was telling him everything that had happened to her. They walked into the backyard together, just enjoying each other’s company.

Katie had a few health issues, eye surgery, 2 more surgeries on her tail, just seemed like she always had something going on. Chuck never saw a sick day in his life. Then one day my husband let them out to play in the backyard while he ran an errand. He was gone approximately 30 minutes. When he came back, Katie and Chuck did not greet him at the gate. He knew something was wrong. When he went into the backyard, there lay Chuck with Katie beside him. Apparently he had had a heart attack. My husband tried mouth to mouth resuscitation on him to no avail.

We were devastated but Katie was hysterical. She knew what happened, she had witnessed the whole thing. The vet gave us a pill to give her. He said she would sleep for about 3 days, but after she woke up, she would be calmer. He was right she was calmer, but so sad. She actually had tears on her face.

It’s been 3 years now. We’ve looked at getting another dog to keep her company, but we can’t seem to find one that Katie approves of. Some people think that their just animals, but dog people know what a connection you can have with your dog and the connection that 2 dogs can have to one another.

Regina from TN