I have said since I have been a teenager, I am now 50, that the problem with pets that with the exception of your last one, you always out live them. There has only been a period of a few years when i have not had a dog in my life. I currently have two dogs, Maya and Haley. Maya is the smartest dog that I have ever had and Haley is the most competitive dog that I have ever had. While Maya (Rottweiler/Newfoundland mix but I am sure that there is some Geman Shepherd in there) came from someone who that thought that they were creating a new breed, I call it mutt and then Haley (I belive is a purebread lab) was rescued from the Vancouver, WA Humane Society. The differences in them are astonishing. I only have to raise my voice to Maya and she does what she knows is right and if I raise it too loud she may sulk for days. Haley on the other hand has the attention span of a gnat combined with selective hearing. I can yell at her and yell at her to stop doing something that she has been told a thousand times before not to do and as soon as I look away she is back at it. I have had to bop her to get her attention and the look on her face says “is that all that you got?”. I would not trade either one of them for the world. We do not have any children (married over 21 years) of our own so that love is given to our pets, of which you can add two cats to the mix.

I have had to put my friends down before and while you know that it is the right thing to do, it is so hard. I fear the day that I will have to make the decision to create a hole in my life again. Maya is 8 and Haley is 6 years old. They both get the best dog food along with raw meat twice a day along with medications, both preventative and needed mixed in their meals. This in the hopes that we will have them longer in our lives.

Mark, I listen to you talk about Sprite along with people who call in an talk about their pets. Let me tell you that it is hard to drive with a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes. Oddly enought, I am thanking you for that.

You and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a safe and sane New Year.

John from WA