I just finished your book about your Spritey. I had to make the decision to put Duke Down last June. He was “my” dog and my husband would not make the call for me. We had Duke 16 years. I retired from 34 years of teaching in June ’06 and thank that decision as I had one special year with my best guy. I didn’t see or probably didn’t want to see that Duke was going down hill. We were told that there was probably some kind of cancer in him (he went from a stron 60 lb dog to a frail 32 Lb. animal). As with all of the people you have heard from, Duke was there for me and looked for me when I wasn’t there. My friend said that I was so unaware of the fact that he was doing less and less and I was doing more and more for him. He was still eating but got to a point where he was having troulbe standing – falling over when he was doing his business. We were visiting my son’s home and he just looked so frail and weak and uncomfortable that I decided that weekend to put him to rest. That was Saturday. We didn’t stay at my son’s overnight as I wanted Dukey to be in his own home for the time he had left. When we got home he rallied and seemed his old self but I knew that I was fooling myself. I made the decision and going back would mean I would be faced with the same one in the not too distant future. On Sunday my husband was sitting on our deck and I had gone out. As I pulled into the garage, Duke watched me and leaned over. As I got out of the car, I heard my husband yell “oh my god he fell”. Apparently since Duck had lost so much muscle and weight he was thin enough to fit between the rails. Leaning over loooking for me he just fell from the upper deck about 10 feet to the ground below. My husband ran down and brought Duke up carrying him in his arms. Duke looked stunned but did not appear to have broken anything. I took that as a sign that I had made the right decision to put him to rest. We took him on the following Tuesday and to this day and I can see his eyes as he got the tranquilizer and staired into my eyes. I loved him enough to let him go and I think that that was the hardest thing I ever had to do or will ever have to do in my life. I loved that dog and still do. There is not a day that goes by since June 26, 2007 that I do not think about my Dukey

Pat from NJ