I was given your book by my mother who is the biggest animal lover I know. I have a schauzer/poodle mix who is a year old. I purchased him from a breeder. I am considering a companion for him, so my mom gave me your book. I read it in 2 days. That may not sound like a bid deal, but I am the mother of two very busy little girls. I spend most of my time on them, so a book would have to be pretty terrific for me to stay up nights to read it. I LOVED IT. Of course, it was a tear-jerker. My mother told me the basic story before I read it, so I found my self fighting tears the entire time, in anticipation of what was to come! I was shocked to read that you thought no one would care about your story. There are tons of dog-lovers like us in the world. I also think most of us are ready to read more nice sweet stories. It was sad, but it speaks to what people can really be like, and the joy we get from animals. Your family is wonderful too. You all sound like very caring and loving people. My mother loves the book because she has a very lumpy, partially deaf, arthritic, 12-year-old chocolate lab/border collie mix. I know that in her heart she is thinking about the decision she may have to make about Mocha soon. I am thinking about it too. Mocha came to my mom from a backyard breeder who ended up with these puppies by accident. She had a fat little belly (worms), and a smiling face. My mom choose her because went she bent down to the box containing the puppies, Mocha climber over all the other to get to her. For the first few years of her life, she was a typcial lab/border collie. She was nuts. My mom got up at 5:00 a.m. to walk her so she wouldn’t destroy the house while my mom worked. She once ate a sock. It passed, but it was awful. She ate an entire cherry pie once too. That wasn’t good either. To this day, she eats her meals as if it is the last supper. I recently kept her at my house while my mom was on vacation. I loved having this time with her. She was happy to see me whem I picked her up. She is very comforting. I was sad having her too. She has trouble getting up and around. She fell on my steps in my garage. I screamed and ran to her, but she was okay. I feel like I have to yell at her because she is hard of hearing. All my neighbors look at me like I am crazy, so I am constantly explaining that she can’t hear. My two young daughters love Mocha too. They have always known her. They are sad when she goes home. I dread the day when my mom might have to make the decision not only for myself, but for my children. I can’t even imagine what it will do to my mother. But, like you, she is a true dog lover. She will eventually love another dog. I know she will. She can’t live without one. Neither can I. I can’t see how anyone could. Anyway, thanks for the wonderful story. I can’t wait for my daughter to be able to read it.

Jennifer from OH