I read Rescuing Sprite when it was released and laughed and wept all through it.  Didn’t know I would be saying goodbye to my 9 1/2 year old German Shepherd Dog (Maximillian vom Osterburg) six months later.  He died withing a couple hours of Cardio Myapathy.  We returned home from watching my daughter win her first State Championship with her High School Soccer team and looking forward to a great Fathers day the following day.  Max had other plans.  His heart just gave out.  We checked on him every hour all night long.  I was planning on taking him to the Vet in the morning, he seemed OK, just breathing slowly.  I fell asleep and woke up an hour later and he was gone.  He was laying in our walk in closet (he went there during thunderstorms)  The Vet told me there was nothing I could do.  His heart was slowly shutting down.  He assured me just laying with him was the only thing to do. Dogs hearts are different he told me.  I’ll say, they live for our scraps, are so fully devoted and will do anything for us.  This is by far the best deal man has ever made.  We had Max cremated and buried him under his favorite tree where he would often lay and watch the deer in our back field.  Within two weeks my daughter (the soccer player) and I drove 600 miles round trip to a town south of Indianapolis to pick our new German Shepherd Dog (Lucy vom Kriegershaus).  She is such a lover and companion but there isn’t a day that goes by I don’t think of Max

— Todd from Kalamazoo, MI