I am so sorry for your family’s loss. Awhile back, I read “Marley and Me” and cried so hard I couldn’t even talk when my husband came around asking what was wrong. I vowed to avoid any more dog stories with a sad ending. But, when I saw Sprite’s face on the cover of your book at the library last week, I couldn’t resist – he had the same beautiful eyes that our dog has. So once again, my heart broke reading about someone else’s lost love.

Dogs are amazing, and I’m sure whatever I say will only be a repeat of what many people have already written you. I believe God put dogs here on earth as am extension of himself and a way to give man the peace, comfort and love that He also showers on us. There is absolutely nothing more beautiful than those deep, soulful eyes staring straight back at you when you hold your doggie’s head on your hands. Our blue beagle, Dakota, is 7 years old and is extremely headstrong but loving and devoted. I don’t even want to imagine our home without him.

I’m still recovering from the loss of my childhood friends – Shep (died at the age of 16 when I was in grade school), Max and Chubs (died during my college years)..their losses still manage to choke me up and I too have doubts and regrets about what my family could have done to prevent their deaths. It never goes away, but then again, that’s what life is about…..loving and losing, then loving and losing some more. I have no doubt that “Doggie Heaven” is connected to our heaven…..and when we pass, our silly doggies will be waiting for us with their goofy smiles on their faces, tails going like crazy!

Colleen from KS

Dear Mark, It is 12:51 PM on Monday, 11/17/08. I am waiting to take my precious Annabelle to her last appointment with our vet at 3:10. Since June, we have noticed Annabelle’s odd behavior. She started walking with her head drooped. She can hardly stand up without falling down. She can only walk if we have her on a leash to keep her upright… On top of incontinence, thyroid issues, giardia and arthritis, she has suffered the embarrassment of wetting and vomiting on herself!

We have tried and tried to restore our Annabelle to the quality of life she enjoyed a few short months ago… We just knew that she would bounce back if we would do “this treatment” ~or~ “that treatment”! She has not eaten in four days. It is obvious that her precious body is shutting down… The only reason she is still with us today is because our vet was closed for the weekend, and there was absolutely, positively NO WAY that we would take her to a stranger for her last appointment! We have enjoyed our precious Annabelle since we flew her down to Houston from Syracuse, NY in January, 1995. She was only a few weeks old. So many people told me, and I have read, that we will know when it is time to let her go… (more…)

Hi Mark….

I had read your book about Sprite even before getting my little rescued doggy, Taffy.  The organization that we got her from lied to us about so many things.  The biggest being that she was totally healthy.  We got her Jan of \’08 and she went to Heaven this past Saturday (11-15-08).  She was sick when we got her.  To this day we have no vet records that were requested.  She was such a wonderful dog.  Got along great with our existing dog, our cat and even thought she was mommy to one of our guinea pigs.

From the get go she and I had a bond.  I deal with depression and stress.  So we were helping each other along the way.  She had Pulmonary Fibrosis which is a build up of scar tissue in her lungs and bronchi.  She just couldn\’t breath at the end there.  She was still happy and still just wanted to be with mommy but for very short time periods then had to lay down.  It just wasn\’t fair to her to allow her to go through what she was going through.  (more…)

I wrote a cookbook for dogs entitled THREE WHITE DOGS COOKBOOK. I was recovering from cancer and in researching this disease, I discovered that cancer is the leading cause of death in dogs today. I have been making my own dog food for years and my Bichon Frise lived to be 22.

I compiled my recipes into a fun book also filled with dog jokes, sayings, trivia, astrology, and much more. I am donating a portion of the proceeds of the ibook to the National Canine Cancer Foundation for their research in the cure of this deadly disease.

P.J. from AZ

The other night on the Mark Levin show, Ruth called in telling about the loss of her beloved FiFi and had said she read the Rescuing Sprite book and recommends it. I was listening to Ruth and Mr. Levin, all teary eyed in my car, as this was this same day that we had to put our beloved Nowegian Elkhound down.

We had 15 wonderful years with Thor, and will miss him dearly. Thor was very loyal and loved by the vet, the ladies at the kennel and friends and family that visited the house. He was a major part of our family, people asked about him, like he was one of the kids. We now have his ashes back and have them displayed with his tags. I will be picking up Rescuing Sprite, and can’t wait to read it.

Theresa from MI