Dog is God spelled backwards my son pointed out while struggling through Prototype school up in New York 2002.
I adore dogs and animals in general. Dogs have been part of my emotional healing when I was a scraggly teenager and knew I was the last person to be noticed or respected in the high school years.
It was a dog who had been a reject. He had been returned to the breeder due to barking and aggression. (We never saw that in all the years we owned him.) Because he was a reject I knew we had a lot in common. I would have been called ADHD back in the 1950’s, if there is such a thing. I slept only 3 hours per day and was so active it drove my parents crazy. My mother literally gave up on me at age 2 1/2 years old. I grew up feeling as if I had very little to offer the community of family or at large.
King, a purebred Border Collie, had the heart of a champion and the love of God in his soul.
I would cry into his soft black hair and tell him how unfair life was.
King brought me through my teen years with some kind of strength. (I believe God gave this dog to us for me.)
When I left for college in October, 1966 my father would not allow me to go to King’s kennel to hug and kiss my best friend good by. The next month, while I was away at school, King was hit by a car in front of our farm. Even though it is 42 years since that magnificent animal left our circle I can still cry for what he left behind as a legacy to one teenage girl with a lot of “hang ups” and one SUPER dog named King.
I don’t cry very often, but King is still worth the tears that I sit here and shed in his memory.
I am writing a short story about King as there are so many things to tell about him. I hope to submit it to a magazine some day.
Thank you for sharing your inner pain, strength, and passion with those persons that you will never meet.
I for one thank you for your tenderness within your “Redwood” strength.

Ila from KS

My Ruby Tuesday—-Deep in the hills of Osage county lives a pit bull named Ruby Tuesday, she’s a real brownie. She was moaning through the fence in my neighbors yard, her feet were bloody, her body scarred.-So we took her to the vet to see what he could do.I said “How old is she?” He said “A year maybe two.” She was used for the fight ring , thats what the vet said.But I guess she’s got more fight than most cause, she’s not dead.She showed up on a Tuesday so thats part of her name, the other part is Ruby and mine is Jane.-Sometimes, I take her with me she knows just where to sit. She has trouble running cause she limps a bit.-Life is so uncertain with all the ups and downs, you look for a friend but one can’t be found. So I thank God for Ruby she’s always there for me, and I know there’s dogs in heaven thats how its got to be.-They say dogs have a human, someone they truly love, But, I say this human has a dog, sent from God above.

Thank-You

Janie from OK

Mark, I could not pass this book by when I saw it in the bookstore. That face goes right to the heart. Being a pet lover who has loved and lost – this book tore me up. I had my Maggie May for 16 years 2 months. I lost her a little over 3 years ago and I miss her still. She was 6 weeks old when I brought her home. A tiny little blond curly ball. She was a cocker spaniel. My constant companion – my child. She went on vacation with my husband and me, went to family events, and followed me everywhere except to work. When she reached the point when she could not travel I was choosy who kept her, always worried about her. Losing her was devistating. My blessed dog . She gave me so much joy. I have been through illnesses and diseases with my pets, like congestive heart failure, cancer, AIDS, and currently my 6 year old Jack-Russell (Spike) is battling Lupus disease. But loving my cats and Spike and a 2 year old German Shorthair (Shelby) is nothing to what they give me. It’s unconditional love, it’s priceless. I got to page 85 in your book and I cried through every page to the end. I have been there. I have swore I cannot go through this again, yet I do. You hurt as deep as you love. It’s just the way we are made. It’s in our souls.
God bless You. Your family, and Pepsi, Griffen, and the eternally smiling Sprite. This book is a blessing to all of us who love our extended family of cats and dogs. We share your grief and understand. I am sharing this book with family and co-workers. Thank you so much for sharing Sprite and Pepsi with us.
Nina from IN

Just finished reading Rescuing Sprite. As a owner of 3 unwanted dogs, it amazes me how these animals enter and change our lives. A friend, who grew up on a farm on the Wash coast, told me of a dog he owned. The dog a stray, wandered on to the farm and befriended the children as they played. He would always show when the kids went out to play. They were poor but they fed the dog table scrapes. The dog slept outdoors in the woods. His father,who was very stern, thought the dog served no purpose on the farm and also was evil because it had one white eye. He tried to chase the dog away by kicking the dog, hitting it with a shovel, and even shooting at it a couple of times. There was a large stream on the farm with a deep hole the kids could swim in in the summer. In the winter,however, it usually overran its banks. One day his younger sister came home muddied, scratched, and with her clothes torn. The nest day his father followed the childern out to see what happened. His sister was not with the other kids, He found her standing in the water trying to walk out further in to the stream. A few steps further and she would have fallen into the hole and been swept away. The dog had her by her dress and was pulling and dragging her back. The dog who usually ran away at the sight of the father, did not let go until his father picked her up. He told the childern to bathe the dog and when they went home they found his father had made a bed for the dog in the kitchen. Afterwards, dog and his father became inseparable. He would always feed the dog from his plate. Later, he apologised to the childern for the way he had treated the dog, for he was sure that God had sent the dog to protect his family. My friend said that was the first and only time he had ever heard his father apologise for anything.

H from AR

I lost my dog Bandit yesterday. He was my best friend. My wife recently lost her Dad and now she is devastated with the loss of our pet. You said last night that you read these emails. I am so sorry you lost Sprite. Keep up the good fight Mark. I fight it here. Jihadist are fewer in this Country because of efforts by my family. 100 are in jail or deported. I have sent 12 soldiers to Iraq and Stan. Daughter fixing to be translator for Army. She speaks 8 languages that are Arabic in origin. We are kicking ass. Daughter did undercover for FBI in stings. We are serious about taking down Jihadist. I am not a crackpot. Ask James Baker who I now work for at Luminant Energy in Texas. Or ask the FBI about Beka and see their reaction.

Roderick from TX

Dear Mark,
I am writing you to tell you of the loss of my partner Banker. Banker, a belguim malinois, was my police K-9 of 6 years. He died of a brain tumor that was very sudden. We have sent many men home to thier families safe and removed a lot of bad elements from society.
I held my partner in my arms as the decision was made to put him down. I could not let him suffer nor be selfish to prolong a debilitating painful life. He served proudly next to me and would have given his life at anytime to save mine. I know that I will see him again at the rainbow bridge in heaven. Here is a poem that sums up Myself, Banker and all police K-9’s:
Guardians Of The Night

Author – Unknown
Trust in me my friend for I am
your comrade. I will protect you
with my last breath When all
others have left you And the
loneliness of the night closes
in, I will be at your side.

Together we will conquer all
obstacles, And search out
those who might wish harm to
others. All I ask of you is
compassion, The caring touch
of your hands. It is for you that I
will unselfishly give my life And
spend my nights unrested.
Although our days together
May be marked by the passing
of the seasons Know that each
day at your side is my reward.

My days are measured by The
coming and going of your
footsteps. I anticipate them at
every opening of the door. You
are the voice of caring when I
am ill. The voice of authority
when I’ve done wrong.

Do not chastise me unduly For
I am your right arm, The sword
at your side. I attempt to do
only what you bid of me. I seek
only to please you and remain
in your favor.

Together you and I shall
experience A bond only others
like us will understand When
outsiders see us together Their
envy will be measured by their
disdain.

I will quietly listen to you And
pass no judgment, Nor will your
spoken words be repeated I will
remain ever silent, Ever vigilant,
ever loyal. And when our time
together is done And you move
on in the world Remember me
with kind thoughts and tales,
For a time we were unbeatable,
Nothing passed among us
undetected.

If we should meet again on
another street I will gladly take
up your fight, I am a Police
Working Dog and together We
are guardians of the night.

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