I loved “Rescuing Sprite”. My 20 year old cat passed away a year ago this month. I was devastated.

But I have my sweet dog, Blondie, who is a Pomeranian/Sheltie mix. We love her.

Regards,

Jill from NV

Mark,

Earlier this week, after much agony, we needed to put our dog Ruffles to sleep after 17 years of blessing. Mark, this literally tore my heart out of my chest. I knew we needed to do it because she was suffering. I insisted to the vet that I be with her through it all and of course he permitted me to be. I held her in my arms and simply stroked her until she closed her eyes and went to sleep. I believe the good Lord has created animals for our enjoyment and blessing because He did so with Ruffles. God Bless

Pastor John  from NY

I’ve just finished reading Rescuing Sprite-my boss read it and said I would enjoy reading it. My entire family are animal lovers-my husband and I have 9 dogs and 13 cats. All were rescues or homeless. We live in the country and one day about 11 years ago a red truck went down the road and there were 2 guys standing up in the bed of the truck. We thought what idiots! What they did next blew us away. A black dog is thrown out the back of the truck into the road-he’s just bouncing on the pavement. We ran towards him but he ran into the woods and we couldn’t find him, knowing he might be hurt bad and could die.

The next day he came walking up our driveway, badly bruised and missing some skin, but wagging his tail. My husband says there is a magnet around our property-animals know where to come for love. We cleaned him up and made him comfortable until our vet opened on Monday. He was OK just sore said our vet. We named him Zack and he is a beautiful Black Lab. We call him Zackster Baxter sometimes.

Zack began having nosebleeds about 3 months ago. Our vet said it is a tumor and that the surgery is extremely invasive and difficult for a young dog and given Zack’s age he would probably never make a full recovery and could possibly die during surgery. Of course when I started reading about Sprite I had no idea (and neither did my boss) that I was going to be reading about something going on with our very own Zack. The difference with Sprite and Zack is that Zack tolerates the Prednisone well. He takes 1/2 tablet AM & PM every other day. Knock on wood his nosebleeds are few and far between at this point. I can certainly sympathize with their loss.

We lost our Lab/Doberman Christmas night 2006 after 13 years. He had a stroke and seizures and he was put to sleep on the back seat of our car. Extremely painful and it still is but to a lesser degree. He is buried on our property with all of our other dogs and cats. I am at work and do not have a photo of Zack to send. Rescuing Sprite is an excellent book. I shed many a tear for both Sprite and his family.

Phyllis from GA

I am a college student, but I commute from home. Of course, I have a dog of my own. Her name is Bebe, and she has been a great dog for the past 7 years (wow. Has it been that long?)

Well, my story isn’t about my dog. I volunteer frequently at a local animal shelter. What’s special about this shelter is that it is a no-kill shelter. They don’t put down a dog or a cat for just about any reason.

There was a dog that I fell in love with when I started volunteering there. His name was Ollie, and he was a Great Dane; a big dog for sure. He was a great dog most of the time, but he had behavioral issues that were very hard to understand and fix.

He went through a VERY traumatic experience with his first owner. Ollie saw his first owner commit suicide, and he sat by his dead owner for three days until someone finally found them. He was so bonded with his owner that he protected the body for 8 hours before they were finally able to remove the dog. God, it makes me choked up whenever I think about it.

At first, they thought he was okay after about a month at the shelter. But then, when one of the volunteers went to pet him, he bit her on the face. She had to get plastic surgery for what happened.

He was messed up in the head. He would get really attached to one person, and so attached that he would protect them to the full extend. So, if I were standing outside with him, and you approached to shake my hand, he would probably bite you because he doesn’t know you. You’d have to let him greet you first, and that even didn’t work 100% of the time.

Now, when you couple behavioral issues with that size of a dog, it’s a pretty difficult case. People were interested in hearing about him, but as soon as they learned about his problems, they would immediately have a low opinion of him. (more…)

Dearest Mr. Levine,
I wish I had the strength to write about my Missy. It’s been almost two years since she slipped away while I was at work. After 17 years of asking God to take the time and means of her passing out of my hands, he granted us both peace and let her slip away in her sleep. I still cry and I have your book but cannot bring myself to read it yet. Thanks for putting words to emotions still freyed.
God Bless,
Angela from GA

The reason I’m E-mailing you is because of Charlie. My husband called your show in Jan. to tell you about our dog Charlie who at the time was approx. 18 years of age. He was a yellow lab, which was left behind by someone when they moved from their home. It was almost three years ago that Charlie became a part of our family. We lost him two weeks ago. I won’t start to tell you everything Charlie was, I will just say he was our everything. It was the hardest thing when Charlie died, but I know there was an angel there that night not only to take Charlie, but also to let us know that he was going home now and it was going to be ok.

Any one who knew about the way Charlie came to us always says that it was a great thing the way we took him in and rescued him, but I think that sounds so backwards I know I didn’t rescue Charlie, Charlie rescued me. He came into my life at a time when I found out I have a seziure disorder, and I don’t know how to explain it, but it was if Charlie understood, and he was always there beside me. (through everything). I prayed the night that Charlie got sick that God would’nt let him suffer, that he would take him, looking back I know that was the hardest prayer for me to pray. But I knew I had to let him go, and I know and believe that he’s in a place where he is truly cared for. That’s all I will say now except for one thing, if I could I would send the people who left Charlie a thank-you note, just to say “thanks for the wonderful gift.”
Tammy from KS