I wanted to thank you so much for writing this story. We lost our beloved Sparkie (14+)in April 2007 and our hearts are broken. And exaclty one month later we lost our beloved cat Scrathc (19 yrs old). Our beautiful girl Katie was heartbroken and lost with her siblings. Finally in August we adopted a kitten at our vets suggesston for Katie, we werne’t ready for a dog yet. We call our kitten Roxie, but actually she is our healter. She made us laugh again, before that it was so quiet without Sparkie dog here. Then in December we adopted Emmitt, a 1.5 year old cocker spaniel. He is without a doubt the most lovable velcro dog I have ever seen. He is such a love bug and Katie and he play and run and have fun. Katie is 10 years old but acting 3 again, its wonderful. I hated my husband for buying this book, I would just wail while I was reading it. But I finished it yesterday morning and today I put the colage together that I had been planning for Sparkie, so I am not sure how but your story helped and I wanted to thank you for writing it. I am attaching what I wrote when we came back from the vets after letting our poor boy go. I couldn’t even talk about to any of our friends, so I sent out this email. Thanks again for sharing the beautiul story of Sprite and Pepsi. Looking forward to hearing more about your new addition . Thanks again.
Sad News
It is with very heavy hearts that Randy and I help Sparkie cross the Rainbow Bridge this morning about 4:30 am. He had a pretty tough week and yesterday when I came home, he had been sick and was having a lot of trouble walking. (more…)

I just finshed reading Rescuing Sprite…Thank you so much for this heartwarming book. I have three beautiful rescued Bichon mix fur children. My oldest at 15 is a pure breed Bichon and was a bitch in a puppymill for 10 years before they discarded her to be put to sleep. She has been with me 5 years and is starting to show all the signs of old age. Before reading your book this morning (I couldn’t put it down) I was thinking of ending her time with me. She is not ready I am sure now and feel closer to her today than I have in a while. Thank you again for an amazing book!!!!!

Samy from GA

This note was written to pay tribute to a sweet little girl who never faltered and was part of out team here at our Financial Services office.. She trusted and loved you all. For all of this we honor her – we know she is now in God’s arms and we choose not to grieve for her because she has received the ultimate gift. But we will miss her forever………
Our Little Dog Mai has gone to Heaven
Our sweet little dog, Mai Lee, has gone to heaven today.
She was a sweet tempered little girl with a spirit bigger than all outdoors.
She was born on April 25, 1985, the smallest pup in a litter of 10. We always said she was a good eater because, being the smallest in the litter, she probably had to really scramble to get enough to eat.
She came to live with us in July, 1985 when we moved to our home in Santa Rosa.

She became a great traveler making her first trip to Tacoma, Washington to spend Thanksgiving with my sister Bonnie. Mai learned to “pee in the snow”
on that trip!! She always wanted to ride in the car, even for a quick trip to the mailbox and she loved traveling in the trailer.
She was never a barker, but would only bark if someone was approaching the front door. Maybe it was just her way of saying “Hi”. (more…)

Thank you for writing your book, It is a wonderful story, and reading about your experiences with your loving dogs and family brought joy as well as sad moments for me. We had two beautiful indoor cats for sixteen years. They were only six weeks old when they came to live with us. We lost both of them in 2007, Susie, a tabby, and Lucia, a white Persian, Jan. 15, and May 15. My heart still aches and I cry often. I loved them so much They both had great personalities. I wish more people would be like you and love and care for their wonderful loving pets. Thank you,
Joan from CA

Thank you, Mark for sharing youur feelings in your book about Sprite. I experienced many of the same but had not identified words for them for nearly 2 years after I had to put my beloved sheltie Strega to sleep after her brave battle with kdney failure. I felt I could have done more early on and was eaten up by guilt for not having done more. I finally had to stop and just start being grateful for each of the short precious days we had together.

When you say “Goodnight Spritey” at the end of a broadcast, I cry because of my own grief and the sadness I feel for you because you still miss him. My Strega was my joy. I looked into her eyes and saw pure love. I was blessed to be loved by her.

Karen from MI

Your book was truly hard for me to read……as dog lovers we have all been in your shoes. we have to just remember that the love and happiness out weighs the bad. here is my story, we had a retriiever mix that after 15 years of loving had to be put down because of tumors in her lungs.

I never thought i would ever get another dog…then one day my husband and son brought home a black lab mix that they rescued from a construction site(the owner was going to take her in the woods and shoot her) i named her Grace because she was my saving Grace. She sounds so much like your Pepsi………..loving and giving. Then about a year ago a dog was on the local news. this animal had been found by the warden in a ditch on the side of the highway. he had been hit by a car,fell in the ditch and couldn;t get out because his pelvis was broken. (more…)