My Sammi was looking at me crying and sniffing and wondering WHAT I was reading and crying about!! It was a gift from my nephew at Christmas and I had to be at home to finish it, for all the blubbering…

Thanks for sharing your anguish and memories… (but I can’t believe those heartless guys, Rush and Sean, were helpful to you- what I hear on their shows surprises me)  Wondering if Griffen is still charming your family and friends…Glad you opted for another dog pal!!

Robin from DE

We have lost 2 dogs and we loved them both dearly, and yes we felt like it was losing one of our own children. It is heart breaking, The good news is we adopted a little girl puppy today and her name is Sweetie Girl, she brightens up our home once again with that sweet sweet love only a pet can show us.
We loved your book Mark!!
Thank you,

Glenn and Lynda from NM

Mark,

I bought your book Rescuing Sprite over Christmas. I read it Saturday Jan 19, 2008 in one afternoon. I lost my beloved cat Casper December 8,2007. He had a stroke in November and survived for two weeks. He slept on my bed most of the night and I moved him when he tried to go under the bed. He died an hour and a half later. I have tons of regrets about the way I handled it even though I always tried to do the best I could for him.

I had him eight years. I was living in a apartment complex in Fort Worth after leaving the military. I went to check my mail and he followed me home by my side like a dog. I put him out to see if he went home but he always came back and I kept him. Man did I love that cat. I live alone in a city where I don’t know many people so my live outside of work revolved around my cat. When I came home he was there. We had this thing where when I got home he would stick his front paw through the bottom of a door near the rear of the house and we would play. He would retrieve his toys like a dog and fetch it for me to throw it again.

Your book really hit me. At least I am not the only one that cried like a baby when he was near his death and it hit me that HE WASN’T GOING TO RECOVER.

I miss that cat. I also am glad that you brought up your new dog after a couple of months. I think about getting a new cat (and dog) but after seeing my cat die in front of me as I consoled him and was petting him as he went to kitty heaven it scares me. To go through the way I have felt the last 2 months is the worst. I have never lost a parent and don’t even want to think about how that will be.

God Bless You. Thanks for your insight and sharing you experiences. It gives those of us whose hearts are crushed right now hope that things will get better,

Sincerely,

Keith from TX

Mark, I sent in a story about our rescue basset, Romeo, whom we lost to cancer and diabetes a year ago. We now have another rescue basset, kirby, who was diagnosed three weeks ago with diabetes. he is old also, and we have had him less than a year, but he is on daily insulin therapy and is improving. he reminds me so much of your sprite in that he is the happiest most loving dog ever, always smiling and waggling his tail. attitude is everything, that’s what we’re learning from our kirby. I loved your book. We know what we’re facing, but kirby won’t let us think about it! thank you for everything you do to help the homeless pets. We have four dogs and three cats who all get along just great. they let us live in their”dog house”!!

Sandra from TX

I finished your book Rescuing Sprite last evening with tears streaming down my face…Having had to make that difficult decision with 3 of my beloved dogs over the past 10 years, you captured the agony,anxiety, guilt, second-guessing, and heart felt grief we all experience when the time comes….you are absolutely correct when you expressed “who are we to decide the day, the time, the place”…however, we make such difficult decisions out of unconditional love that we have with these wonderful pets in return for the love they gave to us.

We as humans have much to learn from the dignity and manner in which dogs live their lives….unconditioned love, the spirit of enjoying the simple things in life; a good walk,; a ride in the car,; the “smells” of the day; the breeze in their face….and they don’t ask for anything in return!!

My mother died 5 years ago after battling cancer…in a very real sense going through the difficult process with my pets helped me cope with the heart wretching loss of my mother…

I saw a poster years ago that says it all….”I want to be the person my dog thinks I am” God Bless your family and “the boys”.

Deborah from NY

Dear Mark:
My husband and I picked up your book at our Border’s Book Store and I sat in one of their comfortable chairs to begin reading. Well, I knew this would be a book I would truly enjoy, but as emotional as I am about our animals, past and present, I would have to do it alone. I chose to read it in the comfort of our bedroom after my husband left for work. What a powerful read. I sat here and bawled my eyes out, wiped my nose continuously, trying to get myself under control. You are a credit to the reading public. My dad brought my first dog into my life when I was 8 yrs. old and I’ve always had one to three dogs ever since. They are so precious to have in a family. My mother always tells me “not to trust anyone that doesn’t love animals” and she is so right.

We just recently lost our precious daschund “Booger” on October 9, 2007, we moved from a home in another city to our home now and we’ve always had our dogs spayed and neutered. That was in 2005, he did ok, but just ballooned up and you know how stressful that is on their long bodies, he ended up throwing up so many times then had bleeding when he would try to use the bathroom from the other end. The most pathetic thing that just broke me down was that he would stand at his water bowl and stare at it then lay down with his chin on the edge. If he chose to drink anything it was one to two laps and then he would throw up a little bit later. I asked the vet why he would do that and he told me that Booger knew he needed water, but was afraid to as the outcome was sickness. I thought to myself, people say dogs are dumb, boy, they are way far from it. I rushed him down to the vet and they examined him, gave him some meds to make him comfortable and that evening around 7:30, the night vet was checking the cages, she walked by his and he seemed to be if you could call it ok, but not in distress, in the 10 minutes it took her to check the other areas, she walked back by his cage and he had passed away. Of course, she called us with the horrible news and most of our grown kids were at the house and they saw my eyes fill with tears as they are doing now, they immediately knew. (more…)