HE GOT SO SICK AND COULD HARDLY WALK.. MY HEART WAS BROKEN BUT YET HE FOLLOWED ME AROUND THE HOUSE. I FINALLY PUT HIM IN MY BED WITH TOWELS AND LAID DOWN WITH HIM. I TOLD HIM I LOVE HIM AND THAT IT WAS OK IF HE DIED THAT I WOULD UNDERSTAND. IT WOULD BREAK MY HEART BUT IT WAS OK AS I DID NOT WANT HIM TO SUFFER. WITHIN 3 MINS., HE CRAWLED UP ON MY SHOULDER AND PASSED AWAY., I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS CAT OR HOW HE DIED. I AM STILL THINKING ABOUT HIM AND WILL MISS AND LOVE HIM TILL WE ARE JOINED TOGETHER.. NO MATTER WHAT ANIMAL YOU HAVE LOVE THEM AND KNOW YOU ARE THEIR KEEPERS.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL

James from CA

Rescuing Sprite was given to me as a Christmas gift by my wife. It was a great read and wonderful to learn that others are looking to their local shelters to find new companions.

My wife and I adopted our first dog together a little over a year ago. She is a beautiful German Wirehaired Pointer/Terrier cross with the rare wirehaired colouring. Because of my love for the classics, we named her Athena. My wife fell in love with Athena from the start.

Some nine months after adopting Athena, it was evident that our busy lives were not good for having a lone dog. So we began the search for a companion for Athena. That is when we found Eros.

Eros is a Wirehaired Griffon crossed with what I suspect is black lab. When we got Eros, he was in bad shape. He was twenty pounds underweight, he had a tick, kennel cough and influenza. It was also evident that he had been abused in the past as he was quite hand shy.

After taking him to our local vet for a look over, we also learned that he had had Parvo virus as a pup and survived! As a result, some of his teeth are deformed and his top front teeth had to be pulled.

Even after all of this, Eros surprised me in his demeanor. In the six months we have had him, never once has he nipped in anger, displayed aggression, or woke up grumpy. Matter of fact, he tends to decide that I need to be up by 7am every morning just so I can play with him! Oh, and he figures that his 50 pound frame is a suitable size for being a lap dog (amazingly, he can curl himself into a smaller ball than Athena).

Athena, being true to her German bloodline, tends to be aloof and grumpy at times. Eros, however, lets his sister’s grumpiness roll off his shoulders and is willing to greet any visitors Athena decides she does not like (to the point of giving away the house).

These two have been wonderful additions to our family and I hope to have many years with them.

Thank you for writing your story, Mark.

Travis from CA

Dogs are smarter than most people,and so are most of the other domestic and wild animals.We can learn from them, pure honesty and pure loyalty… for example… way out in the middle of nowhere… the deer and the rabbits on my farm are not scared of my dogs…. and the dogs are not allowed to chase or hunt them, even if its against what a dog is born to do. On the other hand I hunt and kill and eat those animals myself and put them in the freezer. When i harvest these animals, (yes im a farmer) i do it in the wild enviroment… not on my farm… please excuse my bad grammer and spelling.

I guess my point is that animals, wild and domestic, actually know there place in life more than us humans do…the wild free ones seem to know that they are safe in the front yard…..and also know they are open targets when out in the woods…..there is a hidden message in this …..i think LOL………just for the record im 4th generation farmer and i work in oil field to afford to farm…..fair warning..produce does not grow in the back of the local market….when the s#!t goes down you city folks are goona be in a world of hurt and we wont be able to help you when we have to just take care of our own…..true conservatives ,”bring home the bacon”..they actually feed the people. (more…)

Mark,
My friend gave me a copy of your book for Christmas. I just finished it tonight. What a wonderful and heartfelt story.

I am so sorry for you and your family for your loss of your beloved Sprite. I too have a story about a wonderful dog, who touched my life in ways I can never truly explain. In December 1991 my mother and I found ourselves at a Petsmart store in Lewisville, Texas. I was 15 years old and we had gone to the store because the Lewisville Pound had scheduled an adoption day. My mom and I went to the store that day to adopt a little dog for my grandfather who was going to be visiting us for Christmas from Joplin, Missouri. So we went that day to the Petsmart….and that was a day that forever changed my life. For on that day, I met my dear friend Willie. He was a 5 year old Miniature Dachshund, brown with the cutest little smile and wagging tail you could ever see. So we adopted him and took him home with us. I was tasked to care for Willie in the weeks leading up to my grandpa coming. Willie and I spent every moment together for those two weeks. He slept in my bed with me…we went for walks…we bonded. So the time came and my grandpa came into town for Christmas. To my surprise, my mom had decided that if I wanted, I could keep Willie and we could get my grandpa another dog (which we did). So from December 1991 until July 2006 I had my beloved friend Willie the Weenie Dog. He went off to college with me. When I married, he came into my new home with me. He was the best dog in the world. (more…)

I finished reading Rescuing Sprite a week ago. It helped me to deal with the
grief I have been living with since December 18th.

“Dreamer’s” story is both bitter and sweet. I hope you do not mind it’s brief telling.
My sister mated her female Scottish Terrier and promised my son, then nine years
old, with the “pick of the litter” when they were to be born in January of 2001. Of the six puppies we picked out the “runt”. She was tinier than the others and mewed the loudest for food and attention. We waited earnestly for the moment we could take her home.
She became the third dog member of our household. Wilbur, the Cocker Spaniel,
looked at her with the “oh my gosh, what did they do” glare. Penny, a rescued Beagle/Shepherd mix, who was a sweet and mild dog, took to Dreamer right away.

Three weeks later tragedy struck. Dreamer stopped eating and struggled to even walk. She had seizures that made her legs on the same side go forward at the same time. Obviously, she would topple over. The first vet thought it was a
blockage in her intestines. The Ultrasound showed something even more dangerous.
She had a liver shunt. The main veins that connected to the liver were
unconnected and dumping her blood into the abdomen. Her liver was the size of a pea. We were devastated but, endured two operations that had our little puppy at
the veterinarian hospital for a longer period than she was in our home. On the second trip to surgery I held her in my arms and told her that I would rather
her die against my chest than in the arms of a stranger. (more…)

I lost two of my best friends in the last seven months Mother and daugher labs Their names were Angel and Daisy. I just purchased your book thinking it will help me go on I can only read a few pages at a time for it breaks my heart even more just because you are writing every thing I feel and most people dont understand. I miss my dogs terribly.

Daisy was only eight she had cancer in her leg we had her leg removed but within ayear the cancer got her her mom Angel was thirteen and she really went down hill after we lost Daisy. She had strokes and we put her down . It was six months apart that I lost two loves of my life.

Though I am lucky I have a husband that loves me and loved the dogs. I dont think he understands the heartache and just going on everyday without them I miss them terribly. I have two wonderful children and two grandchildren who mean everything to me . But so did my dogs. I do have Lily a two year lab who loves us and we love her but what a difference coming home missing a big part of the family.

Deborah from NY