As I read all the wonderful stories the tears begin to well up in my eyes. I too have a 14 year old Aussie with arthritis, who is hard of hearing and has dimensia. Every day is difficult with him because he is so confused. I do my best to do whatever I can for him as he has brought more love in to my life than I can imagine. He has been an angel here on earth. Everyone who has met him wants a dog just like him. Any thing I can do for him now will only be a small token of what he has done for me. I know the time is drawing near when I will have to make that awful decision and I sometimes cry just looking at him. But I will cherish and enjoy every moment with him. He has truly blessed me. Oh, his name is Levi.

Cheryl from PA

Slurpee is absolutely my best friend. When we rescued her at a month and a half old with whiskers burnt, she hardly wanted anything to do with me, the male owner. After months of love and care she became one of those dogs that is attached to the hip of it’s owner. A runt, Lab/Retriever mix, full grown at 45 pounds; SHE IS PERFECT. Still carries a puppy coat at 3 years old and is the most obedient dog. The cool part of this story is this: I am a basejumper. My dog since the beginning has been around climbing, skydiving, and basejumping. It amazes us all to see her walk with me miles to the top of a cliff in in Moab, just to watch her owner jump. She whines as her nose is over the edge and belly on the rock waiting for me to gear up and jump. As soon as i jump she bolts back down the hill to jump on me. Just mention the words ‘base jumping’, and this dog is in heaven with glee. Thanks for alllowing me to share this experience with my best friend…. Slurpee!

Taylor from CA

We had to put our best friend of 12 years down this last summer, before all of the attention on the book. Worst day of my life. That was one good dog. Kia knew just what we wanted her to do almost without speaking. We’ve since moved on, but there is not a day that goes by, even 7 months later that we don’t miss her. I got your book, and it has been a real comfort.

We had gotten another dog about 9 months before we put Kia down. Her name is Dixie, and she is on fire to love us! She shows such selfless love, and such an excitement to see us, that it made me think of a a video concept to create for pastors and churches to use to demonstrate what our response to God should be. Dogs show unashamed love and devotion to their master, no matter what a shlub he or she is. How much we can learn from Dogs on how to love a loving Father! If you allow links, here it is. I think it demonstrates the essence of what a dog (vs a cat) offers us! http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/8190/the-truth-about-cats-and-dogs

Thanks for the site and the opportunity to co-mingle with others that love animals!!

Mark from CA

Dear Mark
I’m like you I have this so sweet Maltese name Dusty
He had to to have Surgery to have an Anals sac removed now this Surgery,Anastettic put him in to a Diabetic and we have to give him Insulin every day,He is the best little Pet Family Member we ever had and I feel so sad for him when he gets the shots. while he had to be at the Vts for 3 days to get regulated for his Diabetes we would not leave him ina Kennel at night we pick him up and take him abck the next Morning. I wish there wasa way to turn
Diabetes in Dogs around.
I feed him all Oranic food I bake his Cookies since he can not have Sugar he is like ourLittle Boy, Thanks mark for people like you

Helga from WA

Mark:
Just read your book, which I purchased as a gift for my wife, Linda. Unlike Linda, I don’t come close to being a dog lover like she is. But I am closer to being one than ever, since we’ve been married — two and a half years now — and live with our two dogs — Tank, 125lb. great pyr./Lab mix, and Lexi, 75lb. Huskey/germ. shepard mix. Through seeing how Linda cared for the dogs as we began dating, I got the notion that Linda was a loving, thoughtful person.

Maybe this sounds a little strange, but Linda rescued me. I had suffered from five years of repeated rejection when her brother introduced us. I needed love, affection, romance, a home. Linda accepted me and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, and at 53, I was running out of time for such a dream come true.

But the dogs weren’t exactly easy for me to get used to. I felt nervous around them — didn’t want them to touch me or crowd around me, or be around me while eating. Some days I don’t seem to mind, but some days I am bothered quite a bit. The thing is I don’t want to be this way, but it seems I can’t help it. Linda has been very understanding, and she’s noticed that I’m much better now that when we first met. (more…)

I read Rescuing Sprite in one evening about two weeks ago. It touched my heart so much that I recommeded it to all my dog loving friends. Little did I know what was in store for me and my family and that our lives would be changed forever in just a few days.

Our dog Penny was 13.5 years old and was going in on January 4 of this year to have a benign tumor removed from her stomach. My husband and I noticed that she was frequently short of breath a few days prior to her scheduled surgery and so, the day before (January 3 and my husband’s birthday), we took her in to make sure she was in good enough shape to go through the surgery. The vet did an xray and came back with the devastating news–endstage lung cancer and 2 weeks to live. We were stunned and heartbroken. She had been less active lately but we attributed that to her age. We took her home. Two days later we had a party celebrating her life. My son came up from Houston and my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter all came to celebrate. Penny had ribeye steak, grilled sausage, a baked potato with cheese, and cake. We all sat on the floor and everyone, especially Penny, loved the time we had together. (more…)