Mark,

I finished the book. I knew going in id be emotionally done in, and i was. i have 2 goldens,, 4 and 5.. one male, one female. and i cant imagine when the time will come or how i will manage. god blessed you with a special gift for a very short time. and you have blessed us with the sharing of that tale. i know sprite will live on in your memories every day of your life. and he will be in my thoughts often. i know its been a while now, but im sorry for your loss. it takes a certain courage to face something of this nature, and to overlook the pain, and share it. i will always thank you for that.

Jeff from CA

My mom lost her 18 year old cat recently. I was going to buy Rescuing Sprite for myself but instead I bought it and sent it to her for Christmas. She just wrote me this message: “I finished that book of Sprite last night. One of the best books I have ever read and I did cry about 4 times with tears running down my cheeks. Thank you, love Mom”.

Soon I will buy the book for myself, as I still miss all the animals I’ve loved and lost.

Lori from NV

I just finished your book. I got it as a xmas present. I had to let my little geddy go on 10/05/07. He was a long haired dachshund. He had became paralyzed for the third time. His first surgery lasted 4 years. There were some rough times but he could walk. The second surgery only lasted 6 months before he couldn’t walk again. I couldn’t bear to put him through another surgery, but I also didn’t want to let him go. He was only nine years old, but his back was a mess. He had bone disease from front to back. I had bought him for my wife in 1999. We split up in 2001 and she told me I could have him because she knew how close I was to him.

Ever since the day my wife left, it was just me and geddy alone until I had to let him go. I had family, but it was just me and him in the house. I liked it just being me and him and I never felt lonely. When i went to work, I would drop him off at the “babysitter’s” house and pay her monthly. The only time he was not with me was when I was at work. I enjoyed your book even though it brought back the memory of the day I let him go and made me cry all over again. His ashes are still in the box I received from the humane society and it sits in his bed like he always did. Thanks for writing the book and reading my story.

Rick from FL

I’m a retired weekly newspaper editor-publisher and have written a personal column for 40 years. This one received more reader response than anything else I have ever written.

Saying Goodbye to Dinkum

I went home from work Tuesday evening for the first time in many, many years without the expectation of seeing Dinkum peering out our front door, patiently waiting for my arrival. She knew my schedule better than I did and hardly ever failed to be at her station just inside the glass-paned door. Sometimes, when I stopped by during the day, she’d be in another part of the house. But in the evenings– hardly ever.

Our daily walks down Wheeler Lane have been a ritual for going on 17 years. The weather or season didn’t matter. I got just as much pleasure — probably more, to tell the truth —slipping into rain gear and slogging toward Cumberland Mountain through a monsoon with her.

As she got older, our walks grew shorter… and slower.
But they continued. Until Tuesday.

I first set eyes on Dink, an Australian shepherd, when she was just a ball of black and white and tan fluff sitting at the bottom of a grocery bag. Julia had asked me to bring in some groceries for her, and when I reached into the back of the van there she was, all big brown trusting eyes and fur, head cocked to one side, looking up at me. Instant love!
We went through obedience school together. She was a good student… made me look good. (more…)

Mark,
I just had to send this to you after reading your book “Rescuing Sprite” and I could not put it down until I finished. I have to tell you there were times I could not see the pages for crying so much. Your story touched my heart so much I am so sorry for your loss.

I have attached some photos of my two babies I have now and an email I sent to a website call “Blind dogs.com. I will get more into that later, first I wanted to tell you about my sweet girl Buffy that I lost in 1999.

On May 24,1990, I went to a Mary Kay makeup party and left with this cute little ball of fur that I did not plan to come home with. The lady hosting the party had just gotten a new puppy about a month before from a puppy mill. Well I said something about I would love to have an inside dog for myself as I have never had one.. Growing up we always had the outside dogs. Buffy was only a couple of weeks old and did not have her teeth yet. She was in terrible shape.. She had a eye infection, worms and they had cut her tail off and it was infected badly.. Needless to say we reported the dog mill and had them shut down. She only weighed one pound and so fragile, but I nursed her back to health and had her for 10 short years. I live alone and it was just her and me and I cannot explain to anyone the special bond we had with each other. The ladies where I worked at that time gave me a puppy shower because I never had children. (more…)

Yesterday, I grabbed a book to read while waiting for a doctor’s appt, the book was “Rescuing Sprite” and I cried for Mark Levin and his family, for Sprite and for my own families loss of our beloved Katie Jayne.

I was in a Pet Smart store one Saturday to buy dog food for yet another dog someone couldn’t wait to get rid of, our little Sugarberry and the local SPCA was there with adoptable dogs and cats, I had no intention of bringing a dog home and every logical thought would have told me not to even consider it but I saw this dog…. While everyone was looking at the puppies and kittens, this black lab mix sat quietly in the pen watching and I never saw such a sweet face or kind eyes on a dog and she grabbed my heart so fast my brain just didn’t catch up. She was six months old, was found in a ditch, she was underweight, had a bowel infection and soon to be put down. When she was taken out of the pen she got in my lap and laid her head on my shoulder and I knew we needed each other. I named her Katie Jayne because she looked like a Katie and because my friend Jayne would laugh at having my dog named after her.

We bought the vet. a new Buick that year but Katie’s health improved and I have never owned a dog so devoted and loving. Katie appreciated and loved being owned and part of our family, From the moment I brough her home she never roamed away from her yard, I honestly doubt that stampeding stallions or the Marine Corp could have driven her away. (more…)