I just read your book having found it on a bookstall at Leeds railway station. I hope lots of other people find it there too. Thank you for being brave enough to write it. So many people are afraid to say how much they grieve for their lost pets because they think people won’t respect their feelings. Hopefully your book will help such people to know it’s OK to grieve deeply for our beloved pets.

Your Sprite looks very like one of our golden retrievers, Tuppy, who died 15 years ago now. She used to follow me wherever I went and was very gentle and sweet natured. I’ve had dogs all my life (I’m in my sixties now) but they are all still with me in spirit.

I can’t tell you about all of them but we now have two rescue dogs – JD, an 11-year-old Welsh Springer Spaniel, who is a glorious madcap like many spaniels, and Kita, a 12-year-old Japanese Akita x German Shepherd. Kita was very scared when we first had her seven years ago and had clearly had a bad time in the past, but years of love and care later she is calm and happy, and people now see her laughing instead of commenting always as they used to when we first had her on how very sad her expression was.

We got Kita (and a dear elderly dog Tanya who had the most wonderful smile you ever saw, and who died five years ago after six years of happy life with us) from the Leeds branch of the British national charity The Dogs Trust, who never put any healthy dog put to sleep. They re-home thousands of dogs every year and if they can’t find homes for them they care for them themselves. They have no State support and live entirely on donations. Could some of the proceeds of the UK sales of your book go to the Dogs Trust? I expect they could help sell copies of the book, too.

Pat from England

Hello Mark,
I have just finished reading your book Rescuing Sprite.
I felt comfort in reading it as I just lost my best friend Sandy on December 6th 2007.
I am still grieving over her.
I had her nine years and was blessed to have had her.
She tore the muscels and legiments in her back left leg and her other three legs were weak and unstable. She also had high emzynes in her liver.
The vet said she would not make it through surgery and thus I had to make the tough decision of putting her to sleep.
I have her ashes and those of another dog I had named bear and they sit on the headboard of the bed next to me.
I have left instructions with my wife and grown children that they are to be buried with me when my time comes.
Thank you for a wonderful book. It is helping me to cope more with Sandy’s passing.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
My condolences to you and your family for the loss of Sprite.
Sincerely

Mike from NY

My husband gave me a copy of your book
” Rescuing Sprite”

I wanted to tell you it took a lot of courage to write that. I had lost two of my best friends in one year, 5 years ago and although a good writer have not been able to bring myself to put pen to paper on my life with them. It took me 5 years to get over helping both my kitty, Barney who helped me survive a nasty divorce and my beloved Matisse, my german warmblood mare. One poem I I have in my office that helps me, it is written by an anoyomous auther is this;

In Loving Memory

God saw you were getting tired and a Cure was not to be So he put His arms around you And whispered ” Come to Me”
With tearful eyes I watched
As you began to fade away
Although I loved you dearly
I could make you stay
A golden heart stopped beating
Strong, soft paws came to rest
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the very best
I got this from the petloss grief site. I highly recomment it

We have a rescue horse now and also a beautiful 14 yr old rescue rotti

Kathi from NY

Dear Mark,

I read your book and had to put it down 5 or more times to wipe my tears. I am a retired cop who lost many friends on 9,11. I went through many months of dipression, I was withdrawn and had a very hard time dealing with what had happened and the loss of many friendsAnd then Kia my sheltie came into my life: She instantly lifted my spirits and brought such joy into my life. The unconditional love and sweetness filled my heart and renewed my soul.

There is not a day goes by that I dont thank god for bringing her to me. Im retired now and spend every day with her and will cherish every day of her life. Your book touched me, and made me love her even more if that is possible. Thank you for sharing your story and my prayers and sympathy is with you and your family over your lost sprite God bless you.

Dominick from NJ

Good afternoon Mark,

I just finished Rescuing Sprite last night. I had to send you a message to thank you for writing about Pepsi and Sprite. First and foremost – what a wonderful story! I have felt your pain and I have a similar story. The fact that you poured your heart out on paper makes me happy and it let me know that it’s okay to lose weight and be depressed over the loss of a dog. There are SO many who flat out don’t understand what it’s like. I think I handled my Grandfather’s passing better than I did my first rescued Greyhound named Petro.

I grew up with Schnauzers and wanted a dog of my own after college. I accidentally ran into a Greyhound rescue group visiting Petsmart one day in 2000. Two weeks later I adopted a seven year old male named Petro. He was beautiful, majestic, and as sweet as can be. His previous owner adopted him from the race track and had him for four years. The owner didn’t have time for him anymore. I knew there were pitfalls about adopting an older one, but there were benefits, too. Petro knew what stairs were, what mirrors were, how to walk on a leash, etc. These are all things that fresh Greys off the track are not familiar with. To make a long story short, Petro was out at a family ranch one afternoon, eight short months after adopting him running that full out, 40 mph Greyhound sprint when he broke his leg and barrel rolled across the field. He howled in pain. I FELT it. After an hour to the nearest emergency vet with his front wrist swelling by the minute, the vet advised that Petro be brought back to Dallas to a specialty vet. The vet saw Petro and after several x-rays, claimed that the reason Petro’s leg shattered was because he had Osteosarcoma all throughout his arm, shoulder, scapula. (more…)

Good afternoon Mark,

I just finished Rescuing Sprite last night. I had to send you a message to thank you for writing about Pepsi and Sprite. First and foremost – what a wonderful story! I have felt your pain and I have a similar story. The fact that you poured your heart out on paper makes me happy and it let me know that it’s okay to lose weight and be depressed over the loss of a dog. There are SO many who flat out don’t understand what it’s like. I think I handled my Grandfather’s passing better than I did my first rescued Greyhound named Petro.

I grew up with Schnauzers and wanted a dog of my own after college. I accidentally ran into a Greyhound rescue group visiting Petsmart one day in 2000. Two weeks later I adopted a seven year old male named Petro. He was beautiful, majestic, and as sweet as can be. His previous owner adopted him from the race track and had him for four years. The owner didn’t have time for him anymore. I knew there were pitfalls about adopting an older one, but there were benefits, too. Petro knew what stairs were, what mirrors were, how to walk on a leash, etc. These are all things that fresh Greys off the track are not familiar with. To make a long story short, Petro was out at a family ranch one afternoon, eight short months after adopting him running that full out, 40 mph Greyhound sprint when he broke his leg and barrel rolled across the field. He howled in pain. I FELT it. After an hour to the nearest emergency vet with his front wrist swelling by the minute, the vet advised that Petro be brought back to Dallas to a specialty vet. The vet saw Petro and after several x-rays, claimed that the reason Petro’s leg shattered was because he had Osteosarcoma all throughout his arm, shoulder, scapula. It was spreading and there was nothing that could be done. I put him down that day. I expected surgery, pins, e-collars, whatever – but not that. Afterwards, I beat myself up thinking “the leg could have been amputated! He could have had treatments! And rehab! What did I do?” I would bolt out of bed crying hysterically at all hours of the night. I took time from work. I, like you, made a photo album and kept it by my bed.

I knew that I needed help, and I knew there was a dog that needed mine. Shortly after I adopted Gable’s Cadbury aka Cadbury. A huge red and white male that was “released” from a race track in Corpus Christi. He was two. I picked him up from a lady in Ft. Worth and he had scabs everywhere, a huge puncture wound under his chin, you could count his ribs and he smelled terrible. I took him home, bathed him, cleaned his wound, fed him, talked to him and told him that I loved him already and he went straight to his new bed. I taught him stairs, leashes, mirrors, how to speak, and he is my best friend. I also adopted his half sister, Cassie aka Chica’s Gail. They are hilarious and the most loving dogs. (more…)