I heard about Rescuing Sprite on Sean Hannity’s show.

My wife brought home a beagle from a pet rescue 5 years ago. We were told that Katie was 8, turns out she was 10 and from a bad past. We were committed to making up for Katie’s bad past.

Katie brought tremendous joy to our house, along with a few challenges. She came to be a companion for Benny, a beagle that we have had since he was a pup. Benny was 3 when we brought Katie home. The 2 immediately bonded.

A few months ago, we almost lost Katie, that’s when I realized that time may be short. I decided to help prepare I would order Mark’s book for my wife and give it to her for Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, we took both Benny & Katie to the vet for Benny’s annual, and a follow up visit for Katie and what we thought was a urinary tract infection. Katie had recently not been as hungry as normal, and had been turning her nose up at food, very unlike a beagle!

The vet took the urine sample, looked at Katie’s gums and noticed that they were not a pink as they should be, and he found high levels of creatine in her urine. He recommended an MRI.

We took Katie immediately to have the MRI, and the vet’s worst fears confirmed. Her spleen had been bleeding into her abdomen, and she had masses on her liver. When I asked how long, he said 1-day to 1-week. We were crushed, not the news that you want on Christmas. We committed to take Katie home and spoil her like normal, and try to keep her comfortable until she passed on her own. We didn’t want to have to put her down unless she was in great pain.

I gave Mark’s book to my wife that evening as part of her Christmas gifts, and we both sobbed uncontrollably. She began reading the book immediately.

My wife finished the book on Saturday night, Katie was in bed between us, where she always slept, and Benny was at the foot of the bed.

Around 3:30 AM Sunday, I woke up, not sure why, Katie was still there, breathing very shallow. A few moments later she looked at me and took her last breath. At least she was with us, in her favorite place. We fell short of 5 years by 1-month, but we know she had a great 5-years, what a great friend & companion. We miss her terribly.

Thank you Mark, for your book. It comforted my wife more than I can say.

Keep up the great work you do on your radio program!

Dan from IL

I don’t remember how my first dog, Snuffy, died but I’ll never forget how Blackie and Bridie died. Blackie attacked the rear tire of a moving car and it rolled over him. Many years later Bridie got sick and my parents had to “put her down” while I was away at school. I witnessed Blackie’s very painful death which didn’t happen immediately after the accident. The car and driver sped off totally unaware of what had happened. I saw Blackie attack the tire, heard him yelp, and ran to him as quickly as I could. I didn’t know what to do but I knew that my father would know, so I ran to find him.
I was seven and we were living in Bayport, Long Island. We had recently moved to a house after living in an apartment and I was thrilled to live in my new home. For one thing, it was new. It smelled new, it looked new and it was as bright and shiny as I was. I had a fort in the backyard and a tree house both of which my Dad had helped build. For Christmas the year Blackie died I had gotten a Roy Rogers western outfit set complete with a cowboy hat, a tooled leather belt with holster and a pearl handled six-shooter. Added to this I had a red Hook and Ladder pedal car. Dad had even made a push-pole that he would use to “power” my car and make it go like stink. I may have not been the coolest kid on the block but I thought I was. But what good are all these things without a
friend to share them with. That friend was my dog Blackie.
An Imperfect Plan 3

Blackie helped me defend my fort from Indian attacks. He followed me every time I raced to put out three alarm fires. He helped me track down stray cattle lost in the arroyos. Wherever I went, Blackie was my sidekick. We had a big field behind our house that belonged to my grammar school and we used to play there every day. I would throw a stick and Blackie would bring it back. I would throw it again and he would bring it back again. I could throw it underhand, overhand, behind my back, anyway I could throw it he would bring it back. Neither of us tired of our roles: I would throw, he would fetch. It was a law of nature to a boy of seven. Life was so good for this lad and his dog, that is, until the day the car drove by and quickly sped off.
I found my Dad in the house and he wrapped Blackie in a blanket and we brought him closer to the house. Whimpering in pain, he died in our arms before we could get him to the veterinarian. When Blackie died I didn’t know how to deal with it. Being raised as a Catholic I knew that when you die, God welcomes you to heaven. I assumed that Blackie would be there waiting for me when I died. I asked my Mom about this and she said, “Only people go to heaven”. In response to my cries about where would Blackie go she said, “He’ll go to pet heaven”. Was this true or was she just trying to make me stop crying? Worse than losing Blackie was the shock that God didn’t want my pal to be in heaven with me.
“He doesn’t have a soul”, my Mother said as she tried to comfort me. To her, this was why we were chosen by God to go to heaven: we had souls. I didn’t want a soul at
that point, I wanted my dog. (more…)

Mark, I lost my precious chocolate lab Heidi Dec. 7th this year at the same time you lost Sprite. I cannot believe how similar our stories are. End the life of a beloved friend shouldn’t be easy. The guilt I felt was beyond what I could have imagined. Combined with a grief like I have never experienced.

My mother gave me your book for Christmas and I just finished it New Year’s night. While I come from the opposite end of the political spectrum, We will always be brothers because of our relationships with dogs. Two days before Christmas I adopted a shelter dog to fill the hole in my heart. I can see that we have healed each other. To know what love is requires risk. That in turn sets us up for pain but the love and joy are more powerful.

Robert from MI

Mark,

I just finished your book and it was great! What drew me to your book was your two dogs’ names Pepsi and Sprite. My Sprite was born on June the 2nd 1998 and his mother’s name was Pepsi. We were living in IL at the time and had just lost a wonderful dog by the name of WeBit. My other dog Thunder was lonely for her friend so we find a dog in the want ads. When we went to visit we fell in love with this cute puppy that was more white than yellow and my two sons decided that we should name him Sprite.

My Sprite just died this morning at 0410. He had Lymphoma/Leukemia. He was diagnosed with this disease in early October. We took him to a Cancer vet in Seattle where he was treated and his life was extended until today. Because we knew this was coming we picked up a puppy so that our other dog, Scamp, would not be terribly. Scamp has lived with Sprite since he was five weeks old and we wanted him to have a buddy when Sprite finally left. We saw what happen to Sprite we Thunder died in Dec 2000 after being hit by a car. Sprite went from being a two year old puppy and lost interest in chasing and retrieving balls and not wanting to stay outside for long periods of time like he had as a younger dog. I am sure Scamp will ultimately be affected by the loss of Sprite, but he has come to accept Loki as part of the pack and hopefully he will stay himself.

I guess that’s it for now I have had many dogs over the past 31 years. They have all been characters with their own personality. I have had the make the decision twice to put dogs down and twice we lost dogs tragically. While we knew Sprite’s days were numbered, yesterday when we went to bed I thought I would being making that tough decision today. God was kind to us all and took him in his sleep.

Ron from WA

I got “Rescuing Sprite” as a Christmas present from my boyfriend. I read it in one night. I too laughed and cried. I would now like to tell you about my baby, a mini Schnauzer, Dixie. I got her when she was two years old and thought she was well, turns out she had a thyroid problem and a skin problem. They were both treated fairly easy with medications.

As my Dixie got older both conditions got worse and she got a disease known as Addisions’. I had to put her down. She was 14 and I like most people who have ever had to make that decision struggled with if I did the right thing I know I did and that she is in good company. I know she had a better life because of me and my family.

Kimberly from CA

I just finished reading Rescuing Sprite right after Christmas. I had received the book for my birthday in mid November from a friend. At the time our dog, Duncan, a Flat-coated Retriever/Samoyed mix, age 13 yrs., had just the week before been diagnosed with Blastomycosis, a fungal infection. The vet said he probably didn’t have long. I started the book and had to put it aside. On Nov. 27 we had to let Duncan go as he could no longer get himself up. This was one of the hardest things I have had to do.

This book is such a well written beautiful book. I know I couldn’t have read it when I received it but the timing was right to read it after Christmas. Of course I cried through the last half of the book. Mark, you state so well what so many of us go though with our dogs. Thank you.

Cheryl from MN