Dear Mark,

“Rescuing Sprite” was a Christmas gift from our daughter, who had to bury her face in it to hide her tears as she perused it in the bookstore. I knew then that it would be a painful, yet important book to read, and I was correct on both points.

On November 29, 2007 we had to make the agonizing decision to end the life of our little Lhasa Apso, Tasha, who shared her life with us for 14 1/2 years. She is the only pet we ever owned, having joined our family just one year after our marriage. She was diagnosed in February 2007 with a bladder tumor known as transitional cell carcinoma. Although the initial diagnosis was both shocking and upsetting, it was nothing compared to the grief we would experience at the end of her life. We agreed that due to her age and other health conditions (severe hearing and visual loss, arthritis, heart arrythmmia and murmur), that we would treat the tumor conservatively with oral medication offered by the vet rather than traumatize the rest of her life with painful, protracted procedures. We chose instead to love her and pamper her more than ever until her dying day.

The agony of having to decide when another living being’s life will end seems somehow to be an inappropriate, cruel task to hand anyone. We feared making the wrong decision–before it was absolutely necessary, thus ending a good life too soon, or worse–not recognizing the signs early enough to prevent unnecessary suffering. In the end, it was obvious when the day came what we had to do.

Our lives have not been the same since she left us one month ago. Having had both our daughters marry during 2007, our “house is not a home” without Tasha. As they say, “the silence is deafening”. There isn’t a day that we don’t think about her and miss her terribly. Many times I have held her blanket to my face and deeply inhaled, trying to find a trace of her scent still there.

We believe the best way to honor her is to “rescue” a Lhasa from a shelter at some point, but it’s hard to know when is the right time. I hope that just as we knew when her life was about to end, we will know when we are ready to invest in that kind of love again.

Thank you for the hard work it must have been to write this book.

Jan from IN

Hi Mark,

I finished your book last night with my trusty Miniature Schnauzer Murphy laying in bed next to me. I got Murphy from a Schnuazer rescue organization in Cincinnati 3 years ago – he was found roaming the streets of Cincinnati with his daughter. She’d probably been hit by a car judging by an injured hip that caused her quite a bit of pain and difficulty getting around. She’s since been fixed up and placed in a wonderful adoptive home. One of Murphy’s quirks is that he’s very protective of me when we go on our walks – there is no dog, big or small, that he will not stand up to. Matter of fact, he even challenges horses that cross our paths! This leads me to believe that Murphy’s time on the streets was spent protecting and caring for his daughter until they both found a better life – what a dog!

I had to say goodbye to my last Schnauzer (Maxie) several years ago. As with Spritey in your case, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Shortly after that, I saw a Linda Bowles column named Remembering Odie, a tribute to her wonderful dog Odie that she and her husband Warren had to put-down several years ago. After reading Linda’s story I wrote to her; her reply to me was warm and opened a small window to show a side of her not normally seen in her politically-charged commentaries. I have a website that includes her Remembering Odie column, and a couple of the emails that she and I shared between us. If you’ve not read that column, I think you’ll enjoy it. That site is http://webpages.charter.net/maako/Linda/odie.htm

Thanks for your book. Thanks for rescuing dogs that only ask for love, food and shelter, in return for a lifetime of devotion.

Mark from MI

I’m only 14 years young, and I’ve only had one loss of a dog in my lifetime, but this story really got me. My dad got it for me for Christmas, and we went on a roadtrip after that- I read 100 pages there, 100 pages back. I smiled, cried, & laughed throughout this whole book, and the entire time I thought of my doggies. I have always loved dogs, but after reading this story, I really put a different point of view into the life of my dogs.

After the loss of my first golden retriever, Bandit, I was only 11 years old. Yes, I cried, and I was extremely sad, but I knew we needed another dog to lifen things up. We got a golden/sheperd mix named Sunny, and he was a handful I’m telling you. Bandit died in May of 2003, and we got Sunny some time later. Then, in November of 2003, my mom died. We went up to NY for her funeral (we were originally from there) and I stayed up a little bit longer then the rest of my family. I came home, and Sunny was gone. I asked my dad what happened, and he said we couldn’t handle him any more, so he gave them to a shelter (but I made sure the shelter didn’t kill the animals). I was crushed, especially because of my mom’s death.

In January, I wasn’t getting much better in the greiving process, and I knew we needed a new canine friend around the house. My dad was set on getting a golden, so I told him there were golden puppies at petsmart (even though i had no clue if they had them or not :]). We took off there, and he realized after we got there I was lying about the goldens. He wanted to leave, but I fell in love with a black lab/austrailian cattledog mix puppy. She had been thrown out of a car window when she was a pup, I thought that was horrible. I told my dad we had to have her, so he gave in, and eventually fell in love with her too. Her name is Sasha, shes 3, and shes still apart of our family.

About two years later, I was searching on the web for goldens, because I knew my dad was missing Bandit. I knew he deffinately didn’t want another dog, but I still wanted to look. I found golden retriever pups about a half hour away from where we lived, and I convined my dad to just go look (I have no idea how I did it, but I did). We got there, and my dad couldn’t leave without one. We weren’t sure how Sasha would act, so we told them we would take him home and see how things went. They went great, and now we have a 1 year old boy, named Kaiden. Sasha and Kaiden get along great, and Sprite and Pepsi greatly remined me of them.

Thanks for reading this, and have a happy new year! Give Pepsi and Griffen my love.

Kathleen from NC

I cut a tree in my yard and found a tiny birds nest that was carefully made with hair from Sassy.She was our last to pass away.We saved the nest to remind us that God never makes anything useless or throws anything away.We suffered a lot when Sassy left us, but not as much as she did. You never know when to let go, but I guess you always believe you could have done better. We miss her so much, but we have a perfectly preserved birds nest crafted from her so very soft and beautiful hair, it’s as though we’ve been sent another look. Words cannot express.

George from GA

Hi Mark,
Just wanted to tell you that I read your book, and it inspired me to go look at the local shelter… I saw the sweetest puppy and knew I couldn’t walk away and leave him there! I adopted “Brinkley” on December 17th, and I love this dog so much! He is such a good boy! Just wanted you to know that you were responsible for getting me down there at the right time to adopt this special dog!

Carrie from CA

P.S. if you talk to Rush, tell him I want to marry him!

Mark & Family,

Thank you for sharing your wonderful story about Rescuing Sprite and Pepsi.
I finished reading your book late last night; my Dad sent me your book for my birthday.

I read the whole book in one night. I sobbed, smiled, and sobbed some more. Your book touches my heart, as I have been where you were with Sprite, with several of my dogs, and one cat. It is not easy having to make such a decision to end your best friend’s life. And why oh, why they just do not go on their own-just pass on to the rainbow bridge without us having to nudge them along is something I will have such a hard time with for the rest of my life! I am with you completely when you said in your book, “to end his life, and to know you-are ending his life, this day, this hour and here at this place”. It is the hardest emotional roller coaster to have to endure!!!!

I still have our Chloe’ Cat’s and our Gonzo Girl-dog’s ashes in cedar boxes on my desk her at our house. There is never a day that passes, I do not think of them. They are here with me in spirit. Along with my mother, too.
They are my Angels.

Thank you again, for sharing your story with me & the rest of the world! (more…)