Mark,
I find this a difficult message to write. I just lost my Tinker Bell on Tuesday, 12-18-07 @ 7:59PM due to a sudden illness. I am 59 years old and have had dogs most of my life. This one got to me. I feel she was sent to me by God to make me a better person. I feel confident that we share the same feelings which is why I ordered 3 of your books. I will give one to each of my children that currently have dogs.

I have always been told to watch the eyes of whomever you are in contact with as they are the windows to the soul. My Tinker had beautiful eyes and you could see right into her heart. She had nothing but love and devotion towards my wife, me and 12 cats. We all miss her. The cats are amazing as they keep looking for her.

I can’t wait to get the book so that I can try to understand what is going on with me right now. I can not get over the loss. I know I will eventually.
I have tried and tried to think of the bad things that she did and I can not think of one. I have never had an animal that has effected me this way.

She is missed.

Thank you for allowing us to send our rambling stories. I realize that most are just sad stories.
All the best to you and your family including Sprite.

Ronald fromTX

Lex attended the funeral of his best friend in March, playing with the 20-year-old Marine’s younger brother away from the crowd. He was beside Cpl. Dustin Lee when Lee was killed in a mortar attack in Falluja.

Wounded himself, Lex didn’t want to leave Lee’s side after the attack — fellow Marines had to pull him away from the young man’s body so medics could do their work.

Although some shrapnel remains in his body, Lex recovered from his wounds and returned to duty at the Marines’ Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia, to await a new assignment.

On Friday, Lex gets that new assignment — retirement to Lee’s family home in Quitman, Mississippi, where the 8-year-old bomb-sniffing German Shepherd will live out the rest of his life.

Jerome Lee, the young Marine’s father, lobbied the Marines hard for months to adopt the dog. Marine officials initially told Lee that it would be no problem to get the dog. But persuading the service to give up Lex before the dog’s mandatory retirement at age 10 proved to be a challenge. (more…)

Dear Readers,
I have just finished reading Rescuing Sprite. This book touched me in ways I was surprised about. Like Mark, I had to put my male boxer, Max, down in April of 2006. Max was sick for a long time with cancer. He started with a tumor on his right hind leg when he was about 5 and a half. We had just brought home another boxer puppy we named Penny. From the first day he adored her and soon she became “his puppy.” They were inseperable. They slept together in a cooning position every night in “their House.” We refinished our house shortly after Penny came home and under the back stairs we made a “den” which they LOVED! It has a big huge soft bed and they would frequently go in and snuggle together keeping each other warm and company.

After Max was diagnosed with cancer we began the long process of removing the tumors and watching him recover, only to discover another tumor a few months later. But each surgery allowed him to keep going and be with us. He was NEVER unpleasant-always amazing after surgery! What an attitude and I know it had to be uncomfortable. He also suffered with arthritis when he was about 7 and couldn’t sit down in a normal sitting position like most dogs. It never stopped him-whenever he heard the basketball bouncing it was as if the “puppy fairy” threw puppy dust on him and he ran around ignoring the pain chasing the ball.

Finally, when he was almost nine, he became sick to his stomach alot and had many episodes of unstoppable diiarreaha. We would take him to Oradell Animal Hospital and they would give him pills that would stop him for a week or so but as soon as the medicine would run out he would start again. Finally, I knew it was just time. I took him and Penny to our vet after giving him his favorite breakfast, cinnamon toast. We all went in together and they were very kind. As Penny and I sat with Max on the floor I felt panicked and tremendously sad. I realized for the first time I think how final death is. His head was in my lap and Penny, seemed to know-amazingly-and stopped being hyper-my dogs both LOVED the vet’s office-and laid down next to us. It was one of the worst and best things I ever did. Worst because it hurt SOOOOO much and still does! Best because it was probably the kindest thing I could do for him. He would have suffered tremendously. He was almost 9 when he died-not long enough for the kind old guy with the big brown eyes. We still miss him. In fact Penny’s favorite spot in our backyard is right where we buried his ashes. I appreciate Mark’s book, it made me feel better about what I did and leaves me with great memories in my heart of my dog, Max. Thanks for letting me share too.

Jennifer from NJ

Mr. Levin –
Thank you so much for sharing your story. This touched my heart strings and helped me grieve over the loss of my Shih Tzu, Cody. He had an enlarged heart for many years and it came down to congestive heart failure. He wasn’t moving much and breathing so hard at the end. He wagged his tail the day I decided this was the end of the trail. It was the most difficult decision I’ve made. Thank you again for helping me, with Cody’s passing.

Vicki from TX

I enjoyed reading your book even though a lot of the time I was trying to read while crying, wiping my eyes and nose and wiping tears off the pages of the book. I also liked reading about Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and how they supported you. That just reinforced what I already thought about them both. I had a black lab mix for over 14 years and he got to where he had to be carried out to go to the bathroom. One day I finally decided this was no way for man nor dog to live. I took him to the vet and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I know how you felt that day. My wife and I didn’t want to go through that again and we didn’t have a dog until one day in 2002 I rescued “Belew” from the pound and we have enjoyed her being a part of our family ever since. She is the most loving, sweetest dog I have ever seen. Mark, Sprite was lucky you found her and gave her the love and care that she needed. Now I also know what kind of human being you are, a Good Man with a Good Heart! Take Care and thanks for sharing Sprite with all of us who love animals. I also ordered a signed copy of your book for my brother for Christmas. I’ll be listening to you on the radio. Merry Christmas!!

R.C. from NC

In 1986 our 14 year-old mixed lab dog was sitting next to me on the floor about midnight, he got up to walk into my 4-year old son’s room as he always slept next to my son’s bed. He couldn’t get up, his back legs were paralyzed. We suspected the worse and my wife took him to the vet (I couldn’t) the next day—the situation was permanent and he was put down. We adopted two mixed yellow lab pups a week later. They got away from our yard three years later and didn’t make it back. We were devastated for months and months. We advertised immediately with large paid ads in the Bismarck Tribune (ND). We parked my pickup truck with a large banneron each side (TWO YELLOW LABS MISSING–REWARD) at a busy intersection every day for weeks and weeks. The worst time of my life. We couldn’t sleep, if we heard any noise outside in the middle of the night, I’d get up and pray it was our dogs. (more…)