I just received Rescuing Sprite for Christmas last night. My friend gave it to me because just 3 weeks ago I had to put my beloved Golden Retriever down due to splenic hemangiosarcoma. It came on suddenly.

Margie from OH

Hi!
I have had my Abbey since she was 6 months old, abused and left to suffer. Her ears were broken and she had parvo. I didnt understand why my boyfriend brought her home in his arms, because she couldnt even walk, but I thank God he did.

When Abbey was 6, we lost my boyfriend, and I thought Abbey was going to go too, since she was so depressed. She is now 11 years old, and I bought the book to prepare myself I think, because I worry as she gets older…we also have an American Eskimo, and a recent addition, a 9 yo shelter dog we recently adopted named Mr. Magoo. He has not left our side since we adopted him last month!

Thanks for the book, I listen to you on my iPod while driving to work every morning. God Bless

Sharon from MA

Over the last twenty years I have had to say good-bye to four of my furry friends. It is the toughest thing a person has to do. Believe me I have shed many a tear which is something us tough old Vietnam veterans hate to admit.

The one thing I have always done when it comes time to say good-bye is to hold my wonderful pets so that the last thing they see is me and to know how much I loved them. It is tough to watch as the life goes out of their eyes, but I know they took comfort in that I was there at the last holding them as I always have.

They are truly “Angels in Fur Coats”.

A Vet from VA

Dear Mark,

I would like to share the story of a very special bird; a chicken to be exact. I know a chicken isn’t a conventional American pet but Silkie was very special to me and my family. My wife has severe allergies and we are unable to have any furry pets until I found Silkie. She belonged to the daughter of a client of mine who had received her as a chick as an Easter gift. I was at this client’s home in the Chicago suburbs for a service call and met what I first thought was a small dog napping on the sofa. It wasn’t until this creature raised its head and clucked at me that I realized that I was looking at a chicken with what looked like fur. My client made the formal introductions and explained that it was a sad day since the village was coming to get Silkie to be destroyed as she was a barnyard animal in a residential area. In other words she was a code violation. I picked Silkie up and she made a purring noise like a cat. That was it for me. I live in a rural area and brought her home in my service truck.

Silkie traveled with me on my service calls many days. She kept a dialog with me all day and loved to meet people. The more people she was around the happier she was. She even scared off a P.E.T.A. activist at the KFC when he tried to take away her piece of fried chicken. My wife discovered that she did not have any allergic reaction to Silkie and she started sleeping in a basket next to our bed. I have several medical conditions and we quickly found that Silkie sounded an alarm when I was having problems at night and may have saved my life on more than one occasion. She became the subject of my son’s psychology project and he taught her how to read basic symbols using Operant Conditioning.

Silkie Chicken was a part of my family’s daily lives. She chatted with us, comforted us, and constantly warned us of danger. One day she was out in the front yard for a stroll hunting insects a few dozen feet from my wife when a coyote ran out of our grove of trees and (more…)

Mark,

I wanted to share my story of my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Checkers, who we lost in July. Even as I write this story, this 51 year old man is tearing up. Even though he was with us for the 4 short years of his life, he was a faithful companion and friend. We trained him to be a therapy dog. He was great with children. My son has Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism. These children typically have a social disconnect with others and have great difficulty with recognizing the need for empathy for others. However, he made an immediate connection with Checkers. He would often recognize when Checkers looked bored and play with him or take him for walks so he would not be bored. His relationship with Checkers translated into social successes with peers and strangers despite many years of psychotherapy and social training that did not have such results.

When my father died, Checkers seemed to know and would not leave my side. On nights when I could not sleep as I was mourning the passing of my father, he would lay in my lap until I finally would go to bed. He did the same 3 months later when my mother died.

Even though we have 2 new puppies I love, I still mourn for my Checkers. If a dog’s unconditional love helps us better understand a glimpse of God’s love for us, then we truly have an indescribable future experience awaiting us when we meet God in person.

Mark from TX

This past Saturday evening (Dec.15), our dog Leo, a 3-year old, 9 lb Brussels Griffon, was chewing on a rawhide stick when he choked. My wife and I were able to save his life by using our finger to dislodge the rawhide after nearly a minute of him not breathing. Another minute he would not be with us.

It is very important to watch what treats you give your dog, but more important to be able to perform life saving techniques for times of emergency. It takes only seconds to google topics on how to save a choking dog. He is loved dearly by us and our family and it would have been a tragedy to lose him before the Holidays.

Stephen from KY