Mark,
My wife sent me this story. I think it best describes the dog.

Dogs’ Purpose

Dogs’ Purpose, from a 4-year-old:
Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old
Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife,
Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and
they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the
family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the
euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it
would be good for four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt
Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s
family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog
for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on.
Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy
seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion.

We sat together for a while after Belker’s death,wondering aloud
about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, “I know why”.

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next
stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation.
He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a
good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?”
The four-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so
they don’t have to stay as long”.

Remember, if a dog was your teacher, you would learn stuff like: (more…)

dear mark i have lost my best friend tugger today he was one of two cats that my wife denise and I have had for 6 yrs it was congestive heart failure that took him from us .it has taken me 10 hours to write this to you because I think you understand how i fell I have listend to you ever since you came on the radio here in Det.

I have listend to you talk about sprite and about your book . So I know you understand how we feel It has been helpfull to me just writing this to you my shirt is wet from the tears as I do this. thank you for being there for me at this time even thow we may never meet i love you brother thank you,

John from MI

Dear Mark-

I just finished reading your book and your love of Sprite and your grieving over his loss are clearly evident.
Last June, we lost our Golden Retriever, Annie, to cancer after 13 wonderful years. The experiences you describe that you and your family had with Sprite brought back so many great memories for me. Annie was another family member with just more hair. After she was gone, we also had trouble parting with her pillows, toys, leashes and dog dishes. We still are careful to look to make sure we step over her her, because she would always sleep at our feet or beside our bed.

Making the decision to put her to sleep was the hardest decision my wife and I ever had to make. We both knew she was very sick and we were doing it for her, but driving her to the vet’s office that day was emotionally devastating–the feeling of terrible guilt about taking our loyal friend to be euthanized and then the permanent loss and void in our lives that we still feel today.

When we told our five-year old granddaughter that Annie had died, she said she is a “doggy-angel now in Heaven.” Sometimes children can say the most comforting things.

God bless you, Mark, for writing this book and God bless Sprite and Annie.

John from CA

For a 53 yr old dude, I had trouble getting thru saving Sprite without tearing up several times. It hit home so well. Thank you Mark, and God Bless you. Have you ever seen the movie “My dog skip”? It’s great.

Take Care,

Michael from WA

I saw this litte dog while visiting a friend of mine who had four dogs, none of which were getting their scheduled meds.

It was 2002. The little guy was maybe three months old. Later I would find out he was a red merle aussie.

He followed my friend’s every move. Five hours prior to this his sister or brother had been mauled on a ranch in the foothills by two pitbulls where my friend had been stringing fences. When he heard the first dog’s screems he hopped in his Jeep and sped up the road. By that time it was too late. But, Monte emerged from a bush and was saved.

When I saw Monte I told my friend “I’ll give you $100 for that dog.” He agreed.

Five years later Monte and I have been going to work together each day. I drop him off at doggie day care each day where he gets two play groups per day (on artificial turf with wading pools! The day before T’giving the owner barbecued 80lbs of turkey for the dogs).

(I wish I had his life.)
You can see Monte here.

He is everybody’s best friend and has touched so many lives in his five years.

Wes from CA

It was December, 1995. Just a few weeks ago we lost our dog, “Kika” a keshound my wife’s dog before we were married. I was in Woodstock, Ill. and a little voice told me to drop by the county animal shelter, so I did. I looked at lest six dogs, but one caught my eye, a mix of German shepherd and Irish setter. Out of all the other dogs, this one, with his front paws on the gate and tail going 100mph, we immediately connected. I called my wife and asked her to come over. She came and I showed her the other dogs and then the one I connected with. The handler brought him out and we decided all most immediately he was the one. We brought him home and our son Peter called him “Willy”. We asked him why Willy? He explained the we freed him from the pound and being inspired by the movie “Free Willy”, my son decided to name him, Willy. Willy, gave us 10 years of companionship. In January of 2005, my wife was telling me of Willy having convulsions during the day and we found out earlier that he had a problem with his lungs. On my birthday Feb. 6 2005, I just came home from work and my wife meet me in the driveway crying. Willy went into convolutions real bad and my wife put a sandwich bag over his muzzle and held it until he died. She rapped his body in a old shower curtain and we took him to the Vets and had him cremated. When we got home his imprint was still in the snow on our driveway. When I would pass his favorite place to lay, I would look to expect to see him there, and of course he wasn’t.

We have a new dog now, his name is, “Beethoven”. He is huge over 90 lbs. full of love. I think animals especially dogs teach us about life. They bring joy to us when they come into our lives, there are good times and bad times, and then when they depart from our lives.

John from IL