My dog Beauty, was the love of my life. We rescued her 11.5 years ago from a “foster family” who told us she was abused as a puppy. She was only 4 months old then. She became my shdaow and best friend. She traveled all over the country with my family, and was my daughter’s “little sister”. She recently died from a eruption of a tumor on her liver. She will always be in my heart.

Reading about Sprite just reminded me of how much love we have for and we get from our 4 legged children. Thank you for writing such a heart-warming and loving stoyy.

Elissa from MO

CCh GrCh ‘PR’ Mays Blue Sugar Babe was a Bluetick coonhound. She was a dear part of my family for the last 5 yrs and passed far too young. She is missed terribly and can never be replaced.

Amanda from PA

Hello Mark: I already wrote you about my three dogs, Kaela, Posey and Nicky. I love seeing the pics of the dogs as well as their stories and thought you and the rest of the dog lovers on this site might like to see my Posey and Nicky.

Happy Hanukkah and God bless you.

Over the years I have had the privilege of sharing my home with dogs and cats. I also have horses. These animals have given me far more than I can ever repay. They taught me to accept whatever comes my way and just keep on keeping on. Chico, my old gelding passed away at age 30. He was a big white horse – weighed 1500 pounds. When he had a child or beginner on his back he would walk like he was carrying precious cargo. If he felt them slip he would simply stop no matter what they were asking of him. My dogs were all rescues as were all of my cats. They took care of my children (no one touched the kids in anger – mine or any other child). Yankee and Teddy (Theodore Bear) were 40 lbs and 130 lbs respectively. Yankee ruled. She would steal Teddy’s dog bones and hide them where he was too big to reach. They both lived to be 15 years of age. Barney was rescued from floodwaters by my sister. He was a coonhound and Teddy’s best friend. When Teddy and Yankee died Barney went into such a decline that no vet could help him. He died at age 10 one year after Teddy passed away. I cannot describe the agony we all felt watching him slip away like this. He developed colon cancer which the vet felt had been dormant until the stress of losing his best buddy caused it to become active and grow.

Then there was Lucy my white German Shepherd who spent eight hours at my son’s 21st birthday party going from guest to guest and having them throw her ball so she could fetch it. Lucy had a malignant tumor on her heart which was undetected until she suddenly began to bleed internally. She was dead in spite of the vets efforts within three hours. He and I were so upset (thinking she may have been poisoned) that he performed a necropsy and found the tumor. I was devastated but also helped by the knowledge that no one could have saved her or changed the outcome.

Beau came next with hemophilia (Von Willebrand disorder) He would bleed uncontrollably if injured or stressed. They told me to expect no more than 5 years – he lived to 12 and I was grateful for every day. I had a cat who made it to 25 years we called him the energizer kitty. I currently have an abused cat with three legs that has been with me for ten years and I am amazed at her. She just climbs up with her front legs drags her remaining hind leg (both had been broken and not treated when she was rescued) and never acts like anything is wrong. This is what I mean by teaching me to suck it up and just do what I must. These animals bring so much joy into my life. I treat every day with them as a gift from God. They give love without any condition or prejudice and leave joy wherever they go. I know how you feel about Sprite because I have had to do the unthinkable myself over the years when the illness was so painful that life was just existence waiting for the end. I hate it and it goes against my soul but I also know that there is nothing left for my beloved friend but pain and I owe it to them to make it stop. God bless you Mark, you are a great teacher and an inspiration to me.

Elaine from MD

We bought our Lab in 1993.
Our son, who had been allergic to dogs, was pining for a dog and I took him to Bethesda Naval Hosp. to have him retested. He tested “only slightly allergic”. Hoping that this was the case, we had been scouring the papers for puppies. We found an ad 2 hrs away. We drove to Shenandoah Valley and got our Chester.

A beautiful white (yellow) Lab. He was our happiness through some tough times. At age 9, he developed a tumor on his earflap. We watched it grow. Had it removed, for it to return. It was diagnosed as a cancer and we had it removed again. Within 2 mos it grew back to tennisball size. He was shaking his head during the day and panting at night and the only thing that was recommended, more or less, was to have an “earflapectomy”. To go through this with a 12 yr old dog was too much. We decided to have him put down. We took him to the vet. The vet was delayed and we sat for 20 minutes in the treatment room and waited. The longest 20 mins in my life. My husband and I were on the floor with Chester as his life left him. We were devasted and cried all the way home. This was on a Friday; Sunday we got a new dog. A wild and crazy Labradoodle that we named Samuel Barclay Beckett. He is 3 now, but every day I miss my Chester. He was such a perfect dog. It’s not about replacing Chester with another dog; it’s because Chester was such a wonderful dog that gave us so much joy and fulfillment. So we feel that we honored his memory by getting a new dog before we went into some deep and serious mourning over Chester.

I have heard you talk about your Sprite on many shows, and I have cried every time. I am crying now.

Louise from MD

Mark, I saw your book recommended in a flyer and had to get it. It took me quite awhile to get through it, as I had to stop and clear my eyes many times.
Over two years ago, I lost my beloved Bike. Afterwards, I wrote a short story of his life. This is the first time I’ve shared it with anyone.

Bike was a male sheltie, 7 years old, taken from me much too soon. He had congestive heart failure, and by the time we found out, his poor lungs were filled with fluid and blood. He was, quite literally, drowning internally.
Bike left this world at 1:00 A.M., May 29, 2005.

I remember the first time I learned about Bike. I already owned two shelties, both female, and I was single. I didn’t really need another dog, but some friends from work were doing foster care for a shelter, and asked me to come look at him; just in case. Yes, I should have known better, but I did it anyway. Looking back today, I’d have to say that I didn’t have much choice in the matter. I fully believe God wanted me to go see him, because He knew how much we needed each other. (more…)