Our precious little girl is named Wicket. She is a 14 yr old Pekingese. Our son named her Wicket because she resembles the Wickets in a “Star Wars” movie. At first, I was angry when our son brought her home because I didn’t want any more pets to take care of but she soon became the love of our lives. Her spirit and determination has been unending. You see, Wicket was born a “swimmer” which is a birth defect in which her leg muscles and tendons were not properly formed and she scooted around on her belly similar to a turtle. Our son brought her home because the breeders were planning on killing her that evening with a hammer. They didn’t want potential buyers to know the mom gave birth to a defective pup. My husband felt a special bond to her right away since he too has a deformed leg and foot. He decided to create a set of braces for her made of leather and snaps. We put them on and took them off every two hours for about a month. The vet said it was an ingenius idea and that it just might train her muscles. It worked!

Thanks to the grace of God, Wicket’s determination and weekly steroid shots, she is a typical little Peke! She loves to run, go for walks and have her nightly wrestling matches with my husband and her toy dinosaur. She has travled with us to many states and Canada. Recently, we bought another baby Peke to help keep Wicket feeling young. At first, Wicket didn’t like the idea but Gracie has grown on her and is very protective of her. These two have given us just as much joy in our lives as our 5 granddaughters!

Thank you for allowing us to be part of your animal-loving family.

Janice from CA

Hi Mark,
I just finished reading you book last night and was moved to tears. I feel almost as though we’re old friends now . We had to put our dog, ASTRO, to sleep on Sept. 21 this year and everything you wrote about what you felt is the same things I felt.
My husband and I don’t have kids or any other animals so you can imagine how astro was such a BIG part of our lives. He was a yellow lab mix, 9 years old, and he was my baby. We got him when he was only 6 weeks old. Our good friends has his dog mother and when she had puppies Astro was a wedding present to us. I could have never imagined the kind of impact this dog would have on us. He was so smart and friendly and of course showed us unconditional love everyday. All the neighborhood kids came to our house just to see Astro.

As he had had some hip joint problems in the past, and a few ear infections,we could have never have prepared ourselves for what was to happen the week of Sept. 21. He was doing just fine, chasing squirrels, playing with the kids in the neighborhood, full of kisses for everyone. Then he started acting like he had pain in his abdomen.My husband and I thinking he had just ate something he shouldn’t in our woods went with him to “wee wee’. And when he did it was pure blood. We immediately took him straight to the vet. A week later and after several x-rays, blood tests, etc. exploratory surgery showed advanced kidney cancer. We were devastated. We opted not to bring him out of surgery after being told it would just be a matter of days before he was in bad pain. All of a sudden the 9 years we had with him seemed so short. But I guess 19 years wouldn’t have been enough time in our hearts.

The grief has been horrible.

My husband and I could barely function for days.
Lying in bed not long after about 12:30 am one morning not able to sleep is when I saw you on the repeat of Hannity and Colmes talking about your book and your Sprite. I immediately got online and went to Amazon.com and ordered it. You have managed to put into words every emotion I have experienced. I will never forget Astro and the love and bond we shared.Your book has helped me deal with my grief a little and let me know how I’m so not alone. And for that I “thank you”.
p.s. wanted to send picture, computer messing up.

Donna from KY

About 8 weeks ago I lost my beloved and loyal 11 year old Akita Montana. I had Montana since he was 6 months old. He was always the picture of health till one day when I arrived home from work. He did not come out of his doggy dog to greet me on the driveway and stand there with tail wagging and voice howling “where have you been all day”. I was quite concerned and rushed to the door only to see him trying to get up to come to me. I called to him and as he came to me, he collapsed on the floor. Needless to say I was hysterical but I could see he was still breathing and was trying desparately to open his eyes to let me know he heard me. I was able to get help and take him to the Emergency Animal Hospital where many tests were done-only to find that Montana had a tumor on his heart that was in-operable. He underwent a pericardial window which would allow blood to drain away from his heart and ease his breathing. He survived this procedure and was resting comfortably.

About 2 hours after talking to the cardiologist I was called and told that Montana was in cardiac arrest. The doctors had been working on him for sometime but things were not going well. I told them to please let him go. I went down to the animal hospital where he was They brought him to me so I could tell him that I loved him and I was so sorry that this had to happen to us. He was beautiful and peaceful-he had struggled for almost 6 days to breath. I loved this dog with my whole heart. The grieving period has been a tough one. I sit at my desk every day and look at his picture. I miss his happy howl and our after work walks. There will never be another Montana.

To Mark–My dear friend is an avid fan of yours. He went to your book signing and bought me your book-he was hoping it would help me through this difficult time. Your book was a wonderful read-it made me smile and then cry for your loss and for mine. I know today (9/7/07) is a tough day for you and your family and my thoughts are with you all.

Barbara from NY

It’s me again. Don’t know if you received my letter some weeks ago, but anyway I read your book, and I felt your story could have been me and my cat, it described so accurately all the emotions etc.. Anyway it’s an awesome book, and because of your courage to write the book, I feel as if somehow I have another piece to hold on to my cat Snowy. Don’t know if that makes any sense, but if someone wanted to take that book away from me now, I’d feel like they were takin part of Snowy away. Probably sounds weird. Anyway I’m remembering you and your family today very much cuz it’s exactly 1 year since you had to say good-bye to Sprite. All the best wishes for you all. It is also exactly 6 months today since I had to give Snowy up. Only after I was all done reading your book, did I realize that my cat died exactly 6 months to the day later than your dog. On the one hand it of course means nothing, but on the other hand it just touched me even deeper, reading your book. I’m again not at my house so, again I don’t have a picture to send from my cat, who was totally white. Well, I won’t hold you up, just wanted to let you know I remember your special day, and I’m wondering; are you doing anything special, kind of like a memorial day, or what if anything are you doing or do you think those kind of things help to cope with the loss? I visit Snowy’s grave everyday. My childhood history most people think I’m nuts that I loved my cat so much. Anyway I said I wouldn’t keep you, so all the best.

Hilda from Ontario

Dear Mark: Your book on Sprite was absolutely amazing and beautiful!!! God bless you, your family and all of God’s amazing creatures!!! Sprite knew he was very very very well loved….thank you for loving him!!!

Janie from NE

The eastern sky was rimmed in orange as I pulled the truck into the pasture. I could barely make out the silouette of the old windmill down by the pond. I could hear the squeaky sound as the fan rotated slowly in the breeze. A multitude of sounds were present, a yip of a distant coyote, the soft mooing of a cow calling her calf. The ever present call of the bobwhite quail.

My companion this morning and for hundreds of other mornings just like this, was my beloved 12 year old English Setter…Katie. Normally, bouncing all over the cab of the truck, this morning she was snoring peacefully next to me, oblivious to our favorite hunting spot. (more…)