About 15 years ago, my wife, Arlene, had a Shih Tzu named Pepper who gave birth to two pups, one of which died at birth. She kept the surviving puppy, which she named Katie Scarlett, for six months until she could find just the right home. She finally found someone, a neighbor of her sister who was living in a New York City apartment house.

Over the years, Arlene kept in touch with Katie Scarlett and her new master. Twelve years after giving Katie Scarlett to her new owner, Arlene went by the apartment house one day and asked the doorman how they were doing and learned that Katie Scarlett’s master had just died a few days before and that the dog was shuffled off to someone in Brooklyn, a friend of the deceased lady, who really did not want to keep Katie Scarlett.

When Arlene took a trip to Brooklyn to see that lady, she found Katie Scarlett in bad shape, unkempt, jittery and bewildered. The lady was more than happy to get rid of the dog, so Arlene took it home to live with us. After a few days, Katie Scarlett became acclimated to her new home. She soon started to eat so voraciously, I renamed her “Miss Piggy.”

That’s how, after a hiatus of 12 years, Arlene got her “puppy” back. Miss Piggy lived with us happily for two more years before we had to put her down. Even though she was with us for only two years, they were happy ones for us and for Miss Piggy, and we miss her just as much as if we had her all that time.

Jim from NY

My brother-in-law had a Pekingese and a Poodle-Pomeranian mix that mated and “Buddy” was born, a one of a kind “Pek-a-Poo-Pom”. His sister looked like Benjie and she is the one we wanted but another family member was pushing for her. We saw them 2 days after they were born and I told my husband “Look at that poor little wh

ite dog, he is so homely no one will ever want him.” At the time, Buddy had very little hair and was not cute at all. But after several weeks, he grew his hair and matured and was a real cutie pie. So we took him and he turned out to be the sweetest dog we have ever had. He was to have an infected tooth removed, but the vet found he had cancer and the jaw was basically destroyed. The vet said he was too old for the intricate surgery, so we put him down at Age 16. That was one of the most sad days of my life, expecting to pick him up that evening alive. My husband was out of town and I buried him in the yard and cried solidly for days. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and I always will. We have three precious kitties now and love them tremendously, but Buddy will always be remembered and loved.

Marcy from GA

A Promise. Kept.
I have always considered my pets as my family and love for all animals has been a part of my nature for as far back as I can remember. This includes a deep sadness and concern for those homeless, abused, neglected and cast away by their familes. My husband, Jim’s description of me is “She has three dogs, five cats, two geese and one old man; and we were all strays”. It has just been in the past dozen years or so that I have come to recognize these personality traits as very God-given. Jim, bless his heart, seems to understand. I am not an animal activist nor do I consider myself a rescuer. I do, however go by the principle that if God puts a homeless animal in my backyard, He means for me to take care of him.

About three years ago we moved to a home on five acres in an unincorporated agricultural area, where there are no restrictions on the number or type of animals a person may have. About two months later He sent Roper, my cattle dog and two part Manx cats; Little Boy and Emmie so I didn’t think God planned on sending me another so soon. Then I met Mac.

Jim and I were on the way home from taking BuddyBear, my Chow- German Shepherd, to our vet for a checkup. It was when we turned onto our road that I spotted him; a rottweiler. One of our neighbors has three rotties, so I concluded this one had gotten out of the yard. I had Jim stop so I could take him home. As soon as I petted him and felt all of his ribs I knew that he wasn’t my neighbor’s dog. At this point, I figured that he had been abandoned. I planned to take him home for the night and to the ASPCA Shelter in the morning. You see, God had made a mistake this time. Roper and the cats had just adjusted to being part of the family. I just couldn’t bring in another dog. And a Rottweiler besides. What if he is aggressive to the other dogs? Or the cats? Where could I put him? Both the spare bedrooms had been converted into cat rooms.
I sent Jim and BuddyBear on ahead and started coaxing the skinny dog to walk with me. Even though I was quite sure that he had been abandoned, I checked to see if he had on a collar or tags. That’s when I discovered a bloody, infected gash completely circling his neck. The scalloped edges of the wound told me that he had once had a chain embedded in his neck.
I continued to talk softly to the dog, coaxing him to follow me. By the time we got home I knew that the Shelter was out of the question. I feared that because of his health issues, he would be destroyed. He obviously hadn’t had much of a life this far and I didn’t want it to end with strangers! I made an unspoken promise to him that I would do right by him. If he was to be euthanized, it would be at my vet’s office, where I could hold him, pet him and tell him that I loved him.

That night I cleaned his wound, petted him a lot and told him “goodnight”. He spent the night on our screen porch with fresh water, food, and blankets for his bed. The next morning he went to see Dr. Cheryl. He seemed happy; happy to ride in the car with me, happy to see the girls at the office, happy to be dry and fed. I left him with Dr. Cheryl for a thorough check up and went home to wait for her call. I rushed to answer the phone at about 5:00 and the news was better than expected. Dr. Cheryl had cleaned his neck wound and started him on antibiotics. She also started treatment for an eye infection, hookworms, roundworms and fleas. His heartworm treatment would have to wait until the infection was cured and he had gained some weight. He weighed 73 pounds and should weigh about 110! But, she believed he could be cured!!! (more…)

Thank you for your book! My husband and I are avid fans of your show. We had much sympathy for you with your loss of Sprite. We lost our beloved 14 yr. old Ian right before you lost Sprite. It was not a very Happy Thanksgiving 2006. Our son brought Ian home as a puppy when he was working at a summer camp. Ian was our son’s dog, but when he graduated he started moving around, so mom and dad became Ian’s adoptive parents. Our son died suddenly in 1997, so Ian became our last physical link to our son. We dreaded the day we would lose her, because it would be losing our son all over again. The last year of her life, she had slowed down due to hip problems and arthritis, but her spirit was still young. Thanksgiving night last year, she was on a walk with my husband and our lab Hemingway. Because of Ian’s arthritis, she just walked behind without a leash. If she got tired, she would turn around and come home. She must have gotten disoriented, because she disappeared. We were frantic. She was out of sight for only 15-20 minutes but we have many trees around our house and we couldn’t find her. We looked for hours but were unsuccessful. Three days later, a neighbor found her, caught in tree limbs near a small creek. We rushed her to the emergency hospital where they were so kind to her. They cleaned her up and gave her meds. She looked so happy to see us. She smiled and gave us all kisses, but we could tell they were good-bye kisses. It was as if she said I am very tired, but I had to find you to say good-bye and I love you. The physical pain and heartbreak has eased. Your book helped tremendously. Thank you for letting me share my story. Thank you for sharing your story about Sprite and your expertise and knowledge of the Constitution and Politics. May you and your family have a very Happy and Blessed Hanukkah.

Donna from MD

On January 2, 2005 my 16 ½ year old ‘Shayna’ passed. She was a rescue dog that my wife got for her father, but he could not keep her. I remember the day well – September 1988 I was at home watching the Giants vs the Cowboys. At halftime me wife arrived home (we had a 2 bedroom condo) and called me outside. Our life has never been the same.

A few months later the week before Christmas, my wife made the mistake of sending me to the vet alone. I ended up coming home with another dog. The sign in the vet’s office read find a home for Tasha. She was about 7 years old (shepherd) and had been abused I was told. I begged my wife to let me keep her. That may have been my best holiday present ever.

Well in 1989 my first son was born and in 1992 my second son. It was time to start looking for a bigger house since 2 kids and 2 dogs did not make us very popular with our next door neighbors.

We lucked out and found a house which needed a LOT of work on 2 ½ acres. When I first saw it I thought how happy the dogs would be here.

In September 1997, while my wife was at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore receiving a bone marrow transplant for breast cancer (I went down every weekend as I had to take care of the kids) I found Tasha passed away on the dining room floor. The kids had yet to see her and it was their first day of school. With the help of a neighbor they never saw what occurred. It was determined later that she had crones’ disease – she had some problems prior but the vet was never able to diagnose the problem.

In any case, trying to make this as short as possible, we got another rescue dog ‘Charlie’ which helped the kids – we were back to 2 dogs. Well in 1998 I went out again to a shelter and came home with Phil. That was my first and last trip to a shelter – I couldn’t sleep for a week and if I went again I’d come home with all of these dogs… (more…)

This past February, my 17 year-old daughter and I were traveling from Wichita, KS to a basketball game in Joplin, MO. Out in the countryside, we had made a wrong turn onto the wrong road, yet were still on the right path. My daughter spotted a little creature ahead of us at the side of the narrow road. Immediately after, we both saw a semi truck coming toward us and more importantly, toward the little creature. As both we realized it to be a little dachshund, the semi rolled past it, sending it rolling into the gutter. When we finally passed the dog in our car, we saw her get up having escaped what we were sure was a hit by the truck. My now hysterical daughter insisted we go back, get the dog off the road and find her owner. We were late and semi-lost, but I reluctantly turned back. We retrieved the pathetic little dachshund and I drove to the nearest farmhouse praying it would be the right one so we could be on our way. It was, and it wasn’t. This was where the dachshund was staying but it was not her home. She had just shown up to the farm one day and the elderly woman who lived there was occasionally feeding her. “Did we want her?” she asked and I knew the answer when I looked into my daughters eyes. (more…)