Mark, I just recently gave “Rescuing Sprite” to my mom for her birthday. I love the picture of him on the cover….what a sweet looking dog he was! I look forward to reading it when she is done. Your story about Sprite hits close to home, as we had to put our dog down as well last year, October 31, 2006. Heinz was 16.5 years old and the third dachshund that we had while I was growing up. Our first two, Fritz and Schultz, lived well into their teens and both died naturally, but it was Heinz that we had to make that decision. He lived with my parents but I saw him often on weekends and thought of him as my own. I remember speaking with my brother a week or so before we put Heinz down, and him telling me that we were going to have to do “something”. I knew what that “something” was, but I told him that I didn’t want to know about it and didn’t want to talk about it. About a week later when talking with my mom, I hesitantly asked how Heinz was doing, even though I suspected that he was gone. She told me he was and that she knew that I didn’t want to know when it happened. I cried and couldn’t talk and had to hang up the phone. Even though I knew it coming sooner or later, it was still very hard to take. I think it was especially hard since we were the ones who made that decision and hadn’t had to do that before. I selfishly wanted him to live, but I also knew that it was the best thing for him given his condition in his last few months.
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I listened to you on this past Wednesday on the Laura Ingram Radio Show. I too have recently lost a dear friend, my chocolate lab, Nala. She lost her fight with bone cancer. She was not only a true and best friend, she was also my tireless hunting companion. She passed away on the 7th of September. Putting her to sleep, especially during hunting season was awful and yet, it was the right thing to do. I maintain a blog at www.asphalt-wanderings.blogspot.com and I wrote her eulogy on the 6th of September. She never judged me and always made me feel loved unconditionally. I know that you understand this relationship with your canine buddies as well.

Take Care,
Brad from OR

Had a dog a few years ago, He was a 120# fantastic looking Akita named “Turbo Sunshine” He helped me get through drug addiction & depression. Also brought me many new friends as people would stop me on the street to ask about him. The day day he died was the worst in my life, I am still alive because of Turbo abd the joy he gave me. Our ashes will be buried together.

Willie from CA

In my life I have been blessed with the companionship of many dogs. One was a nasty little black cocker spanial named Oscar. My sister had rescued Oscar from the apartment of a former friend who had left the dog alone in her apartment for a few days whille she was out of town. Actually somebody who knew the “Friend” called my sister, and basically she stole the dog. Then of course she needed to park the poor animal, and as I owned a house with a fenced in yard, I was elected. Oscar was not friendly. He especially dislike men and would often bark at my shoes. I think he may have been kicked by a former owner. I tried every form of kindness to win Oscar over, and eventually we sort of formed a mutual respect, although he was hardly affectionate. One afternoon, Oscar was playing in the yard with my 3 year old nephew. He did have a fondness for little kids. Suddenly a very large doberman that lived several blocks over scaled the fence. I saw this happen and headed for the yard. This dog often roamed loose, terrorizing humans, dogs and cats. His owner said he would jump or burrow under his fence.
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I wanted to share our story about a dog named “Lucky”. In late February of this year my granddaughter and I went to the local shelter to see if a dog was available that was listed in the paper for adoption. When we arrived at the shelter we found to our dismay that the dog had already been adopted. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to see the dogs that were available and we quickly zeroed in on a little Chihuahua terrier mix. He was so happy when the shelter employee put the leash on him! We visited for about 10 minutes with the dog and saw that he was skinny (his ribs showed) and in need of a lot of TLC. My granddaughter and I both knew that this dog was the ‘one’. He didn’t look like much but we saw potential! We paid the fee and took the little guy home. My granddaughter wanted to name him Lucky. So “Lucky” it was!
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My wife Peggy and I have been married for 34 years and almost as long we have had pets. To tell you all the heart break we have gone through losing “family members” to illness, age or injury would take hours. But the life lessons we have learned from these loved one has been invaluable to us and our children. Everything from Bear a German Shepard’s valiant last walk outside to do his morning duty for the last time to Girlie a wee little Chihuahua dying in our daughter’s arms teaching her the loving yet painful lesson of love, loss, life and death. Yes we are animal lovers and always will be until we ourselves pass on.

Charles from GA