I dwell in the “People’s Republic of Michigan” and can’t have a dog where I live, but I do have a cat that is a mixed breed Maine Coon with Hemingway paws.

Boomer came into my life four years ago when I came home late from work one August night. As I came to the stairs of my apartment building, I heard a mournful “meow” and looked up to the next story to see a small, fuzzy gray face starring down at me from the second floor of the building. I then made the mistake of saying “hello” and with a joyful cry, a long, scrawny and very filthy feline bounded down the steps and leaped directly into my arms.
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We had the sweetest little dog and lost him seven years ago. My daughter wrote a poem about our beloved little dog, and I wish to share with you. My daughter is Becky.

Boots could give the best hugs. When any of the family walked in the door from being at work or at school, once you set down he would jump up and press his little 10lb bod up against your heart and just give you a good hug filled with lots of love. Boots was a little chihuahua.

This is the story of my BooBoo and me

Let me take you back a long time ago
When I was a child ten years old.
My mom had a friend and she had some pups
And I could have one just fifty bucks.
They brought him outside
I saw those big eyes.
I didn’t know then how close we would become
But I knew right away he was the one.
He was solid black, with four white feet
He was the most beautiful and sweet.
We named him Boots
The name did suit.
From that day on you could see
That everywhere I was so was Bootsy.
He would listen to everything I said
And at night, next to me, slept in my bed.
His name was Boots, but I called him BooBoo Baby
And he was always a special part of me.
I never left without saying, “I love you BooBoo.”
If he understood what it meant, I never knew.
He left me on September Sixthteenth
He was the age of Thirteen.
I knew it was coming, but refused to believe
That my BooBoo would ever leave me.
He was more special than I can explain.
These feelings I have will never change.
Most people think he was just my pet.
But BooBoo was a lot more than just that.
He was my best friend, he never let me down.
When I needed him he was always around.
He was there for me when I needed to cry.
He never ran off, he stayed by my side.
He was very special and I hope he knew.
Maybe God will explain what I meant when
Isaid, “I love you BooBoo.”
Rebecca Ammons
In Memory of Boots Goshorn November 25, 1987- September 16, 2000
Carol from Texas

When I was growing up we had a german shepard mix named King. We had him for 17 years. He was always very protective of our entire family, but especially my youngest sister who was actually a few years younger than him. One day when I was 15 I came home on my bike to see King wandering in the middle of the street. I tried to ride up to him to see why he was out and about. King just turned and barked at me and ran off. Confused I rode up to my house where my distraught mother told me my 2 year old sister was missing. I jumped on my bike and rode down the street, forgetting about King, to look for my sister.

To my surprise, King had stopped a few yard down the street waiting for me. He yelped a few times and ran off. I followed him, wondering what was going on. He led me down the block, around the corner and down the next block. He led me direclty to a neighbor I did not recognize. That neighbor was holding my sister in his arm. King had led me directly to my sister! Often King slept under my sister’s crib just to keep watch. We lost him in 1992, by then three of the four of us had left the nest, and my youngest sister was in her last year of high school. One day when I came home to visit, my mother told me that King had simply wandered off into the woods and never returned. I guess his job was done.

Corey from VA

My first dog, a Beagle named J.T. (after James Taylor) was the biggest chow hound you’d ever meet. JT loved cheese burgers and his all time favorite was a Steak Burger from Steak N Shake. A double steak with relish and onions was his order on a regular basis and he’d wolf it down in a matter of seconds! The dreaded day finally came one day as I had to make that final trip to the Vet to put him to sleep. Like you Mark, I didn’t want to go and didnt want to play God. I didn’t want to kill my little buddy, even if it was the “right” thing to do. On the way, we stopped by the Steak N Shake drive-thru for that last meal together.

Before we took that final walk into the doctors office, we laid out in the lawn to say our good-byes. I took out those two Steak Burgers and for the first time in Jt’s life, he actually turned down his favorite past time. Mark, this was JT’s way of telling me that it was okay and he knew it was time to go. This is something that I believe in my heart and this really helped with my pain following his passing. I think of JT often and when I read the Rainbow Bridge poem on the side of his earn, it takes a little hurt out of the loss of my friend, knowing that one day, I will be with him again.

Steve from MO

Dear Mark,
I’d like to share with you what I hope will be a relatively short narrative about the little dog who I still refer to as “the canine love of my life.” Her name was Daisy Mae Davis, and she was a bichon-maltese-poodle mix.

I very recently retired from the US Navy with 22 years of service. I bring this up because I viewed myself as being a “tough guy” who had to go on long deployments and stand round-the-clock watches. So, when I first met the lovely lady who was one day to become my wife, and she showed me this little white fuzzball of a dog, I was admittedly a bit disappointed. After all, I wanted a by-God MAN’S dog, not some little house shoue with curly hair and big eyes.
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Thank you Mark for bringing attention to the plight of unwanted animals.Your a true person who understands the foibles and bonds and responsibilty of entertwined humans & domesticated animals.THANK YOU!

K.E. from MI