After reading your book I was able to reflect on the time I have spent with the dogs my family and extended family has been able to take care of. Four of these dogs come to mind when I an in a tough spot and need inspiration; these four dogs are Amber, Fiddle, Lily, and Jesse. Jesse was my aunts’ dog yet the other three were my families. When me and my brother were younger and we wanted to play outside my mother would always let Fiddle and Amber out with us. As I got older I asked why she lets the dogs out with us. It was not just to play with our companions but also to protect us. Amber actually would block my brother and I from the street she would not let us set a foot on the street until my mom came out of the door. I was too young to remember Amber well yet I thank God every day that my family had such a great dog. Fiddle was a playful Golden that would eat anything put in her face (Just like your Pepsi). She was one of the most beautiful dogs I’ve ever seen both of her parents were show dogs and she was as beautiful as them. One day she saw a dog outside and managed to get out the door. She ran across the street to meet her new friend but did not quite get there. An old Ford station wagon hit her. She let out a quick yelp and we thought she was dead yet she wasn’t. She suffered from a broken bone and that’s about it. Yet, the car on the other hand was damaged, and I mean a lot. The dog left a 6 inch indent in the car, guess all that eating paid off in fact the vet said it saved her life.
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Mark,

I listen to you every day and I really appreciate the last few days of compassion for our “kids”. We lost our beloved Husker a year ago in Sept very suddenly. We came home and found him “sleeping” in the living room. He was a red/white 100 lb Siberian. His beauty and joy are missed every day. We had him for 12 years. This last March we lost our 14 yr old white shepard Jazz. She was blind, deaf and in pain when I knew she had been to good of friend for to long to let her be miserable. I was with her as she took her last breath and I know she is not in pain anymore. My husband & I have 2 grown kids and 3 “girls” still at home. Lil is a black and white Siberian, Minnie Mutt is a mix we rescued after she was thown out of a car, and Mal, a 104 lb cancer surviving Malamute. All 3 are house horses and sleep with us, eat with us and provide us so much joy I feel my heart could burst! Mall is 4 now, but at a year and a half she had a lump grow on her side. We took her to the MO Vet university (many, many long trips) where they removed a 6 1/2 lb tumor that had grown into her rib cage. Those Drs. are an absolute blessing and the research they do is a miracle. We thought we would loose her, but after some chemo, today she is big, funny, happy and healthy. The family is smaller since we lost Jazz & Husker, but the girls keep us going and are always the best part of the day. Thank you for giving us the chance to share our losses and the loved ones still with us.

Lisa from Missouri

Mark. You have deeply touched me. Last July we lost our faithful Black Lab, Critter. He was such a dear friend and I still can’t speak of him without tears in my soul. Such a wonderful life and then, brain seizures. My god, how horrible and painful that was. He went blind and lost control of his legs. He couild not find his way. We tried every known possible way to help him. It didn’t work. I used to lay all night long with him in my arms and he would sigh and feel safe. It was the only time he seemed at peace. One day he ran into a fence he couldn’t see and couldn’t find a way out. He sat there and cried. He never complained. I knew then it was time. I called my good friend the vet and he came out immediately and I held him in my arms and told him I loved him and then he was gone. It was ripping my heart out. To this day, over a year later I am at such a loss without him. He made my life better. His presence is all ways with me. God love you Mark.

Jack from Florida

Mark, I just heard about your book and I will run out today and purchase this book for my wife and I. We are a professional couple that does not have any children, well human children anyway. We have been blessed with two wonderful dogs. A Golden Retriever named Chloe, and a rescue dog, Grace, that is a Golden and Brittney mix.
They are the best things in our life. Jobs, cities, homes, etc. all change but there is this constant in our lives, the dogs. They are always happy to see us, they always are willing to accompany us for a coffee, or lunch at their favorite restaurant (it is a French owned bistro that are liberal with the rules for having dogs on the outside balcony). They are always in for a good romp in the park and lets not forget the drive to the beach, their favorite place in the world. Chloe is a great surfer, with out a board. Grace, although she is a water dog by definition, is a terrible swimmer. Her desire to get the tennis ball however drives her into water over her head. It is the most hilarious thing you ever saw. Her thrashing the water into submission not realizing that she can float. LOL. When we are out there with the dogs, nothing else matters, not work, money, the weather, politics, absolutely nothing. (more…)

Mark, I saw your interview on Hannity & Colmes. I was so touched by your words. It was comforting to find that someone else understands how losing a beloved pet can be so life changing. I am a lover of all animals, but I hope you don’t mind if I send along the poem I wrote for my cat, Baxter. Writing this for him helped, but the hole in my heart will always be there.

“The Amazing Heart”
For My Baxter

I looked at all the faces
Where was I to start?
They all should have a loving home
But your eyes stole my heart

You gently let me bring you
To a place you’d never known
But how was I to know that day
You’d make my heart your home

You felt so right within my arms
But you did hesitate
In time, trust came into your heart
Your love was worth the wait

Through our days together
We knit a special bond
You even seemed to like it
When I wrote you your own song

When your illness came our way
I didn’t see the signs
For how could I imagine life
If you were not in mine

So again I took you in my arms
And held you oh so tight
And said into your loving eyes
It’s time to stop the fight

I sang your song one last time
And thought it quite a feat
That my heart could be so broken
And still continue to beat

I wrapped you in your blanket
One final trip back home
We buried you beneath the trees
Where you liked to roam

The heart is so amazing
Who knew all it could do
For even with this endless hole
It stills holds all of you

Candi from Maine

My wife and I adopted Goblin from a local shelter, he was already named Goblin because someone had found him on Haloween. We had to treat him for heartworms but he came through that just fine. He became deathly afraid on thunderstorms and would literally chew through our chain link fence to escape. He usually did not go far but one time he did not come back and my wife and I spent several anxious days looking for him. He had been missing for four or five days and I was lying in bed one night about 3 a.m. when a sensation came over me that I had never before experienced and I knew at that moment that he was o.k. and that I would find him. Two days later I went back to the pound and there he was. He lived for several more years and at 13 got cancer and we had to put him down. As I sat on the floor at the vets with his head in my lap The feeling of peace that came over me as he passed was almost overwhelming. I knew at that time that his soul was gone and he was no longer suffering.

Marty from Georgia