Mr.Levin,
First of all your a great American sir! I listen to you every night.
Mark, my story is about my little buddy Divot, a jack russell, who my kids were crazy about, of course so was I, from just a puppy he didn’t want dog food but he would eat everything we did, he was very healthy and full of life! one day when I gave him my plate after dinner I watched him eat, he ate the salad first..lol then he ate the vegtables, then the mash potatoes, he saved the meat for last, thinking this was just a fluke, everytime I would feed him I made sure his plate was fixed like mine and he ate it in the same order each time, he saved the best for last and then would come beg for some desert, he was my buddy and my best friend we went everywhere together, he didn’t need a chain he stayed at my side, he loved to get under the covers when it was cold, and thought my pillow was our pillow. I could pat my chest and he jumped into my arms ready to go, he understood commands by just pointing, he knew he wasn’t allowed in the kitchen when we were cooking or eating so he had his little stake out place close by he knew that after we ate he would be taken care of, he liked milk with his dinner.

One day my son came home after he bought a new truck big tires and lifted we lived in the country so Divot had the run of the property, he didn’t recognize the truck coming down the drive way to our house, he ran out to it, barking and didn’t realize the size of the tires and ran under the truck and was ran over by one of the tires, killed him instantly, when my son realized what happen he was on the gorund crying uncontrolably, I heard the wailing and crying from inside the house, when I went outside, my son and I cried in each others arms for the loss life of our little buddy, he was the best, when he was a puppy we got him a little tom cat for a buddy, named Duggie, they grew up together and both went on country walks with us together, they were usally always chasing each other and hanging around with each other if I was working on one of the cars they were under it with me, well after Divot was buried, Duggie must have thought he was lost and went to look for him, Duggie never crossed the big highway, but a week later on 4th of July we found Duggie dead on the highway I picked him up and took him home and buried him next to Divot, I sat by their grave site and just wept, it seems for hours, I miss my little friends, they were buddies their whole life here, Duggie thought he was a dog, he didn’t come to here kittty kitty, but if I whistled or called his name he came running, just like a dog would, This is so hard for me to write about the lost of Divot and Duggie, a week apart from each other, I’m sobbing as I write this, this is first time I have been able to put this in writing. Thank you so much for allowing me to do this, you know I think it is helping me to deal with their loss…
Mr.Levin The Great One..
thank you so much for being our voice of reason and telling the big dopes how we all feel about them trying to tear our country apart! 

Jerry from MN

My beloved Patches she is a Bassett Hound is gone now. I found her as a stray at a plant nursery. I had to have her put down. She went blind from a tick disease called Erlickea. I started taking her to the vet in June of 06 because she seemed to be losing weight. In July she still didn’t seem herself and i took her back to the vet and finally by August the vet decided to check her blood for the tick disease. By then she was bleeding from her eyes. My heart was just broken when i learned she would never see again. It has been very hard for me to forgive the vet for not checking her sooner when i first took her to him. I live on a county road with lots of room for her to roam and i couldn’t bear to fence her in. But one morning i couldn’t find her and she was about a half mile from my house and couldn’t find her way home. I was so thankful the coyotes didn’t get her. That was when i had to make the decision to let her go or keep her penned up. I will forever remember her chasing the butterflies in the hay meadow. She was so faithful each day when i returned home from work she would be sitting in front of the house and run to greet me as soon as i opened the car door. I still miss her so much even though its been 15 months.

Linda from Texas

I always traveled for a living and my husband told me I didn’t know what it was like to have a puppy. He said “You have no idea”. Well, after I quit my job in the hotel industry, we went to get our puppy from North Shore Animal Leaque. I stayed there all day as I said I would know it when I saw her. Well, they finally brough out this beautiful ball of fluff with her poopy all over her, they put her in my arms, she looked me straight in the eye and I said She’s the one!
We named her Madison. she’s a Border Collie Mix and no, I had no idea what it was like to have a puppy! I slept downstairs with her as we were crate training her, laid in her crate with her took her out at 4am for almost two months. She trained beautifully too! Madison is what I call my “Heart” dog. Two weeks after my Mom passed away in 2001, my nieghbor came to me and said would I adopt a Golden Retreiver that was being given away. I was very upset over losing my mother and I said absolutely not. Well, we found out her name was Georgie, and as my sister pointed out, that was the name of the women who introduced my parents over 50 years ago! I said, it must be a sign for my Mom, so into our home comes 9 month old Georgie who couldn’t even climb stairs. She had some health issues, but we nursed her to health, took her for training and she became our”Golden Wonder” Madison took her into her heart as I knew she would after being the only dog for two years.

Well, Madison is now 9 years old, Georgie is now 7. I have not had to go through yet what many of you had to and I’m not quite sure I can handle it. My husband and I were not blessed wiht children, so these two are our children.
When I listen to Mark speak of Sprite, I know that Sprite is listening and is at the Rainbow Bridge waiting. It helps to know so many have gone through this.
I’m just going to enjoy the joy they bring to us each and every day for as long as the Lord will let them be here.

Lorraine from NY

Mark, your story so moved me that I wanted to paste the tribute to my “Duffer” I wote on my blog. MacDuff passed a little more than a year ago, but as I write this, I still have tears streaming down my face.

Thank you for the opportunity to once more pay tribute to my friend.

MacDuff
“The Duffer”
April 1, 1994 – September 12, 2006

I lost my friend today. His name was MacDuff, but he will always be The Duffer to those who knew him. He was as good a friend as one could want and probably a better friend than I deserved. He had no enemies, and had a way of endearing himself to those who met him. He loved everyone and everyone loved him.

Some would say “he was just a dog” but those of us who love them and welcome them into our family know that they are much more.

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I’ve had many dogs over the years. I raised show Cocker Spaniels. We had Amber, Mandy ,Slique and Maxie. As the years passed and the dogs became older and more infirm, we had to make the decision to put them to sleep. What to do with our faithful friends? Our pups are buried under Camellia bushes. A neighbor asked me the secret of growing beautifu Camellias? (And they are exceptional Camellias) Well, I had to tell them that the plants were the tombstones for my dogs. Every Fall here in Louisiana, my Camellias bloom and remind me of my dear, loving pups.

Clasina from LA

My wife is from England and I knew from the begining that she was a two part package. If she was going to come over here to live with me in America then her Black Lab Rosie was coming too.

We were married on 11/20/2001 and submitted my wife’s green card forms to the INS shortly thereafter. We did not know at the time that once the forms are submitted she is not allowed to travel outside of the country (it took 3 years for her to get her green card). We also learned that a pet cannot travel alone on an airplane. Therefore, we booked me a flight.

I went to work on the Friday and caught a flight from Seattle to London that night after work. I was met at London Heathrow by my wife’s parents and we drove the 2 hour trip north to the village they live in. Her parents were taking care of Rosie while my wife was with me in America. I slept well that night. In the morning we took Rosie for a walk with my wife’s father and then we loaded ourselves up in the car for the trip back to Heathrow.
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