The fellow who called in Friday about his dog Sham protecting his mother reminded me of an incident that happened 46 years ago. I’m now 63 and hadn’t thought about this for many years. Our dog Shep was a huge German Shepherd who scared anyone who entered our property. One day I was walking with Shep when out of the blue he came after me with a vicious bark and I backed away only to see him get between me and a large raccoon that was coming towards me. They fought for 15 minutes until he finally had killed the raccoon. Shep yelped and howled during the fight and afterwards; I still couldn’t get near him. He was hurt bad but recovered in a few weeks and was still a great pet. Another time when my daughter was a baby, we heard Shep crying and ran into the living room to find that she was grabbing Shep’s skin the way babies do, but he didn’t bite or even try to get away, he just laid there yelping. Later on, she used to ride him like a horse.

Duke from PA

Because of my work schedule i never got a dog, but i wanted a companion real bad, one of my friends were moving so they had asked me if i could take there ferret. When i first meet her i fell in love all she ever wanted was to be played with and held. Well after a few years she came down with adrenal disease of which there is no real cure, i had two operations on her to try to remove the tumor though the vet said it would only prolong the inevitable. But i had to try she was all that i had perhaps it was selfish of me but i didn’t want to see her go. I had heard you on the radio on Friday night talking about sprite and how you had to make that decision to put her down; I didn’t have the strength to do it. One day i woke up and she looked terrible as she tried to come to me to get her favorite treat”cheerioes” I rushed her to the vet they gave her some medicine it seemed to help she was looking better, they gave me the option on whether to leave her there over night or take her home. I was to upset to leave her there I wanted her to be in familiar settings in her time of need. Well that night I slept on the floor with her since she” the vet didn’t want her to over exert herself “ I curled up on the floor placed my arm around her and went to sleep when I woke up she had passed away in the same position we went to sleep in. It was one of the worst experiences in my life, though to this day I am so thankful I brought her home to be with me on her last day on this earth.

I feel for you Mark and understand how devastating something like can be. I hope I have the strength to do the right thing when it comes time to make that decision. Though I might have been selfish in wanting to keep her around, in the end I think I did the right thing by her.

I don’t have a scanner to show people what she looked like but here are my two new loves squirrely and tweek.

Joel from NY

My beloved Airedale, Odie, passed away last month, just 3 weeks shy of what would have been his 11th birthday(on November 2nd). Even though his health had been steadily declining for the past several months, Odie’s passing came suddenly and without much warning on that fateful evening in October. That day the temperature felt much more like mid-July than autumn. Odie had been panting incessantly all day. I thought it was the unusual heat causing his discomfort, but my gut told me it was a harbinger of things to come. I try to console myself when I remember that at least he died in his sleep, in the comfort of his home, in his favorite spot …the corner of the living room. I only wish I had some inkling of how close the end was near, so I could have stroked and massaged him one last time, perhaps right before he drew that last breath. Now, every morning and evening when I walk past the living room, I swear I can still hear him breathing or licking his paws.
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Over the course of this past winter, my brave father was ill with Parkinson’s disease and battling pneumonia; at the same time, so too was our sweet and beautiful cat, Jinx. At one point, they both seemed to turn a corner; I remember telling my dad that they were both miracles. Two weeks later, this past March, we buried my father in March, and two months to the day we had to make the terrible decision of putting Jinx to sleep. She used to love to sneak outside in her younger days and nibble on the grass. So, knowing that she would enjoy this, the last day of her life, my husband and me and our two boys let Jinx outside for her last day to roam in the garden and nibble on whatever she wanted. We took pictures of her and with her and when the time came, our wonderful vet came to our house and put her to sleep. It was such a bittersweet day for us, to watch her enjoy the outdoors; but this was our gift to her for giving us her lifetime of love and friendship. I watched her wishing that my poor father had only enjoyed his last day as much. Now, a few months later, my other little girl, Lilly, is starting to get sick with kidney disease. I am hoping and praying not to lose a third member of my family this year. Please pray for our family and our girl. I have enclosed one of my favorite pictures of Jinx from her last day.

Susan from NY

This story is both heart breaking and warming. We used to have two Great Pyrenees named Smudge and Tecumseh. Smudge was a beautiful papered up show stock but I got my boy Tecumseh from a working sheep ranch in the little town of Caliente Ca. When I chose him he was gnawing on the last of his brothers and sisters in the pen at the ranch and he turned around to me like thew little “Chicken Hawk” that used to say”I’m a Chickenhawk and you’re a Chicken, so come along with me or I’ll have to muss you up!”
He/They were our everything and identity to!
We actually bought a used Suburban just so they could stick their heads out back raining love at all who drove behind us!
As I used to like to say, “How many things can actually stop traffic in the Castro on a Saturday nite?”
We would even receive special traffic enforcement by the mean S.F. P.D. cycle cops!!
My Smudgie girl got bone cancer and we gave her the best of care and vetrinary science but still lost her in my arms.
What we were NOT prepared for was Tecumseh’s premature death and the impact it had on me as soul!
I had just dropped him off at the groomers when I picked him up unbeknown to me he was dropped and ruptured his spleen.
When we went to the emergency hospital, they found a mass (cancer again!) and upon the last sucher he went in to arrest.
We couldn’t raise him from his coma and had to euthanize him right their in the emergency room. His beauty and glory was the last time I saw him and when I woke up the next morning I did not want to live in this house without him and was willing to just leave! Though they were French (and never did stop smoking cigarettes) they were my world!
We swore we would never have another dog and that it was just too painful!
Then my wife saw “The Poet” on line and the next thing we knew was we were at my Smudgie’s breeded picking up the most wonderful “Son Dog” in the world. As difficult as he is (more than the other two combined!) I can’t imagine a life void of the canines(even the French Ones!)
You have shared with us and I just wanted to share with you the love they bring and the meaning their little souls have for all!
Thank You,
Michael Claudia and Poet McShane Alameda (That’s right Libs, home of the Hornet USN!) Thank Jimmy Doolittle very MUCH!!!!!
This is the Poet aka Po Po Po!
Love Ya Buddy!

Michael from CA

When my Girls were young, we adopted a little mut from the dog pound. Little did I know then, that this little dog would have such an influence on our family. My son never knew life with out her. She lived for 18 years and when the end came, we like you Mark, were torn beyond belief as to what to do. She had dementia and would get real nervous at night. my wife spent many nights up trying to comfort her. I remember the last day we had her. I was working in the yard and I had her with me, she was in so much pain and seemed to look at me as to say its OK, I am ready to go. That day at the vet, I held her in my arms as she slipped from this life to the next. Later I wrote a few lines, about what she meant to us. I am sending that to you, in hopes you will read it on the air as a tribute to our great dog Dingy.

She wasn’t much to look at. The product of a neighborhood indiscretion, her mom was a registered Dachshund and her dad left town before she was born; but to me and my 5 year old daughter, we knew we had found a friend, when we first saw her in the back of the dog catchers truck. What shall we call her. Carly asked? “She looks a little dingy”, I said, and some how the name stuck.

We took her home and it was love at first sight for Lynette and 1 year old Hayley. She knew right away she had found a good home and never took it for granted. She looked over those 2 girls like an older sister and when there little brother Josh came along she took him right under her wing.
She was there for all of us when we were feeling down and never seemed to get in the way. Carly always said she had to live until she got married, and she did. It’s rare for a dog to live 18 years, but everything about her was rare. It wasn’t easy the last few months and Lynette was always there for Dingy. In the end she seemed to say ” I can’t die on my own will you please help me” , and we did. It’s been said that dog is mans best friend, at times for all of us, I’m sure it seemed as though Dingy was our only friend. Now that she is gone, it leaves a big hole, but as Carly said ” I bet Grandpa Vern was there to greet her. I can almost hear him say ” Hello old fiend, lets go find that old snooper cat.” Life is full of twists and turns, but our families life was so much the better, thanks to a little straggle haired dog named Dingy.

Joel from Utah