I tried to write this once and couldn’t do it justice, and in fact couldn’t get through it. We lost our 17 year old buff colored cocker spaniel Max a year ago to cancer, had to have him put to sleep. It was the hardest thing ever to do, but he was such a faithful friend we couldn’t let him down at the end, when he needed us the most. I find it hard to write this without tearing up, a year later. Max had some lifelong health problems, he was epileptic, hypothyroid, hypercholesterolemic, among other things, and took daily medication. Those problems didn’t shorten his lifespan, though, and didn’t change his sweet and gentle disposition. When we got the diagnosis of cancer, we took Max home and spoiled him rotten for the time he would have left (8 months). He got all the french fries, pork rinds, ice cream, and sirloin he wanted.

Max was the family dog, he loved everyone, was incredibly gentle with infants — he adored babies. He was my chidlren’s faithful companion. We rescued and adopted Max when my daughter was 7 years old, in second grade; she is 24, married and a mother now with a dog of her own (a labrador retriever, a lovable goof). Max would sleep on the floor in Stephanie’s bedroom, and during the night he would steal her pillow from under her head, and her teddy bear from under her arm. Stephanie would wake in the morning to find Max sleeping with his head on her pillow, and the teddy bear under his foreleg, tucked against his chest. We had to get Max his OWN pillow and his OWN teddy bear before he would leave Stephanie’s alone. He slept on that pillow with his teddy for years.
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I came by Bella ‘the chihuahua’ by accident. My then 19 year old daughter who suffered a Paris Hilton attack, came home with a tiny chihuahua. I did my best to avoid this dog. I shampooed the carpet three days in a row so Toni (my daughter) had to keep Bella in her room. I kept telling her the rug was too damp. Then I was watching TV one afternoon when I heard my mother’s voice say ‘Be nice to Bella’ and she meant it. (God rest her soul) As time went on, Toni was just too busy for a puppy so I started to take over. I took Bella with me everywhere. We became fast friends. I love this little dog so much. I always had big dogs. This one was different. She’s like a baby to me. She eats what I eat, She can say “out’ when she wants to go for a walk. She is a celebrity in our neighborhood. Finally she sleeps with me (and what a bed hog she is ..loll.).

Carol from NJ

This is Chloe. She was picked from a litter of 6, at 8 weeks old. She and her siblings had been surrendered to the Humane Society. Having just lost a dog, I was NOT interested in going through the heartache of loving and losing another dog. I ONLY had gone to the Humane Society to get my “doggy fix” by volunteering to walk any dogs that were available to walk.

There was this litter of puppies that had just come in, so naturally, I had to check them out. Each one was cuter than the next….wiggly, licking, biting…There was one who had this little pointy head and just nuzzled my neck…….That was it!!! This pup is coming home with me!!.

That was on a Saturday…..Please believe me that by Sunday night, she was pretty well housebroken. HONEST!!!

The ONLY mischief she ever got into was to grab the end of the toilet paper and run throughout the house leaving a 250 sheet trail of TP……The was NOT a chewer. AND..oddly enough, she loved to bet close and to have you pet her, BUT, she did not like to be held . She would wiggle and do everything to get free.
Over the next 16 years, she would , literally, bring trash to the house that would blow into the yard. She loved to play “frisbee”….and just become the best friend tio my kids, and myself.

Since her passing in 2000, she is STILL missed very much. She is truly irreplaceable.

Bob from MI

MY Seamus was a large yorkie, only 8 yrs old. too young to die. But he did, and a part of me died too. I held him the whole night before we had toput him down,(my husband had to dothat) I begged him to live, I had been hand feeding him for months. Kidney disease did him in, and he was so sick. rreminds me of him. I have. I did have another dog when this happened, it helped, but not so much. After a few months I went out andgot two puppies. One is a silkie, and he is named Seamus 2.they look like yorkies (have yorkie in the breed) and his is larger like my other dog was. I love him, but he is not my Seamus. The other dog is a shitese I love him too, but again they fill in the hurt,but they are not my SEamus. My key board is wet right now from tears. Maybe it is because I had to make the decision to put the dog to sleep, I feel like I murdered him, maybe it is guilt for having to do this to one of the things I loved most in life. MY Seamus..I hope he meets me someday in heaven. I ask that of God to just surround me with my loved ones for eternity. There should be another dog waiting for me he was Lancer also a large Yorkie, but he did me a favor, he had a stroke or something in my house, and he and the rug were a mess, I yelled at him, not knowing, then took him outside to clean him up. Took off his collar to clean his neck area with the hose, he bit me left ( something he never did, we loved each other) and never came back. The vet said he knew he was dieing and did not want toput me through it. I believe that. So for Lalncer and for Seamus I will buy this book read it and have a great cry. Thanks for the opportunity to get this out. Felicia Dorste, a devoted listener.

Felicia from NY

This story of loss is the other way around. My wife, Micki, passed away this week and is survived by her two dogs, Max and Fred. Mark was kind enough to call her, on several occasions. Please tell him how much she appreciated that.

The story really begins with our previous dog, Bowser. He was a Shih-Tsu and you wouldn’t think of Bowser as a name for a cute little dog like that, but he was the biggest Shih-Tsu I’ve ever seen. He was the anti-runt of his litter, about 3 times bigger than any of the other puppies. Bowser also liked to eat – and my wife, who can’t say no to a dog, let him.

We had Bowser for many years, but he got old and hurting and the doctor said it was time to let him go to sleep. By that time, my wife and I had separated – and she had gotten custody of the dog. Bowser was her constant companion, her only companion, and his loss left a huge hole in her life.

Like Mark, my wife felt that no dog could ever replace Bowser. She was in mourning and wasn’t about to even think of replacing him any time soon. I accepted that argument until the next morning. She was so distraught that I suggested we run down to the local pet shops, on a lark, just to see what dogs might be there. She told me it was futile, but reluctantly agreed.
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Hi I come from a family that has bred, raised and showed many breeds of dogs and I’ve loved everything about our extended family. Mark meet Killian. Killian ignited and extinguished this love. He has been my last and it’s been more than 7 years. I have hundreds of stories, but I feel his last story is fitting. Killian was a Bullmastiff and in his hayday was, in appearance, a Pitt Bull on roides, in reality a lap pup with 150lbs. of nope, not my lap! He was the last of the litter in Corte Madera, Ca. and spent that first evening at 14lbs. on my shoulder looking out the window on the way home….that image lives on!!! His last day with me precludes a great story. I was 31, spent the day in surgery and came home to no (KP) K-puppy. Had he ecaped again?

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