I just got finished reading your book \”Rescuing Sprite\”. It was so moving in many ways imaginable. I feel for your family and for beloved Sprite and Pepsi. I know just how hard it is to go through what you went through. When I was 5 (I am 12 now) my dog died. Her name was Josiphine \”Josie\”. I went through such a rough time. It\’s hard to think of a five year old depressed, but I was. I was always crying.
We cremated her and put her in a box that we still have to this day.I knew I could not bury her because we were moving in a couple of weeks. I would never leave her side. Seen as how she only liked me anyway. She was not very nice to anyone else. Anyway when we moved I was still mourning so my grandma took us to a trip to Alabama. (Us meaning me and my brother). We went into a small house with many cages of all miniature shnausers just like Josie. We got a 6 week old boy that we names Josiphines Napoleon Bonapart \”Bono\”.
So far he has lived for 7 years and is soon going to die. He has a heart problem which includes many holes in his heart and a tumor. We give him medicine which seems to be working but he has many heart attacks and faints more than 10 times a day. We are thinking about putting him to sleep to put him out of his misery. I hope you , Lauren, Chase, your wife, Griffen and, Pepsi are doing o.k.
T from GA
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I have just finished reading your book Rescuing Sprite and was extremely moved by the story. In fact I bawled my eyes out through the latter part of it, but they were tears for my own loss as much as for yours. I too had two dogs, my Girls, who were also very good friends to me and to each other and also very respectful of each other. Tina, a black labrador and Gemma a labrador cross. Sadly Tina had growths on her tongue, not good for a labrador as they are basically eating machines and we had to part company with her in 2001. She was the first dog I had ever had and I missed her so much, but by this time Gemma was 7 and followed me everywhere, more so as she took a long time to accept that Tina was gone and not coming back. Gemma then suffered from what we thought was toothache, but turned out to be a very aggressive cancer in her jaw. She had surgery to cut away the growth, but within 6 weeks it had returned to almost the same as before the surgery. She shad a further operation to remove a bit of the jaw hoping this would remove all the growth but that was not to be. I cannot believe to this day where I found the strength to make the decision as I went to the vet for what I thought to be a regular check up to be given this news and said to my, very caring, vet that perhaps it was time to let Gemma go. I trusted Julia completely and when she said that she would back any decision I made I knew what I had to do – it is breaking my heart just writing this now and this all happened over 2 years ago. Gemma and I came home and I called to arrange her cremation – I have them both in caskets still in the house. Gemma was an old 13 year old lady who I could not allow to suffer any more – she also suffered from vestibular syndrome causing her head to permanently tilt to the side and her when having a bad spell her eyes would roll uncontrollably.
Yes, the pain does get easier, but it never goes away. I shall always be grateful I had my girls and for what they gave to my life, far more than I could ever give them. It said in your book, they don’t shout or scream at you, nor did they ever judge me. If I did not feel like taking them out (seldom happened) they seemed to understand and still stick by me. I have attached a photo of them taken in our back garden, Gemma on left, Tina on right. Yes Gemma looks older because of her whitening nose and she was constantly taken as Tina’s Mum as she looked after her..even though she was the younger dog. I miss them both still so much, Thank you for allowing me to share my story with you.
Margaret from the UK
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When I was seven years old my mom told me that she was getting me something extra special for my birthday. I never dreamed I would get stalk. Small in stature Stalk was a lovable long eared basset hound. He was to all a friendly, and to me my best bud. I grew up in the Texas Panhandle and lived with my family about twenty miles from the closest grocery store. We were mostly isolated from the world. My mom was constantly warning us kids to be on the look out for rattle snakes, and not without reason. Our friends had had several encounters with snakes. Once a friend when riding his bike had found a nest of the snakes, and was about half mile from the house. Other rumors told of children dying because of the snakes. We had never had too much trouble with them however we still were on the lookout. One day however I was not on the look out for the snakes. But Stalk was, he quickly blocked the path and informed me of the snakes whereabouts. I ran back to the house and told my dad who got the hoe and killed the snake. I have wondered since what would have happened had stalk not been there. I enjoyed stalk for five more years, and when he died it was not without great sorrow. I will remember him always. Thank you God for blessing me with stalk.
John from TX
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Mark, this pic was just sent to me and I thought you, your listeners and viewers would appreciate it. The picture tells the story………
Keep up the good fight …….
Mike from KS
Posted in Listener Stories | Comments Off on A Penitent Dog
Mark
Our dog\’s name was Punum. Which means \”face\” in yiddish and oh what a face it was! He was a West Highland White Terrier. He was 8 years old. Last week he somehow got a hold of a piece of wood outside and swallowed it. The next day, he was very ill. We took him to the vet and they did an x-ray which showed nothing. They gave him fluids and told us he needs an ultra sound. So, we had to transfer him to an animal hospital 1 hour from our home. It took 2 ultra sounds until they found the blockage. They did emergency surgery on Saturday which went well. They said they removed a very large piece of wood but in 4 0r 5 days he should be back to himself. That was not the case!
The next morning at 5:00 AM they called and said his blood pressure was very low but they were giving him medicine for it. Then they called to say he was unresponsive when they tried to talk to him. They also said his heart was skipping beats.
Then they called back to say he took a turn for the worse and we should come right away! My wife asked to please try and keep him alive until we get there. But by the time we did get there he was gone. So, $6,000 later we have no dog and maxed out credit cards! All of this for a piece of wood!
Punum was our best friend and we can\’t believe he\’s gone. We will miss him more than words can say. Tell other dog owners to be careful what their dogs put into their mouths it can turn deadly
Lloyd from NJ
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My dogs, three labs (Flossie, Nate and Hannah) are my very best friends. Because of them I have become a dog obedience trainer and offer very inexpensive classes to dog owners in my area. My goal is to help people and their dogs enjoy life together. When I heard you speak on CNN , I was so impressed with your political veiws. Then when you mentioned you were a dog lover, I knew your heart was as big as Dallas. I’ve ordered your book Rescuing Sprite and am so anxious to begin the read.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on CNN and introducing me to the Mark Levin Show. com website. Best of luck to you.
Audrey from OK
Posted in Listener Stories | Comments Off on Flossie, Nate and Hannah
