I am a college student, but I commute from home. Of course, I have a dog of my own. Her name is Bebe, and she has been a great dog for the past 7 years (wow. Has it been that long?)

Well, my story isn’t about my dog. I volunteer frequently at a local animal shelter. What’s special about this shelter is that it is a no-kill shelter. They don’t put down a dog or a cat for just about any reason.

There was a dog that I fell in love with when I started volunteering there. His name was Ollie, and he was a Great Dane; a big dog for sure. He was a great dog most of the time, but he had behavioral issues that were very hard to understand and fix.

He went through a VERY traumatic experience with his first owner. Ollie saw his first owner commit suicide, and he sat by his dead owner for three days until someone finally found them. He was so bonded with his owner that he protected the body for 8 hours before they were finally able to remove the dog. God, it makes me choked up whenever I think about it.

At first, they thought he was okay after about a month at the shelter. But then, when one of the volunteers went to pet him, he bit her on the face. She had to get plastic surgery for what happened.

He was messed up in the head. He would get really attached to one person, and so attached that he would protect them to the full extend. So, if I were standing outside with him, and you approached to shake my hand, he would probably bite you because he doesn’t know you. You’d have to let him greet you first, and that even didn’t work 100% of the time.

Now, when you couple behavioral issues with that size of a dog, it’s a pretty difficult case. People were interested in hearing about him, but as soon as they learned about his problems, they would immediately have a low opinion of him. Read the rest of this entry »

Dearest Mr. Levine,
I wish I had the strength to write about my Missy. It’s been almost two years since she slipped away while I was at work. After 17 years of asking God to take the time and means of her passing out of my hands, he granted us both peace and let her slip away in her sleep. I still cry and I have your book but cannot bring myself to read it yet. Thanks for putting words to emotions still freyed.
God Bless,
Angela from GA

The reason I’m E-mailing you is because of Charlie. My husband called your show in Jan. to tell you about our dog Charlie who at the time was approx. 18 years of age. He was a yellow lab, which was left behind by someone when they moved from their home. It was almost three years ago that Charlie became a part of our family. We lost him two weeks ago. I won’t start to tell you everything Charlie was, I will just say he was our everything. It was the hardest thing when Charlie died, but I know there was an angel there that night not only to take Charlie, but also to let us know that he was going home now and it was going to be ok.

Any one who knew about the way Charlie came to us always says that it was a great thing the way we took him in and rescued him, but I think that sounds so backwards I know I didn’t rescue Charlie, Charlie rescued me. He came into my life at a time when I found out I have a seziure disorder, and I don’t know how to explain it, but it was if Charlie understood, and he was always there beside me. (through everything). I prayed the night that Charlie got sick that God would’nt let him suffer, that he would take him, looking back I know that was the hardest prayer for me to pray. But I knew I had to let him go, and I know and believe that he’s in a place where he is truly cared for. That’s all I will say now except for one thing, if I could I would send the people who left Charlie a thank-you note, just to say “thanks for the wonderful gift.”
Tammy from KS

An earlier story told of our “Chiquita,” but failed to detail our previous dog, my sweet Spuds. Yep – she was named after the Budweiser dog due to her black and white fur. We had her since she was a pup. My oldest son, Carlos, was 7 years of age when we got her. God graced us with her presence for nearly 16 wonderful years. The day she died, we had discussed having her put down as her organs were starting to give out.

We didn’t have to make that decision. She lay on her usual spot outdoors in the sun and breathed her last. My guilt in all of this was that I wasn’t there when she died. My oldest son, who was then 23, had some buddies who had just gotten out of the Navy. I had taken him to join them in a “Rally for the Troops,” and got caught up in the fanfare of it all. When I returned home, Spuds was gone. We had this lovely creature cremated and my son buried her ashes under a rose bush in our front yard. My Husband told me that on the way to the Humane Society to arrange for her cremation, my son, Carlos, cried. Four years later, we adopted Chiquita, and life is good. Thanks for listening.

Dorothy from TX

On December 29, 2007, my family and i lost our 17 and a half year old dog named rambo. he was a schipperke,  and i miss him a lot. we for most of his life, he had lots of health issues. even though he did have lots of problems, he lived a very full life. he really liked to go on car rides. if he thought that their was even a chance that he’d be able to go with us somewhere, he’d try. when lugage went out the door, he noticed it. he also liked to be around where all the action of the house was, whereever it might be. he also liked to follow my mom around and be where she was at all times.

About 3 or 4 years ago, his helth began to go down to the point where he could bearly walk on his own. before went to have christmas with my family, he seemed to be fine. when we got back after christmas, he wasn’t doing well at all. he wasn’t walking on his own and wasn’t doing much of anything without help. fast forward to the 29th. we were thinking of having him put down if he lived through the night. we all went shopping and other things that night, and rambo came with us wrapped in blankets so he’d be warm in the car. he seemed to know he was in the car from what we could tell. after all the shopping ect, we came back home.

Not much happened til about 2:00 am, he’d been getting weaker and weaker as the night progressed. then at 2:30 am, he passed on. we were so relieved that we didn’t have to put him down. it was very hard to loose a dog that had been around most of my life. i’m 26. i will miss him, but i will always have good memories of him. i would like to read rescuing sprinte, but i’m visually impaired, and i’m not aware of an audio version of this book. are there plans to make one? i’m a braille reader as well. the only way i could read it is to have someone read the entire book to me. thanks for putting up this section of your site. to the admins. i have no photos of rambo on my computer. if i do get some one, i’ll put them up. feel free to edit this however you need to.

Matthew from MO

Hi Mark! I have a soft spot for animals and I dont know what happens but I seem to find all the strays and just cannot seem to let them go. It has been quite a rough couple years with our animals. I have 4 over 10 and it seems all the health problems have come to us.

In July 2005 our dog Shecky started to have mild seizures then gradually got worse. Then a couple months later my dog Scooby started to lose all his hair and his skin started to bleed. He had a low thyroid. So over the course of the last 2 years we have got them regulated on their meds.

Then this past summer Shecky (the one with epilepsy) got a chronic ear infection that took 6 month and over $400 to get rid of. Then a week and 1/2 later he developed a growth from out of nowhere in his ear that developed as a result from all the infection and needed $260 surgery to get rid of. Finally get the ear all better and my almost 11 year old cat George collapses yesterday and couldnt walk. Turns out diabetes finally caught up with his big 21-25 lb body. He is still in the e.r. vet today but hope to get him home by tomorrow. When it rains it pours but people keep saying to me why do you pay all that money to get them well and are amazed that I fixed my cat. What do you do just let them die for no good reason? I dont think we can ever get non animal lovers to understand. There is something special about animals and they are in our lives and on this earth for a reason. Maybe some of these people should get animals theirselves to see what true unconditional love is.

My husband is in the Navy(who is a big fan of yours) and we will be moving all 6 of our animals to Jax Fl in the next 3 weeks meds and all. We bought your book today and I am sure we will enjoy it. We are sorry for your loss of Sprite he was a beautiful dog.

Lori from VA