After crying the whole time I read your book, I am so moved by the story of Sprite. I am a dog lover, I have a chihuahua named Little Man who is wonderful and my child. I can only imagine your pain in losing Sprite. I lost my Grandmother who was my Mother after I lost my family at 6 and my Little Man was there for me. Without him I would have grieved longer.

Dogs are like the people we love who have gone to a better place, we will never forget what they bring to our life. We would give anything for one second, one minute, one hour to have them back. Your story is one of the best books I have ever read and I am glad you decided to share. You also gave me a outlook on Rush that I never had before and I appreciate your brilliance!

Jane from AL

In memory of Cruiser McDaniel: April 13, 1989-July 28, 2006

On July 28, 2006, Cruiser “Brother BoBo” was quietly released to heaven by way of the Rainbow Bridge. On July 28, 2006, our family, and this world, lost a sweet soul.

Cruiser came into our lives in the summer of 1989. He was a precious little brown puppy. We fell in love with his personality, his kisses, his love, his sweet spirit, but mostly his eyes…… his eyes….were beautiful. Cruiser loved chasing squirrels, crawling under covers, stealing our slippers, seeing his friends, playing with toys, neighborhood walks, but mostly….. just being with us. He lived a great life.

After being an only child for 11 years, Cruiser became the best big “Brother” to baby Sydney. They had total respect and love for each other. As Sydney grew older, Brother Bo Bo stayed by her side trying to keep up with all the activity of a little girl and her friends. However, at 15 years of age, he began to show signs that his little body was slowing down, yet he still enjoyed life, as well as his car and wagon rides through the neighborhood. His favorite past-time as he aged…..napping with his mom, warm blankets, eating, and drinking chocolate milk. Read the rest of this entry »

I just finished reading RescuingSprite. I received it for Christmas from my sister.  We are all dog lovers, we grew up with dogs and even had one cat. Our last family Dog Sabrina passed away 2/14/06. from a large abdominal tumor that had not been shown on xray in January or October when she suffered a stroke. sabrina was a throw away, A close friend found her on his lawn ion Oct 29th 1996. she had been trown from a vehicle and was in bad shape for a 3 month old puppy.

Well I brought her home to my parents and invalid brother( it was his birthday 50 years old). Well after about one and a half to two years of work has finally settled down and became the lovable family member. She was a mixed Yellow lab and white shepard, about 80 lbs full grown, very gentle and protective. Always aware of the needs of my elderly parents, cautious around them. She would spend time each day with each one as the day elaspsed. Loved walks and rides in the car if not going to the vet. Read the rest of this entry »

Mark and listeners- This site has helped greatly this last week and a half. I am sharing this with all, as it makes the transtion just a bit easier to share…

This is an e-mail I sent out last week, January 15th.

Yesterday we received some bad news regarding our dog, Cedar. She has osteosarcoma, bone cancer. She is 8 1/2 which is getting on in years for a dog of her size. We figured that we would have maybe another year or two with her. This has come as a bit of a shock, but we have noticed her slowing down alot in the past year. Up until about a month and a half ago she was still going for walks, doggie day care and her favorite, the Dog Park!

We had noticed her having trouble getting into the car and not jumping on the bed (by invitation only) anymore. I began giving her glucosamine with MSM (anti-inflammatory supplements) which helped her immensely. Just after Xmas she began limping. She went onto rimadyl, an rx med prescribed by the vet. I thought it was helping her. This past Sunday we went on a short walk and when she got home she began limping even more. Thus, I took her to the vet the next day where I received the news. Read the rest of this entry »

Mark,

How do I say thank you for writing such a heart wrenching book. To know that we were not alone in our love of a pet and our devastating hurt in losing her, meant so much to us.

I have had and loved dogs all my life, but losing our precious Shebah, was almost more than we could handle. We, like you, suffered along with our dear beautiful dog, for a long time. We tried everything, and like Sprite, she never complained about anything. She was a loving, lovable, lady until the end. I, like you, questioned whether wasn’t somehing else we could have done. Like you, there WASN’T. For six years, everytime we saw a beautiful Shepherd, we would tear up. “Rescuing Sprite” brought back so many painful memories, but it was good to know that we were not alone in our feelings. Finally, partly because we never wanted to go through that kind of pain again, we searched the Internet for information on raising a guide dog. We decided on The Seeing Eye, and signed up to raise a puppy. A German Shepherd of course. Eleven months later we were holding the most, maybe the second most, adorable little puppy in the world, named Emily.

When you raise a Seeing Eye puppy, you love, socialize, and train the puppy for about 18 months. You know from the day you first hold the puppy, that she will be going back, she is only visiting for a season. Yes, your head knows, but your heart refuses to except the inevitable. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi Mark, I know exactly how you feel – last year I had to have my 2 dogs put to sleep – Casey in March and Jake in December. Casey had been with me since she was 6 months old and was 12 when she went home – Jake had been outside during Hurricane Andrew and my niece rescued her from a pile of rubble and I had had her for 6 years. They were my children and I loved them so much but I couldn’t let them suffer. My vet told me I was giving them a gift by not letting them suffer longer. I have their ashes and have told my children that I want them scattered with mine on the gulf stream (where we scattered the ashes of my husband). My dogs give me so much unconditional love – and ask for so little back.

I now have Bailey, another Boxer, who I love very much and yet I know I won’t have her for too long – she is 10-1/2 years old and Boxers usually have a life span of about 12 (have had 5 others and none lived longer than 12). Enjoy Pepsi and Griffen and give them the love they deserve and when it is time give them the last gift you can give them – peace.

My heart goes out to you – as I read your book I was crying a good part of the time.

Blessings,

Paula from FL