Mark, I sent in a story about our rescue basset, Romeo, whom we lost to cancer and diabetes a year ago. We now have another rescue basset, kirby, who was diagnosed three weeks ago with diabetes. he is old also, and we have had him less than a year, but he is on daily insulin therapy and is improving. he reminds me so much of your sprite in that he is the happiest most loving dog ever, always smiling and waggling his tail. attitude is everything, that’s what we’re learning from our kirby. I loved your book. We know what we’re facing, but kirby won’t let us think about it! thank you for everything you do to help the homeless pets. We have four dogs and three cats who all get along just great. they let us live in their”dog house”!!

Sandra from TX

I finished your book Rescuing Sprite last evening with tears streaming down my face…Having had to make that difficult decision with 3 of my beloved dogs over the past 10 years, you captured the agony,anxiety, guilt, second-guessing, and heart felt grief we all experience when the time comes….you are absolutely correct when you expressed “who are we to decide the day, the time, the place”…however, we make such difficult decisions out of unconditional love that we have with these wonderful pets in return for the love they gave to us.

We as humans have much to learn from the dignity and manner in which dogs live their lives….unconditioned love, the spirit of enjoying the simple things in life; a good walk,; a ride in the car,; the “smells” of the day; the breeze in their face….and they don’t ask for anything in return!!

My mother died 5 years ago after battling cancer…in a very real sense going through the difficult process with my pets helped me cope with the heart wretching loss of my mother…

I saw a poster years ago that says it all….”I want to be the person my dog thinks I am” God Bless your family and “the boys”.

Deborah from NY

Dear Mark:
My husband and I picked up your book at our Border’s Book Store and I sat in one of their comfortable chairs to begin reading. Well, I knew this would be a book I would truly enjoy, but as emotional as I am about our animals, past and present, I would have to do it alone. I chose to read it in the comfort of our bedroom after my husband left for work. What a powerful read. I sat here and bawled my eyes out, wiped my nose continuously, trying to get myself under control. You are a credit to the reading public. My dad brought my first dog into my life when I was 8 yrs. old and I’ve always had one to three dogs ever since. They are so precious to have in a family. My mother always tells me “not to trust anyone that doesn’t love animals” and she is so right.

We just recently lost our precious daschund “Booger” on October 9, 2007, we moved from a home in another city to our home now and we’ve always had our dogs spayed and neutered. That was in 2005, he did ok, but just ballooned up and you know how stressful that is on their long bodies, he ended up throwing up so many times then had bleeding when he would try to use the bathroom from the other end. The most pathetic thing that just broke me down was that he would stand at his water bowl and stare at it then lay down with his chin on the edge. If he chose to drink anything it was one to two laps and then he would throw up a little bit later. I asked the vet why he would do that and he told me that Booger knew he needed water, but was afraid to as the outcome was sickness. I thought to myself, people say dogs are dumb, boy, they are way far from it. I rushed him down to the vet and they examined him, gave him some meds to make him comfortable and that evening around 7:30, the night vet was checking the cages, she walked by his and he seemed to be if you could call it ok, but not in distress, in the 10 minutes it took her to check the other areas, she walked back by his cage and he had passed away. Of course, she called us with the horrible news and most of our grown kids were at the house and they saw my eyes fill with tears as they are doing now, they immediately knew. Read the rest of this entry »

Mark,
I purchased the autographed first edition of your book for my wife for Christmas. She read it faster than any other book she’s ever read and then it was my turn. I, too, enjoyed it and hated to see it end. I listen to your program every night on my way home from work and wouldn’t miss it for the world.

My wife and I have only been married three years and when we got married she had two dogs. Jodi, a toy poodle, and Rudi, a mix-breed, that would melt your heart in a second.

Two years ago, after only one year of marriage, we had to have Rudi put to sleep after discovering that he had severe liver disease and would probably only survive another few days and be in agony the entire time. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done and it still haunts me to know that the last thing he saw was my face.

Your book has helped greatly with our ability to cope with the loss, which we still feel sharply.

God bless you and your wonderful family, Mark. You’ll never fully appreciate how much you and Sprite mean to my family.

Steve from IN

I am not as much of a recreational reader as I would like to be but your book has touched my heart. I, like yourself, was persuaded (as only a child can do) in June of this year into adopting/rescuing a dog by my 9 year old daughter, Jordan. I am and have always been a dog person. But having two cats and in my early fifties I did not want to have the responsibility of another “child”. I liked my freedom. But along came Baxter who changed my life in ways I had forgotten.

Baxter was a one year old black and tan coonhound. His gentle yet aloof demeanor, human – like facial expressions, and need for love melted my fears and anxieties away, The consistent prodding from my daughter did not help, We adopted him and I thank G-d we did. He was truly a G-d-send.

It was a lot of work in the beginning especially because I have Epstein-Barr / Chronic Fatigue. Baxter forced me to walk, lose weight and to get back into shape. He was an active dog. I, like yourself, work out of my home so Baxter and I spent a lot of time together. We bonded. He became my best bud. Coonhounds are not the most common dogs in the East so Baxter was a hit. Everyone knew Baxter and very quickly touched everyones hearts and souls. At the dog park, which I took him to every day and on weekends usually twice, he was known has Houdini because of his ability to find imperfections in the fencing and escape or Sarge because of his ability to break up a fight with his loud hound bark.

Unfortunately, Baxter had a quirk. He hated trucks. Any type of truck. He would go nuts. No matter how hard I tried he just want to devour them. I was, however, working on calming his desires. Read the rest of this entry »

My husband and I have been blessed with two shelter dogs, and three rescue dogs… Our MotleyCrew.. all shapes, colors and sizes. We accumulated the five of them over the past 4 years.

After raising our 3 sons, we decided it was time for our first dog. The rest is history. We have never experienced the loss of a “perfect friend” yet, but we know that sooner or later we will be faced with the same decision that your family had to make.

Mark, your book has become our “how to” book. Thank you from our hearts…. We laughed, cried and appreciated every word. It may seem that we rescue our four legged pals, but when it comes down to it? They rescue us.

Carolyn from TN