Mark, I want to thank you for your book! I wrote to you right after reading it, but didn’t send my letter in. My husband & I are avid fans of your show, so I decided after listening to some of your callers that I would submit my letter. We lost our beloved 14 year old Ian right before you lost Sprite. It was not a very Happy Thanksgiving 2006.Our son Bryan, brought Ian home as a puppy when he was working as a Water Instructor at a summer camp. We already had 2 dogs, Tiffany & Crescent, who were springer spaniel mixes.

They were litter mates, and Tiffany became Crescent’s seeing eye dog, when Crescent went blind at 7 years old. They accepted the new member of the family timidly, because Ian seemed to be growing daily! She was a shepherd husky beagle mix. Ian was our son’s dog, but when he graduated he started moving around, so mom & dad became Ian’s adoptive parents. Our son died suddenly in 1997, so Ian became our last physical link to our son. We dreaded the day we would lose her, because it would be like losing our son all over again. In the mean time, we dealt with losing Tiffany and Crescent, right before and right after our son died. Ian became more precious to us. We moved from the Midwest to the East Coast in 2003 to be closer to family.

Ian was doing fine until the last year of her life. She slowed down quite a bit due to hip problems, but her smile was still strong. We added a lab puppy to our family, so Ian took up mothering. Hemingway kept her on her toes, but knew when he was going over the line. He seemed to realize when she was tired or in pain. Animals are so smart. By Thanksgiving, Ian was in too much pain to ignore. She loved walks, but because of her arthritic hip, we didn’t keep her on a leash. She would walk along side of Hemingway and if it was too much for her, she would turn around and head home.

Unfortunately, she must have been disoriented and never made it home. We looked for hours. A neighbor found her 2 days later in a ditch. We rushed her to the hospital. The doctors took such good care of her, but she was just so tired and in pain. She looked at us smiled and gave us kisses. We felt it was her way of saying I love you, but I need my rest now. Hemingway was a little lost for a long time without Ian. We all grieved together.

Thank you Mark for letting me share my story. Thank you for sharing your expertise and knowledge of the Constitution and Politics, but especially for sharing your compassion and love of dogs.

Donna, Lloyd and Hemingway Eadie from MD

Dear Mr. Levin,
Knowing that I am a dog lover, my daughter-in-law gave me “Rescuing Sprite” for Christmas.
I have never read such an honest, intimate story of the bond between a person with his dogs, especially Sprite. If ever someone looks at me as if I am crazy when I talk about the bond I feel with my current furry friend, Solo, I know there is a person who understands.

Years ago, my parents bought me a collie pup for my 21st, birthday. She(Shaun) was everything I ever wanted.
When I married, we lived in an apartment in Md. and no pets were allowed. My Shaun stayed in the home I grew up in,with my parents, in Pa.

There was a wonderful week that we sneaked her into the apartment. A full-grown collie is not easy to hide,but she was a wonderful animal that never barked. We knew she could bark, just chose not to do so. We had a happy week together and no one who saw her reported us.

I had always hoped to take her with us when we bought a house, so you can imagine the agony I felt the last time I saw her. She could not stand up. Shaun crawled to me. I couldn’t stand to see what was happening to her. All of us knew it was time to let go This was almost 50 years ago and I have tears in my eyes as I write this to you.

Thank you for writing your book. I loved it. It is what I call a “keeper” I was touched deeply.
Sincerely,

Mollie from MD

P.S. May Pepsi and Griffen live many, many years.

Hi Mark,
I posted a couple months ago about how great dogs are and how amazing it is that we fall in love with them so quickly.

Well, I got your book for Christmas but haven’t sat down to read it yet. Not sure when that will happen. I found out today one of my German Shepherds has Leukemia and only has a couple weeks. She was “my” first dog and our baby. We are obviously heartbroken and dreading that we will have to make the same awful choice of ‘when’ that you had to make for Sprite.

I’m sure when I am ready ‘Rescuing Sprite’ will be therapeutic.

Thanks for such a great forum and for all you do for pet lovers AND Conservatives!

God Bless.
The Hunter Family and Schnaps and Bailey from VA

Mark,

I have tried to finish your book several times now but I just can’t stop crying it reminds me so much of our beloved Pepper and how much I still miss her.

We met Pepper at the Franklin Twp Animal Shelter-My wife and I got there right before they closed and while there were many wonderful dogs there; I just couldn’t take my eyes off of a Tan/BlackShepherd/Beagle mix. She was so frightened she sat in the back of the cage and wouldn’t even look at us. We took her home…She had been abused and lived in the wild for 6 months. We really loved her, we got rid of her fleas and mange and got her fixed. She even started to bark which she hadn’t done in the first six months we had her.

She hunted every groundhog, squirrel and snake on our property and had this funny way of laughing that I have never heard before. We took her on trips in the US and Canada. She had an amazing way of communicating with me, she would run into the living room cock her head a certain way and I knew exactly what she wanted it was amazing!

She got sick right before she turned nine. it started with severe food allergies and eventually developed into an immune deficiency in which she was losing red blood cells. We kept her going another 5 years with treatment,pills special food everything…..

Finally she had to have an operation that was iffy but she had to have it. She died after surgery. The weird thing was that about 5 minutes before the vet called to say she died my wife and I both heard a howl that no one else heard.

It was a VERY painful experience. About 6 months later we got a new friend a Basenji mix named Sable-

Thanks for All you do!

Jeff from NJ

I am new to this kind of communication but am reading your book (and going through the “decision”) and felt compelled to write. We have a mixed rescue dog that is part Newfoundland and whatever else (mostly Newfie traits!) and his name is Noofy. We’ve had him 12 years and he is the sweetest most lovable dog I’ve ever seen. I can’t but cry as I write this! He weighs in at about 55 pounds, he was about 75 in his younger years. As many big, older dogs do, he has arthritis. Just in the past day, he has really started to show huge signs of discomfort. He tries to sit and goes down about half waty then stops. Then he paces. Then he tries again. Then he paces. We have an appoitment with the vet to discuss possible meds (he’s been on baby asprin for a while but now it seems to have stopped helping). We have also had a cold spell here (the high today was34 and I know that’s hard on him). I too work at home and as I write this, he is laying and pacing beside me. My husband has asked me repeatedly how long will I allow him to suffer. I tell him until I’ve done everything humanly possible to ensure he isn’t suffering. But the thought weighs heavy. When I read what your mother said about Prince and that they let that go on too long, well….

Dog lovers are a great breed (no pun intended!). And you’re book has touched me. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried and felt like I was right there with you. Thanks for allowing me to share my story and express some of my feelings. We have three kids and when we lose Noofy, it will be awful! Two years ago, my middle child left the gate on the dog lot open and Noofy loves a chance to roam. He came home with a .22 shell in his left shoulder, barely missing major arteries. My daughter was so upset and felt so guilty. Noofy lived even more like royalty after that! We’ve had the dog longer than our kids. I only hope he knows how much love and joy he has added to our lives. I feel like in comparison, we’ve failed him.

Amy from NC

It has been very painful, as I’ve watched my precious loyal friend Rufus struggle as diabetes robbed her of her health, joy, and eyesight. She then developed heart disease along with arthritis. None of this prepared me for this week, when I had to approach the Vet about Rufus suffering with her health problems.

We both agreed it was time …….Rufus is almost 16 years old, and today I carried her all over my property, as we went for our last walk, tonight will be our last. I have tried to prepare myself for this horrible time, but nothing has prepared me for this pain. I can relate to Mark and all the pet owners on this site.

I just pray this pain and guilt will ease over time, because I know little Rufus doesn’t deserve to suffer. Tomorrow I will hold her as she draws her last breath.

Jeff from NC