I have just finished reading “Rescuing Sprite”. My husband gave it to me for Christmas, the day after we had to euthanize our beloved cat, quite unexpectedly. We are animal lovers who have been blessed with many dogs and cats (a few rabbits, and at this time 3 chinchillas that we rescued from an animal shelter). Thank you for writing this book.

We had not had any dogs for about 4 years when a Samoyed came into our lives through a rescue program. one of those situations where the dog found us. He was our 6th Samoyed and our short time with him very much paralleled your story of Sprite. We have had dogs in our life again ever since, thanks to Colby We have owned shelter cats and dogs, purebreds, and strays. Each one has been a special miracle. It has been painful to lose each one. You have so well captured the essence of what we all feel when we love, and when we lose a pet. Reading your book over the last 2 days has been a catharsis for me, as my cat’s ashes sit in a beautiful box on a special shelf. We will plant him in one of our flower gardens in the spring, as we have done before. I also retired from teaching last June, and have been working part-time at our local Animal Welfare Society shelter ever since. I will be leaving soon to take a long-term substitute teaching position for the rest of the school year for a teacher who has cancer. I don’t think I could work at the shelter long-term anyway, because it is a very emotional experience. You are right about people who work at shelters. They are made of special stuff!! Again, thank you.

Paula from ME

Mark,

I received a signed copy of your book as a Christmas gift from my boss. He does know me well. I cried the entire time I was reading it as it brought back all the painful and guilty feelings I had when I had to put my Molly down 6 years ago. She was a beautiful German Shorthair Pointer. I knew the owner of her parents so I was able to go see her from day 1. I actually picked her out at 3 weeks old and spent the next 4 weeks going over to visit or bringing the whole group to work to socialize them (6 in the litter). My husband picked Remington out at 5 weeks.

On Thanksgiving day 1996, the same day we moved into our first house we brought the little snuggle pups home. For five years Molly drove me crazy, scared me to death and damaged or destroyed anything she could get her teeth into. I could not have loved her more. Shortly before her 5th birthday she began having lameness in her backend. Each episode would be worse than the one before. Finally one morning she went out for potty and could not stand back up. The fear and confusion in her eyes broke my heart. I knew I would finally have to let her go. I still to this day wonder if there was something else I could have done. Was I not a good enough mother and how could I have let her down so badly. It took months for Remington and I to accept it. I adopted Ping after 2 years. She is a younger sister to Rem and Molly and she helped patch the hole in my heart. I adopted Bella the Boxer last November and now my hands and heart are pretty full again. Thank you for a wonderful book and letting me see that other people go through and deal with the same emotions when making such a difficult decision. Big woofs from Remington, Ping and Bella to Pepsi and Griffen.

Angie from MT

My Aunt Chloe sent your book to me for Christmas. She is, like me, one of the biggest dog lovers ever. Your book broke my heart to read about Sprite and reminded me of my own dear sweet Muffy. She died from small cell carcinoma in September 2006. She was a stray who came up to my house 12 years ago and never left. She was a puppy then and my daughter was 3 months old. I had a long, happy life with this dog, who bonded with me like no other dog ever has. I have always loved all of my furry friends, but this one was different, like your Sprite.

I had to make the decision to put her to sleep when she wasn’t able to breathe very well, not eating or drinking. Her last day, I picked her up and she wagged her little tail, she was so happy to see me. The whole ordeal was traumatizing and exhausting. When I read your story, I know that other people are tender-hearted like I am. Never think your grief goes unshared or is diminished by some other tragic event. Grief is grief and when it is over someone we love, there is no comfort.

My daughter encouraged me to get another dog, but I broke down at the adoption center and left them a check instead.

I decided to become a foster mother and welcomed a yellow lab into our house. I wasn’t ready to have another new dog yet. However, I though I could deal with a “temporary” dog. But after I named her after my Aunt Chloe and after she put her head on my shoulder to sleep with me every night, I have come to believe that my sweet angel Muffy send Chloe to me to help me live with the grief of losing her.

Chloe is a mess and is a delight to have around. I never go looking for dogs, God sends them to me instead.

Thank you for your book. I share your grief and pain and I am comforted in some way to know that other people have this intense love for dogs that I have.

In memory of Muffy, and in honor of both my Chloes, all the dogs before, inbetween and after, God bless you, Mr. Levin. I am glad you persevered with this book.

Marian from SC

Talk about my favorite Christmas present ! As hard as he tries my husband of 37 years often just misses with my Christmas gift. ( It’s so him that I expect him to miss and am always surprised). This year he has so hit on the perfect present for me. My copy of “Rescuing Sprite” was a total surprise and I love it. I finished reading it on the 26th of Dec! I laughed and smiled and giggled and cried and sobbed. Thank you for sharing your story.

I have lost a few dogs in my life. The last was 61/2 years ago when my beloved dalmatian Luckie developed a brain tumor and we had to have him euthanized to save him pain. He was only 10 years old. I still miss him every day. ( I still have his ashes because I don’t know where I will live the rest of my life and I want to be near him.) I will treasure your book that so deftly put into words some of the things I feel. Thank you! (On a side note you mentioned your brother Doug on page 142 as having scoliosis. I too am a scoliosis sufferer. I never had the opportunity for surgery and find lots of support at scolios-support.org and would like to invite him to join us to help other scoliosis patients. It costs nothing and he may well be a real savior to others. Thank you.

Jean from OK

Hi Mark, I have just finished reading Rescuing Sprite. My husband gave it to me for Christmas. It is a wonderful book. I know what you and your family been going through. I have lost many dogs over the years, but two of them were very special to our family. One of the dogs was a Dachsund mix named Fella. He died at the age of 15 from diabetes and kidney failure. The other dog was a Terrior/Spitz mix who died from liver failure. He had arthritis and was given Rimadyl. They told us the medicine had destroyed his liver. He was 18 when he died. We had to have them both put to sleep. This is the hardest thing anyone can do, but I think this shows how much a person loves their pet when they decide not to let them suffer anymore. I know it is hard, but you will always have the memories of Sprite like I have of Fella and Trooper. I have a Brittany/Border Collie mix that I rescued when she was a puppy. Her name is Brittany and she is now 8 years old. At the age of 3 she had some seizures but the Vet did not think it was serious. She now has arthritis and atrophy. She has good days and bad, but still loves to go out for long walks. She is real special to me because I got her three months before another of my dogs a Dachsund named Heidi died from old age. Brittany alerted me to the fact my breathing was not right one night and I later found out that I have asthma. I thank God daily for all of my pets. I also have two Beagles that are 2 years old. They are a female named Ginger and a male named Einstein. God Bless you and your family for caring about animals the way you do. I wish more people cared about dogs and realized that dogs are a good companion and for all and that they help us to heal when we are sick. Again God Bless You and thank you for sharing your story. Keep us informed on Pepsi and Griffin.

Debra from TX

Hi Mark, I just finished your book about Sprite. My family got it for me for Christmas. Animals touch our lives in such special ways.

I grew up with dogs. They will always be a part of my life. My husband and I got a chow puppy when we were in college and planning to be married in 1985. We named him Beau because he was so beautiful.

We had him for 14 and a half years. I know chows have a reputation for being mean but this was the most gentle chow you can ever imagine. He went with us through 5 moves around the country. Every new vet he went to in each new place said he was the nicest chow they had ever encountered, never a bit of aggression. At the end he was completely deaf, had arthritis and was dealing with other old age problems but he handled it all with such dignity. We lost him in Nov. 1999.

We got a wonderful welsh corgi puppy whom we named Katie when Beau was 9. She went through several moves with us also. She and Beau got along so well. We lost Katie last year right before Thanksgiving to kidney disease. That was the worst as you can identify because she was sick and there was nothing we could do but watch her deteriorate. But she was 12 and their ages let me know we took good care of them. That pleases me and gives me some comfort. But I miss them terribly. And so often I imagine how soft their fur was and remember all the silly things they did.

It has been a year and I am ready for a new dog. We are going to take a 5 yr golden retriever named Sadie into our home. Her owner is ill and cannot care for her. We are so looking forward to having a dog again. Thank you for sharing your story. It’s nice to know others feel the same way about our incredible animals.

Peggy from OH