Hi Mark, just finished reading your wonderful book.I laughed and cried and felt reassured that there are people who are as devoted to their pets as we in our family are. Our “baby” is a lab retreiver cross who sleeps in our playroom and is the boss in our house.He is 5yrs old and is such a scaredy cat .Thank you Mark for the tears and laughter and for making us all aware that we are the lucky ones to have such devoted friends in our dogs.

Mary from Ireland

Oh my… how I cried after reading Rescuing Sprite. My heart ached for you and today I find out that my beloved companion of 13 1/2 years has cancer with a few months left if we’re lucky. I don’t know how you had the strength to make the decision of when to let Sprite go but now I’ll have to find that strength when its time for Morgan to leave us. God bless you Mark for letting us all know that we don’t go through this life alone and that others understand our broken hearts.

Debbie from MD

Perhaps, my writing would make someone angry. But it is the reality of the human reality.
I had enough experience in just a few years when my family and I had to live with the Khmer Rouge regime. We had seen dead people and the killings between human beings enough to brag for a life time atleast.

Now, we live in America where we value pet lives better than the lives of those who had lost their lives to their own human beings.

Sprite inspire me tremendously. I know now how much we shall respect to any lives on earth as we are all living together.

Thank you Mark for the courage to tell the true story.
God bless you.

Dara from CA (USMC)

We just recently lost our beloved boxer named Paisano (his name means “a good friend” in Italian) from Lymphoma(a form of cancer common in boxers). I read your book and it was unbelievable how much what you and your family went through reminded me of what we went through. He had good days and bad days, but he never complained. I cried so much and he would comfort me, wondering what I was so upset about. Our doctors told us to make a list of the things that he loves and when he cannot do those things, then it is time to let him go.

On Sunday October 21st(less than a month before his 4th birthday), he told us he had enough of fighting his cancer. My boyfriend and I layed on the floor and held him in our arms as he left this world. It was the worst thing I have ever been through, but I could not see him suffer any longer. I loved him too much for that. Less than a week later, I could not take the emptiness in our house and I found another boxer on a rescue website. She just happened to be at a foster home 5 minutes from our house. Two hours later we were her new parents and shopping at Petco with her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as healthy as we thought and has been sick since we got her. I have brought her to the vet more times than I can count. She is now hopefully on the path to recovery, but no matter how much time we may have with her, I will love her and cherish everyday. I have learned that it is not the quantitiy of life that our pets have, but the quality of life that we give them. I have attached a picture of Paisano. God Bless.

Kimberly from MN

Jake was an intensely sweet, handsome and loving boxer boy with a heart the size of all out doors. Slept in the bed, ate when we ate and adopted my daughter at birth and never left her side. He loved his mom but I was his dad who took him for walks and hugged him in barrel chested front paw of the ground crushers at least three times a day and kissed him more than I can even imagine counting on his big block head. He would look at you with those boxer eyes and stair straight into your soul.

When he stopped eating we knew something was wrong, an ultrasound showed likely cancer in his stomach, and he then stopped taking drink right before Thanksgiving Day. His favorite day. The day before the bird was cooked the owner of our amazing vet gave me the news and some incredibly sage advice. Not just about Jake but about Emily and how her “brother, as she called him” would not be in pain. It was time to say goodbye to my best friend and I had to do it. I didn’t know how but I had to do it. I had to do it. He was always there for me. Always. Like breathing, He was always there. I had to do it, I did. I just didn’t know how I could.

Thanksgiving was bittersweet as everyone came from all around and held him and kissed him and while on amazing amounts of pain meds through injections he rose first to pull himself up with my camera and set out for the front door for the annual photo shoot with his favorite girl for the Christmas card and it was incredible. Later when wiped out from the short photo session he smelled my 80 year old mom when she took the floor next to him and he pulled himself off his dog bed in into my moms lap on the floor as he had since birth looked at me a cried a little and then went to sleep. He was handsome and brave and sweet and loving and amazing. We drank great wine to him for the rest of the afternoon and I knew I did not want the day to end and that I did not want to sleep.

The following morning we said our goodbyes, prayed over him the best we could and Jake and I were off to the clinic. I will forever remember the songs in the car and the smells in the air. The stops at the park and the ride through the neighborhood with the windows down to see all that he loved.

I will remember the horrible clinical talk and the small peep that he made when the needle went in and after jumping to him as I always do at each visit where shots or blood pulls were needed I said, ”that all right buddy that wasn’t that bad, your my good boy, good boy” realizing the words didn’t match the future as they were coming out of my mouth. As I held him, a hand on each side of his head, looking straight into his big beautiful eyes I cried I love you buddy, its going to be alright, I love you buddy, its ok. as he passed from our world so peacefully and with such dignity. The dignity he held for every second of every day of his life. I cried, no bellowed, in the car like I have never before.

I’m lost, my daughter is lost. My wife is lost and the house different. These Angles are life and if we are lucky enough to share one with them we are blessed beyond words. I wrote when he died and it helped. I’m not a writer but I pray I was a good dad.

We will miss him more than we can say and thank our God above
Who blessed us with this magic soul who only wanted Love
And envy him with every breath for he is at His side

http://www.timjoseph.com/WeLoveYouJake/
His life with usTim from TX

While I’ve never been an animal lover, inspired by friends, family and by Mark’s show, I decided to adopt my first dog or cat. With my schedule, I didn’t feel I could give the time to a dog that he/she would need, so I decided on a cat. This past Saturday, I adopted a 10-12 week old Russian Blue cat whom I’ve named Anastasia. She is the only survivor of her litter, all of whom were found starving and abandoned when they were brought to the cat rescue. While she is very shy and hides most of the time (she’s just getting used to her new home), but she still likes to come out to be petted and to play.

For a cat who has had such a hard life so far, she’s very lovable, gentle and playful and I look forward to 15-20 years of spoiling her. I used to listen to stories of the difficulty people had in losing a pet and thought it was ridiculous that grown adults should mourn over the loss of an animal. But after being a “daddy” to a little kitten for just a couple of days, I now understand. She’s already becoming an important part of my life and I know I would already miss her. I look forward to building a long friendship with her. Thank to everyone for your wonderful and moving stories. I know I’ve been touched by them.

Frank from MI