Dear Mark,

I wanted to thank you for writing your book as it has helped me deal with the loss of my dog in ways you couldn’t imagine. I had to put my dog Stormie down on November 13th of this year and it was absolutely the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do. I just finished your book and was astonished at just how similar my experience was with yours and I’m sure everyone else who’s had to go through the process of ending the life of their best friend. I bought Stormie as a puppy and had her for nearly 15 years. She was absolutely my best friend and it brings tears to my eyes just writing this short note about her. I take comfort in knowing that others such as you love their pets as much as I did, and the fact that my Storm is in a better place today.

Mark from FL

I have three dogs – DJ – a jack russell/corgi mix – he is now 14, deaf and has cushings disease -(a disease which causes the liver to overproduce hormones)
Bama (Alabama) a 14 year old female chocolate lab. She has just finished her 2nd round of chemo for lymph node cancer and Sunny, our 8 years old yorki/terrier mix who was found in a rainstorm in Fla.
My DJ is now deaf because of the cushings and has a large hump on his right side due to the over production of hormones. He has had three leg surgeries and lost a toe to cancer – but he is the sweetest and most wonderful animal.He loves women. Read the rest of this entry »

I adopted Bailey, a mixed Golden Retriever-Chow mix, when I got out of the Army. It was 1992, I’d done my part during Desert Storm, and was set to be a Civilian with a house and a dog.

She had a tough time adapting to me getting married and giving up her half of the bed, but I sent my bride and Bailey to obedience training and they learned to communicate.

Bailey got me through some tough times over the 15 years she was in my life, even alerted me to a crook trying to break in through my back porch screen door with her growling and bought me time to grab my firearm and scare the thug off.

She diligently guarded both of our two children from the day each was brought home from the hospital, sleeping in the crib room and later in the bedroom both share.

The years caught up with Bailey as Winter set in. Her muscles deteriorated to the point that she couldn’t stand up to eat or go potty, and finally she stopped eating completely.

I made her appointment at the vet last Friday, and we had one last great weekend of brushing and petting. I took her in today, and sat with her the entire time. She knew. As weak as she was from having not eaten in days, she still managed to hold her head up and look me in the eye right up to the end.

When the time is right, we’ll go to the local shelter and begin again. Bailey was my third dog, and I believe strongly they’ll all be waiting for me at the gates.

Dave from NJ

F. lee–i love you, my 13 year old son loves to laugh and gets your download and loves you too. I have 2 dogs, Zelda and Annie. Zelda is beautiful, but a vicious killer of coons and rodents–just what we need here in farm country. Annie is a calm lover. I’ve been in an ongoing battle with my husband about dogs in the house, we fought and fought. Just you wait and see who needs the love and honesty of those dogs. It’ll be him. You are dead on when you say dogs teach us about ourselves, he doesn’t know it yet, I will weep when he gets it. love ya.

Jen from MI

Ten years ago this Christmas, my husband gave me the best gift I’ve ever gotten… a beautiful German Shepard Dog, 6 weeks old, all soft fur and big feet. She quickly grew into the most gorgeous creature ever to walk the earth. Not only was she physically beautiful, but her intellegence, courage, and loyalty were unwavering. She was adored by all who met her, and I was lucky enough to be adored by her. I lost her to cancer three years ago and my heart still breaks this time of year, when I remember how that round, soft ball of black puppy fur felt in my arms. But in the midst of my grief, I am also deeply grateful for having had her in my life, for all she gave me and all she taught me. Merry Christmas, Miss Fritzi. I love you.

Hazel from WI

Mark,

Let me start by saying that we own a mobile grooming business and this story is about one of our customer’s pup. Bella was about nine years old and has made a complete turn around as far as her grooming goes. Cindy, my wife, is the groomer and I bathe the dogs and take care of most of the mechanical problems with the van and I’m responsible for getting the servicing completed that is required.

When Cindy first started grooming Bella, she would always try to bite when it came to getting nails clipped and ears cleaned. We would have to muzzle her to get that done. Apparently, something bad happened to her before we started grooming her and she thought we were going to do the same thing to her. Bella’s parents said she just hated going to a groom shop and was afraid we were going to have trouble with her too.

I think it took about a year to get her turned around to the point that she didn’t need a muzzle for her nails and ears. As a matter of fact, it got to the point where she was really excited to see us coming to groom her. I think a lot of it was Cindy’s doing and the treats she would get when we would finish her nails. On the way from the front door to the van, she would pull Cindy down the driveway because she was so anxious to get to the van. Cindy’s practice of heaping praise on her when we could get one foot done (along with a bit of a treat) seemed to do the trick.

Last Thursday, we had an appointment to groom Bella and when we called we were told that Bella had been sick and didn’t know if she was up to getting groomed. Cindy said we would drop by and if Bella showed her usual happiness to see us that it shouldn’t be a problem but she would make the decision on how Bella acted when we got there. She had a habit of going ‘nutso’ when she knew Cindy was at the door.

When we got to the house, Cindy rang the doorbell and was let into the house. Bella was at the door and I could see from the van that she didn’t act normally. She jumped up on Cindy’s leg greeting her as usual but it just wasn’t the same. Cindy sat in the floor because Bella was crying so she crawled onto Cindy’s lap for some kissing and cuddling. Cindy was told Bella was diagnosed with a bacterial infection in her pancreas. She was on an IV for 24 hours at the vet’s office and released with antibiotics. Cindy told me Bella had lost a lot of weight because she didn’t eat and I’m not sure how long that had been going on. Bella’s mom told Cindy they found their little boy on his hands and knees halfway into Bella’s crate crying and begging Bella not to die. Cindy was really upset about the news and called our vet to get more information and a second opinion, as such. We called again Friday to see how Bella was doing and was told she seemed to be getting better since our visit but was really disappointed that we didn’t take her to the van. She wanted a treat, you see. Read the rest of this entry »