Every night for many years, my dog Betty and I would take our two mile exercise walk at 4 pm pst.    One reason the walk would happen at this time was so I could listen to the MLS, uninterrupted.  Many times I would be tugging on Betty’s collar (a 13″ Beagle) to hurry it up.  She always wanted to stop and sniff.  Mark, there were too many times to mention that you would start talking about your dogs and your loss during these times.  It would make me stop, hug my dog, and appreciate what she was trying to tell me to do.   Slow down.  Today I had to put her down.  God Bless you Mark.

— David from Vancouver, WA

When we rescued our Anatolian Shepherd, Bear, we already had Dolly a MinPin.  From day one Dolly made it very clear to Bear that she was the boss of the house.  They got along peacefully and Bear was always respectful of Dolly\’s superior status.  Bear had a huge chew bone that weighed almost as much as Dolly, but that did not stop Dolly from trying to claim it as her own.  Finally, Bear took the bone outside and hid it.  It is unusual for an Anatolian to be so submissive since they are a dominant breed but we always wondered if Bear was aware that little Dolly had a very bad heart condition.  Her heart finally gave out, but up till the last she was her little MinPin self ruling the roost.  She passed away suddenly in my arms and we burried her in the flower bed near our back door.  The next day I witnessed something that was truly amazing.  I saw Bear coming across the lawn carrying his big chew bone that had been hidden.  He walked right to Dollys grave, placed the bone on the grave , and began a vigil that lasted the rest of the day.  I know it was his tribute to his little friend.

— Deb from McPherson, KS

We rescued a wonder mastiff by the name of Lily. She was our first Mastiff rescue. We fell in love with her and she wilth us. She was smart and affectionate. Her best friend in the world was her sister Jasmine (out boxer). Lily died of cancer Oct 31 2009 and Jasmine died in her sleep on Dec 26th 2010. It was getting to the point where the kids did not want to celebrate holidays. I can’t say I blame them. Even though we lost two of the best dogs in the world we knew there were more dogs in need out there. We now have another Mastiff and a Black and Tan. It might sound cold but we will continure adopting dogs as long as there are dogs to adopt.

— William from Summerville, SC

Diamond was 9 years old when I married my second wife.  She and her Sister Emerald had belonged to my new wife since they were kittens.  All during the engagement Diamond shied away from me.

Returning from our honeymoon, the first night Diamond showed her anger at the new guy in the house by promptly leaking on MY side of the bed in the middle of the night.

The third night, she did the same and my bride asked if I wanted to give her to a friend.  I declined, deciding that I was going to make friends with this felonious feline if it was the last thing I did.

I took a year and a half, but one day, Diamond decided that I was her human and jumped up in my lap while we watched TV.  From that day on we were inseparable.  Each night, as soon as I turned out the lights to go to sleep, Diamond jumped up on the bed beside my pillow and spent the night.

Several years later, while recovering from major surgery she didn’t leave my side except to eat and use the litter box.
One night, about 8 3 years after my surgery, Diamond didn’t come to bed with me and I went downstairs to see if she was OK, and halfway afraid that her advanced age had caught up with her.  She was on the arm of the couch and mewled, glad to see me.   I took her up stairs and the next three nights the same thing happened.  Then, she seemed to recover and for a few weeks was pretty much back to normal.

Then, about a month later things started to change. Diamond didn’t come up to the bedroom anymore, prefering to sleep on the arm of the leather couch. Finally, noticing a decrease in weight and energy, I took her to the vet. Renal failure was the diagnosis and he prescribed medications and a special renal diet. Diamond didn’t get better though, then one morning she was more listless than usual and I knew it was time.

I took her back to the vet, my heart breaking and informed him of what I wanted done what I knew had to be done though I hated doing it. Diamond breathed her last with me beside her, petting her and I know that she knew that I would be with her to the end.

That night I cried like I hadn’t cried for years, In fact, not since my first wife passed away.  Diamond was special, very, very special and in this case, a boy’s best friend.

— George from McAllen, TX

Freckles woke up a new world everyday.  She was full of life and loved all the she came in contact with.  She was a girls girl with her dainty body and flirtatous ways.  She was 5 lbs. of love.  She developed a mass cell tumor in her sixth year.  Lost her leg and never changed.  The cancer spread and unknown to her bumps made it hard to pet her as we humans knew what it meant.  We put her down with broken hearts to save her the misery we knew would come.  She did not escape all suffering but bounced back and gave us hope for her that did not come to passl  I believe she waits in Heaven and I look forward to the day we meet again.

— Liz from Sunnyvale, TX

Our beagle, butch, have my husband and i very well trained and housebroken and all it took was his funny little smile and the way he cocks his head as if to say, are you talking to me. he is 2 yrs old now and slowing down, but seems to still have the glint of puppy antics in his eyes.

— Pamela from Spokane Valley, WA