Several years ago I was touched so deeply in a way I never expected to be touched. I remember being on vacation in Branson Mo, where there are so many forms of entertainment around you, so many things to do for enjoyment. In spite of all the avenues of entertainment there, due to a back problem, I lay in a motel room watching a television special…”War Dogs”.

One story on this show chronicled how a United States Army dog handler was placed with his new partner…a German Shepherd. If I remember correctly, he had no choice in his partner, the dog was assigned to him. The handler was very apprehensive about the dog, since during the training of the dogs, his new German Shepherd partner had gained a reputation for being somewhat mean and aggressive. The dog handler and the dog trained together for a time, then were sent to their duty station.
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Mark, I also lost a dog we had for over 15 years. I was only about 9 when we got him but he watched us grow and leave the house, only to return here and there but not like before. Still I loved that dog Bear or Oso depended on what language we used that day. No matter how much I loved him and enjoyed the company, I just cannot get another dog. The experience still haunts me. Just thinking about it almost rips my heart out. The problem is that my wife and kids want a dog. But they have never lost one and I don’t want to go through that ever again. Mark, buddy, what should I do? Thanks for your book.

Chris from MO

Saturday, January 9, 1993 was a very sad time for me personally and for my son and daughter and husband as well. Scrubby our faithful pal for almost 18 years died today.

His life in the past year was not a healthy one. He was suffering with a large tumor that had started somewhere in the vicinity of his left ear and had spread to eventually misshape his head.

I don’t know if I did the right thing by letting him remain like that. I often times thought that I should have had that taken care of. Agonizing a decision as it was, I felt he was a very old dog and I would rather him live out his days at home.
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My cat , Mittens, was a special cat. I got her in 1990 after she was weined. And for 14 yrs ,along with my wife and chidren, with had a great relationship. Anyway, in 2003, I had a serious operation, bypass in my right leg with a toe removal. When I came home my cat Mittiens came in our bedroom jumped up on my bed looked at me in my computer chair and started to cross over my legs to see me. But she paused when touching my right leg. She gave me a look of concern and crawled up my left , laid beside my right ear and purred, as if to say “It’s ok daddy i’m here”. In 2004, Mittens became gravely ill and we had to put her down , one the hardest decisions in my life. I sat with Mittens and petted her. When the doctor gave me time alone with her, I picked up her body , put her on my shoulder and purred in her ear.

Thomas from NY

My 6 year old Beagle is a two time rescue dog. She was first rescued by family when she was a pup. They got her from a Beagle rescue organization. After four years they had enough. They put a “free to good owner add” in the local paper. My wife and I responded and were surprised to find a four year old dog. They told us they no longer had time for her. We were looking for a younger dog, but felt so bad for her that we took her home. We could not understand how you could have a dog for four years and then just give her away to the first people who showed up. It took her awhile to warm up to us, understandable as it was the second time she was removed from her home. She eventually came around.

Last year she got out of our yard and chased a squirrel. She ran out into the street and was hit by a truck. She was drug a bit and when we took her to our Vet we found that she had a broken leg, broken ribs, very severe road rash, and some internal injuries. The Vet suggested we put her to sleep as he didn’t think she would pull through. We didn’t want to give up on her. I told the Vet that I didn’t want to put her down and that I would do everything in my power to help her recover. My wife and I have a very young family and were barely getting by. The Vet bills rose over a thousand dollars and we had to take out a small loan. After a couple long months of babying her and spending lots of late nights petting her, and just trying to make her comfortable- she made it. We were happy for her as she had been through enough hardships in her life. I just want to let everyone know that sometimes they make it when no one thinks they will. As it turns out, if we put her down, it would have been for nothing. Please don’t give up. She is back to her old self and still chasing squirrels. Only now she has a much tighter leash. I want to thank you Mark for your book and look forward to reading it. God bless you Mr. Levin.

Kevin from Ohio

Mark, I’m a “nearly”75 aged woman who loves to listen to your show and I would like to tell you about a little rat terrier dog that we had when I was a child in the ’30’s. Her name was Trixie and she would swim out and retrieve the ducks that my father would shoot on our lake. She was so good to me and my siblings. She would go with us to bring the cows from the pasture and round them up for us to bring them in for milking. One day we found out she was going to have puppies and we were so excited. When the time came for that event we were heart broken when Dad told us that she was having trouble delivering them and would probably not make it. Well she had the puppies in the barn and brought them up to the house and put them in the yard by the back porch. Then she laid down beside them and died. We kids were sitting on the porch crying and dad was trying to comfort us. All at once Dad whispered to us, “Be very still and look out there at the cat.”
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