Mark, Thank you for being so special.
It will be 2 yrs on the 14th that we were faced with the decision you were faced with and not a day goes by that we don’t mourn Megan’s loss. She was 12 yrs. old and became so sick. We had two other Jack Russel Terriers and we love them dearly. Each one with their own personalities, but Megan was so special.
Since we are getting older now, we said that if anything happens to another one of our dear babies, we will adopt from a shelter. Since my son and daughter-law raised them, they couldn’t part with each litter, so they ended up with several and we ended up with 3 from different litters. I cry every evening when I listen to your show.
I hear you and your listeners talking about the same way that I feel.

The Hospital, that had taken care of her, sent me her footprint. They had taken it after she died and I didn’t know it. I received it with a ribbon tied on it and her name and date. The card that was enclosed had cats and dogs on the cover and said, “We will Always Remember Special Friends.” Each one of the doctors that took care of her signed it with a special message. I was hysterical by the time I finished reading the card. I couldn’t even think straight.
It is such a blessing how they can love us so unconditionally and ask for so little in return.

God Bless you,
Marilyn from NY

I am blessed to live with my own pack of three rescue dogs. Thank god I have a large house! The third dog was a very special case since she was totally ferral having lived wild in a cemetary.She is a red healer, which is related to the Dingo family. When I first got her four years ago she had never been in contact with people. Lucky girl. It took three years of constant training and support for my little beauty to finally adapt and trust me. She is so gorgeous and precious to me, as are my lab mix and my pit mix as well. They are the best family any single girl can have. And believe me, this is one house in Phila. that is not going to get robbed!

Phyllis from PA

He was 6 days old and fit in the palm of my hand, with room to spare, when I first saw him. Six weeks later I brought him home. Being my first Yorkshire Terrier, Pasha was, in my husband’s words, a “hairball.”

He was my dog; he ate and slept with me and followed me everywhere. He played with our cat, Michiye (Mee-Chee, that’s another story), and loved to chase the little birds on the beach at the ocean. As with all Yorkies, he knew he was a Great Dane, and nothing scared him. He was our “point man” when we hiked the foothills around Mt Ranier.

As he got older, he would go to bed promptly at 8:30 pm. He would walk to the bedroom door, turn, and give me that “Aren’t you coming to bed now?” look.

Pasha lived to be 14 years old and then had to be put down due to an unfortunate accident. I held my baby while the vet gave him the injection that ended his life. That was 6 years ago, and I still cry, as I’m doing now, when I think of that wonderful little dog.

We now have Beau, a Toy Poodle, (in the picture with Pasha) and Bear, another Yorkie. Dogs, and cats, enrich our lives so very much and bring us joy. All they ask of us is food, shelter, and an abundance of love.

Pat from WA

Found our beloved penny, a chow retriever mix, we think, tied to the fence of the local animal shelter. first look into t
those huge loving eyes were all we needed. she was part of home for almost 9 years until we brought her in to be checked because her eating was off. four days later she was gone. cancer took her but not before the surgery and waiting for biopsy reports. in the meantime she needed 4 tranfusions but continue to bleed out. i continue to cry because i feel i betrayed her. i was the one who led her into the operating area where she would never return the same again. hubby and i are in bereavement therpy, hope it will get better soon. tks for this corner that lets me vent.

Helen from NY

I only wish my story could be as positive as the others posted here but sadly it’s not. Even now it causes terrible pain and regret to tell you what happened to my beloved Shepard, Nick.

My ex-wife was a proclaimed “animal lover”. Indeed she was a horse woman and ultimately loved her horses more than me. But that is for the psychiatrists to analyze. She conned me into buying her a 20 acre horse farm in Vermont and once settled there she served me with divorced papers. I should have brought Nick back to New Jersey with me, he was my dog before we married, but felt that he might be happier living on the farm than being stuck at home in New Jersey while I was at work all day slaving to send her alimaony. He was a healthy 10 year old and I wanted what I believed best for him. During the divorced, in simoly an act of evil, my ex-wife had him put to sleep. There was nothing medically wrong with him. She used him as a means of inflicting pain on me. She told me after the fact, making up some bogus excuse for doing this. I was crushed. Had she stabbed me in the heart with a knife it would not have caused more pain. I wept reading your book Mark but wept more remembering my best friend Nick and how he trusted me and how I let him down.

Vin from NJ

i listen to your show as much as i can. When i first heard your story about your dog, i had to turn the radio off because i just couldnt handle it. I had to put my best friend to sleep as well. I will give you a bit of backround. I picked up Nastasha “Stoshie” as a puppy. She was badly abused at only a few weeks old. The people that i picked her up from had her and the rest of the litter in a kiddie pool all covered in their own urine and feces. When i picked up the dog, the woman wanted to know if i wanted a paper bag to put the dog in to take it home. I kindly refused and took her home in the palms of my hands.

She was relaxed almost as soon as i got her home. She would fall asleep with her head in my boots all the time. I guess the smell of a friend relaxed her. She slept with me till she was too big and was definately my best friend. Stoshie helped me get through some VERY tough times in my life. I never had her on a leash or in a collar (i didnt need to) she was by my side no matter where we went. She was ALWAYS happy to see me no matter what kind of day i had. Well i noticed one day that she was having trouble breathing. I took her to my vet (who i trust to no end) and he told me that she had an enlarged heart. She had been to other vets in the past for other health issues and they gave her 1 year at the most to live. This visit was about 4 years after that ordeal.
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