I resuce animals..right now I have 26 large dogs, 16 cats, 2 horses and 2 pigs. Recently I had to help my sister put her Chow “Bear” down. Bear came to us via visiting my Dad’s grave on a cold snowy day in December ’93. He was always the perfect gentleman. No recreational barking, no chasing other animals and the perfect “protector” of my elderly mom and aunt. I have helped many beloved pets over the Rainbow Bridge, but this time it really hit hard. I can’t let him go and I talk to his ashes everytime I go to my sisters house. So..I understand your feelings and may God bless you and your family for helping a wonderful animal that needed you.

Sandy from TX

We slso had to put down our Shar-pei dog Velvet in March 2007. She was 15 and a half. It was the hardest thing we have ever done. We took her to the vet Monday morning but could not do it. That evening she was screaming with pain and we call the vet at home and we cried a lot. I still cry and have a picture album. I usually cooked her food but I was gone for a week in March and my wife had to feed her canned food. That was the time the poisoned dog food was discovered. I think that may have contributed to her death but will never know. She was the love of our life and I have ordered two book. I am sure I will have many tears but will enjoy the memories.

James from Missouri

I have been listening to the dog stories over the last few days and figured I would share Cory’s story.

My Mom and Dad had two Collies (Clancy & Samantha) which they bread for puppies. They are not show dogs or anything like that. My parents just have a true love for the breed. I am 36 and my Mom has a picture of me lying in the driveway when I was around 8 using one of our Collies as a pillow.

So when we found out that Samantha was going to have puppies we were all excited. I was 23 at that time and figured I could handle having a puppy on my own. (I had no idea how expensive they are the first year!) I could not wait to pick out MY PUPPY!

I remember the day that Cory was born quite vividly. My wife (girlfriend at the time) had walked up the backed steps and opened the door and screamed “There is a rat on the floor!!!!” and she hightailed it down the steps like she was an Olym Read the rest of this entry »

My dog Yukon was 1/2 Shepherd and 1/2 Wolf. We got him in 1996 as a 6 week old puppy. On the first night we had him, we brought him indoors for the night. He howled incessantly. We let him out into the yard and he didn’t spend another night in the house until he was 16 years old. I figured I must have been the Alpha male because Yukon followed me everywhere.

I live on 11 acres of land with approx 6 acres wooded. I would go for walks in the woods and I’d look around and about 50 feet behind me, there he was, following me. As yukon aged, he began to have some trouble with his hips. On one particularly cold snowy day, I went for a walk and as usual, Yukon followed me. He could not keep up in the deep snow and sat down. I continued on my walk not knowing he had sat down in the deep snow. When I realized he wasn’t behind me, I went back to look for him. I found him sitting in the snow, he could not stand up. I could not lift him because he weighed nearly 130 lbs (solid, not fat) and I had a hard time walking in the snow myself. I went and got my teenage daughter and we put him on a blanket and dragged him to the house where he spent his first night indoors since he was a puppy.

Read the rest of this entry »

My dog Neptune, age 10, died a year ago. She’d been acting really old the previous couple of days… taking long naps, slow to awaken, not eating… and I’d decided to take her to the vet the first thing tomorrow.

I suspect that she had a heart attack, and may have had one a few days earlier when I wasn’t here to see (when she started acting “old”). I recall that when I first got her from the animal shelter, she had to be treated for heartworms, and I’ve heard that this can take years off of a dog’s life even if they fully recover.

Our pets become so much a part of our lives, becoming members of the family, and I’ve had many dogs. But this one was special to me.
Read the rest of this entry »

This is a story about my dog, Ralph. He was a Great Dane / lab mix. He was one of the most athletic dogs we have ever had. He had this “smile” on his face when we were outside working. He loved being around us.
We had to have him put down earlier this year. His back legs had started to go out, I’m sure you know this happens with danes. We had him on some medicine that helped for a while, but it only was temporay help. It broke my heart to see him dragging himself after us, wanting to go along, but not able to. It got so bad, his paws would get scraped and cut from dragging himself around. We finally made the difficult decision to let him go.
That day was one of the most difficult I have had. We have had other dogs, but there was something different about Ralph. He never gave up. I was in the vet’s office waiting while my dad filled out the paperwork. It took a while because it’s hard to write when you are sobbing out loud. There was a Rottweiler inside. Ralph had always been protective of us. Even unable to walk – we had to pick up his back legs to move him- he moved in front of me and barked at the Rott. What a hero!
The vet was very compassionate and gave us plenty of time. Then comes the peace, when you know its time. The vet pushed the meds and he was gone.
I still miss him, but now I remember the joy of having a dog who whole -heartedly loved us.
I love your show and I am going to get your book.
God Bless you,
Matt from WA