I know what you have gone through. I’ve had dogs and cats all my life and it hurts when they pass away.

When I recently lost my border collie mix, Dolly, a friend of mine said he was kind of sorry for rescuing a newfoundland mix because it hurts to see them grow old and die.

My reply was that I felt the same way when Dolly had to be put to sleep. Yet six months later, I adopted a little Pug Mix. No dog will “replace” another dog, but I would have denied myself the joy of another friend and companion.

My friend then adopted a second dog, an abused lhasa apso. I went on to adopt a shih tzu to be a little buddy for my pug mix.

I know I’m rambling, but my point is that the emptiness felt in your heart can only be filled with love.

And so many dogs and cats need our love.

My Fred (pug mix) and Augie (shih tzu) are not especially intelligent, not particularly obedient and can get a little rambunctious, but they are sweet and gentle souls who are darn glad to see us when we come home at night. They are our beloved companions and friends.

God Bless you and your family Mark.

Ron from Texas

Sometime in the 80’s we brought home this little 10 week old fuzzball who we named Rusty. She was a long legged, gangly and red Golden Retriever who we instantly fell in love with.

The first night we had Rusty I was taking her outside to do her business when she sort of laid down in the middle of the doorway and started kicking her legs and twitching around. “How cute” my Brooklyn bred and raised wife who had never had an animal in her house, said.

“Damn” I, who grew up on a farm in Ohio, said. “Somethin’s wrong with this pup”.

The next day Rusty had several occurrences and continued to suffer seizures throughout her life. All the Vet could say was “We don’t usually see seizures until they are older”.

In addition to the seizures she had many problems including hip dysplasia and bladder stones. We visited the Vet frequently and through it all loved her like a child and took great joy in the love she gave back to us.
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My chocolate lab Chip passed 3 weeks ago today. I still can’t believe he’s gone. For 12 years he was my best friend or as I would say “woman’s best friend”. He was from a litter of 8. As I knelt down he came right into my lap and tried to rip the earring out of my ear. He was spunky and I liked that so he was mine.

Over the last 12 years, together we went through a lot. The first year I had him, I lost my father and got divorced in the same month. He used to sleep on the floor until I invited him up on my bed as I needed him to help heal my pain. Whenever I would sit and cry during this difficult time he would start licking my face profusely – he would do this so long and hard that it felt like sandpaper. This of course would make me laugh uncontrollably. This was how he healed me.

He would never let me sit in the house and be sad. He would start “talking” and wouldn’t let up until we went for a walk. I would often take him in the neighborhood. After awhile it got a little boring so we ventured off into the woods. That is where we discovered our serenity. I found and walked every town forest in the south shore where we lived. We met more friends and experienced so many adventures – this is where I learned to truly live and learned what truly made me happy. We then discovered different mountains to hike in New Hampshire and Vermont – and again he opened up my life.

There were times over the years, especially in the beginning that he was so stubborn that some people thought he might be too much for me to handle. He had this terrible habit that if he found a bone or piece of meat he wouldn’t drop it no matter how hard I tried to make him. It was frustrating and sometimes I hit him and to this day I regret that.

He had cancer about 4 times during his youth. They also discovered he had kidney disease at 6 years old. I never gave up on him just like he never gave up on me. We cured his cancer every time and the doctors couldn’t believe he could live another 6 years with his kidney disease.

He kept me alive and I him. It was devastating to hear a few weeks ago that he had bone cancer. The most painful of cancers. He had been panting and shaking and I know he couldn’t bear it anymore. One vet suggested amputation – but for the first time I knew it would be too much for him. Because his spirit was so youthful it was so painful to make the call and have the vet come to my home to put him to sleep. I hope I did the right thing. I prayed just as you did that God would take him so I wouldn’t have to. The guilt is overwhelming and I wish I knew for sure that I will see him again someday.

Eileen from Massachusetts

We are owned by 4 adorable
German Shepherds. They are the light of our lives and truly a part of the family. Their loyalty and joy goes beyond any words. Baron, 10.5, Tala 8, Rex 6 and Bruno 1.5.
Baron and Tala are the parents of Rex. Her one and only litter was born the night of my mother’s funeral. Baron and Tala’s love and devotion during her illness are the only thing that kept me going. When I was sad, they licked away my tears.
We kept two from the litter, Rex and Rebel. They were shot on 1/15/05. Rebel died in my arms and I rushed Rex to the ER vet where $1,200.00 later, he was ok, thankfully. He was so depressed over the loss of his brother (and being shot for the second time) that he rapidly lost weight and we were close to losing him when I found Bruno. His lively spirit brought all of them and me out of the deep, dark depression we were in. They are truly the most amazing, rewarding and joyful part of our lives.

Norma from Ohio

Just wanted you to know that my family had to put our dog FRIEND down the day after your book came out in stores yesterday. With you and your friends talking about this it was a little easier for me to help my girls deal with the loss. Friend was 16 yrs old Skipakete he was trained to be a compainion dog for my handicap daughter, he even dialed 911 when needed, my husband and i couldn’t even yell at my girls he protected them. We just put my mother in Hospic care, reason for you to know that is she never went to any of my kids activites except the day of Graduation of Friend from a dog training school where he recieved a titile of Assist Dog. I believe that Friend will be there when my mother passes to help her when she passes on, this helps me to understand the whole death seen. My daughter dose not understand where Friend is but no;s he is going to help Nana late and is with her friend Dana who passed several years ago. Thank you for writing your book. Oh yes i forgot we do have another dog named TAZ Friend picked her out at the Annapolis SPCA a few years ago when we brought TAZ home we realized she was deaf my other daughter taught her sign langange yes sign langange and now my daughter is training a bird to be a assist bird dialing 911 and much more. She also is a dog trainer so see Friend changed our life for the best by giving us his uncondisial love. His real name is
Heaven sent my FRIEND
Love Shirley from Maryland

Ellen and I were dirving from Cape Cod to an emergency Vet Hospital near Boston last night listening to your show on satellite radio. Sam is an 8 year old golden and we discovered that he has cancer on his heart. Today (wed–11/07) he will be put down. I can’t bear the thought. It was important to us to hear your show Mark. Thank you

Frank from Massachusetts