Dear Mark;

I can relate to your loss of “Sprite”, as a went through a similar experience in 2002, and I am still not over it.

Back in 1984, one of my adopted sons came in from playing. He was carrying a small Rat Terrier that was bleeding from the nose and mouth. When I asked him where he got it, he told me that he took her away from some kids three streets over, who were kicking her like a football. We took her to a vet and had her checked over. The vet told me that the dog was a year-old and that except for some slight bruising and a broken tooth, she was fine.

I decided to keep her and the boys named her “Baby”. She took to me right off the bat and went every where with me. As an Orthodox Catholic priest, I was required to work a secular job to help support myself and my family, so I was a local and short run truck driver and “Baby” went to work with me, every day.

After my sons grew up and left home, “Baby” and I spent more and more time together and she got to where she could literally understand over 56 different things that I would say to her. From the time she first became a part of my family, she would never walk on a leash. She absolutely refused to be on one, but she would stay right by my side where ever I went.
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Halie was my beautiful chocolate Lab that my daughter and her new husband gave me shortly after they were married and we became empty nesters. Halie was named after my daughter (Julie) and her husband (Hank). She was a wonderful companion that my husband and I loved hiking with in the N. Georgia mountains. We loved her so much and she was a member of our family. We talked to her as she was a human, and I know she understood every word. We lost her very unexpectedly shortly after she turned eight. I, like you, Mr. Levin, was devastated and I was also depresses for 6-8 weeks. I still, to this day, think about and talk about Halie. I didn’t think I would ever want another dog, but I now have a black Lab, Jessie, whom I love very much. Dogs are wonderful companions and I fail to understand why everyone doesn’t have one. I will be taking Jessie for a walk when I get home tonight, which she loves. I think, some times, however, that she loves her tennis ball more than she does me! They aren’t w/ us long enough, so we need to cherish every moment.

Ginger from Georgia

hello mark. first off, i am a veteran from the coast guard in the sixties, and i think i join all vets when i thank YOU for YOUR service to america.

i have bought your book for a friend who lost a dog many years ago and has not yet gotten over the loss. i will get one for myself soon.

when i lived with my parents, we always had dogs. my parents spared me the knowledge that they had died or been put down by telling me that they had run away or in the case of a dog which bit strangers, that they found a good place for him to be a guard dog.

my son gave me a dog, half lab, half mastiff. she was beautiful, but my work and commute left her alone over 12 hours a day and she needed freedom to run. she now lives with relatives who give her that freedom. i get to see pictures of her.

i bought a pet rat. it was not a joke or a whim, i was in a pet shop and they looked friendly, and they were. i put my hand in the cage and this one came to me. she was ordinary and grey and i knew she would not be bought as a pet, but as food for some snake. i took her home and have had many rats since then–all rescues, some from shelters hundreds of miles away. Read the rest of this entry »

While on holiday in Spain (from England) in 1976 we came across a stray living rough in bushes at the hotel. We befriended him and gave him the name PIP. As the holiday came to an end two weeks later we tried desparately to get someone to give him a home. Three months later my wife returned to Spain for the weekend to find him and bring him back to England and six months quaratine. This fulfilled a promise I made to our nie year old son,Phillip,Eventually I too wrote a book about Pip and published it in 1980. We enjoyed having him as part of our family for six years. I was absolutely shattered when he died and know your sincerety.

I was just an ordinary guy so it cost me money to publish my book but I learned a lot about the life of a dog.

Geoff from Arizona

Hi Mark,

I feel for you and your loss. Gizzy was a best friend to me for 15 years. He was always there when I needed him and always seemed to have a smile on his face to the very end. He and I were unseparable. I’ll never forget the day I had to make the dreadful decision that every animal lover has had to make or will make in their lives. Like you, I went through weeks of depression and the feeling of guilt that I was selfish and was playing God. I realize it was for his good but that still doesn’t make it any easier.

The feeling of walking in the house the first time and him not being there to greet me at the door was also something I will never forget. I just sat on the floor in the middle of living room and just cried. I vowed not to get another animal again because I did not want to go through this again.

I have since rescued two kittens from the vet hospital my girlfriend works for. They were unwanted and were going to be euthanized because of broken legs. One of them was kicked and the other was thrown out of a moving vehicle in a plastic bag. Today, you would not know the difference.

Gizmo will always hold a special place in my heart as Sprite will always hold a special place in yours and your families.

Here he is with his usual look on his face. Always ready for his next adventure with me.

John from Massachusetts

I had a dog named Spotty. She was a wonderful dog full of spunk. She did not know she was a little dog and would take on any animal that bothered her. She died of a stroke at age 17. She was in good health up until the day when she was very still and could not move. We had to put her down because she could not even swallow. I still tear up when I think of her she died thirty years ago.

Kathleen from New York