hearing you speak of your visits to the local animal shelters was certainly endearing and inspirational.

Then it became much more than that for our family. We recently lost our beloved Mac, a black Lab of 16 years, originally brought to us from someone who rescued him from an abusive environment. He was the most delightful presence in our lives for 16 years. Losing him was a most difficult trial.

I couldn’t imagine another dog taking his place, not even another Lab.

I followed your example and visited the local shelters every few days as well as going online to their websites seeing their new arrivals, looking for “just the right dog” to rescue. I wanted to rescue them all. It was tough to decide on only one. A few times I saw one or two or three I wanted to meet, and they were so quickly swept away, especially the puppies.

Finally one evening, I spotted a beautiful black & tan young dog in the back of one of the cages in a local shelter. I got his attention and he confidently walked up to the front, in a steady, laser-like eye contact with me.

I spoke a few kind words to him and he wagged his tail. As there were many other adoptable dogs I hadn’t seen yet, I decided to move on. I couldn’t go more than 10 feet away. I went back and there he was, sitting upright, proud and confident as could be.

It was minutes before closing time at the shelter. I hurriedly looked around for an attendant and found one who directed me to the adoption counter. I ran, knowing how some dogs get scooped up right away, and I knew deep in my heart that I couldn’t walk away from this pup. The Officers stayed past closing time to get me all set up to adopt this little guy.

When I picked him up the following day, I learned a little bit more about his past.

He was surrendered to the facility the same day I spotted him. He had a lot of scars on his legs, neck and head. How I missed them the day before, I do not know, perhaps his character showed that which is the natural core instinct of every dog: unconditional love.

He has been with us for only 9 days now, and I believe it is a mutual feeling between all of us that we belong together. He is the greatest joy to come into our lives for a long time. He is amazingly intelligent and so calm. That has given us the opportunity to learn a deeper understanding about raising a dog.

We have raised several dogs, yet this one we now call Gus is uniquely apart from the rest.

Gus is truly a Godsend. Mark, please continue to encourage people to visit their local shelters as you do. If more people visited the shelters and offered kind words as they passed each cage, it couldn’t be a bad thing. Who knows, perhaps someone else will discover rescuing a lost or abandoned animal adds more value to life than they imagined possible.

— John from Downey, CA

About 7 years ago we rescued Chico from the pound he was chihuahua and dachshund mix. They said he was1 1/2 to 2 years old and weighed 4 pounds you could see every bone in his little body it was love at first site for the whole family. Our oldest daughter was depressed and had talked about suicide and asked for a dog and  Chico was the one. we took him home and what a perfect dog after one week we let him out to go to the bathroom and someone had forgot and left the gate open. good old Chico went out did his thing and came right back in no need to close the gate any more good old Chico never left the yard without us. two weeks after we had him wife decided to walk him around the block without a leash on him no problem with good old Chico no need for the leash any more. Good old Chico never got more than 10 feet in front of you.

Chico would always wake me up to take him out at night. got up when I got up for work and had breakfast with me and then go back to bed. when we had supper he always sat at the front corner of the refrigerator as I have said Chico was the perfect dog.

Chico got to be 12 pounds and he was happy Our oldest daughter was much happier and she has said many times that it was Chico that saved her life. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to save Chico. He became ill a couple of weeks ago and deteriorated rappidly he was starting to suffer we made the hardest choice we had to let him go. We all miss him deeply but I seem to have been hit exra hard I havent been able to eat much and I can hardly sleep.  When I do sleep I wake up at his usual times expecting to see him beside my bed and when he’s not there I can’t get back to sleep.

— Kenneth from Portage, MI

Mark, our canine tale is full of joy, but ended in sadness. These were our beloved family dogs. We brought these litter-mates into our family when they were just 8 weeks old. Having lost another dog, we launched off on a quest to find the perfect replacement for Starbuck, and returned with Gemma and Rugby. Well, our five children were younger then and they fit into the family mix immediately and easily. They became our friends, playmates, guardians and at times, the great testers of our collective patience. But, all in all, part of the family. Unfortunately after many happy years of companionship, we lost Gemma on the left to a neighbor’s gun and Rugby to a hit and run driver. Those were sad days indeed. It’s hard to think of it, but I recently read “Rescuing Sprite” and it brought back so many cherished memories. Thank you, Mark for sharing Sprite’s life and your heart with us. It proved to be a tremendous help.

— Dan from Litchfield County, CT

I have had a love for animals since the day I was born. I volunteer with small dog rescue. I also adopted my dog Wolfie because they were gonna put him down because he was a biter. He was a abused small dog that didn’t trust people and just needed someone to show him that not all humans hurt and beat you.  He is 10 years old now and is the best friend you could ever ask for.  I also have a yorkie name Lance which I adopted him from a show breeder.  Lance’s daddy was an AKC Champion  show dog. I love my boys they complete me.

— Dawn from Dyer, IN

I literally just finished reading Rescuing Sprite, and I have been through everything you went through when your Sprite came to the end of his life. We have lost two cats and a dog just before Christmas, so I know what it feels like to look at that empty stocking on the mantel. We have had to have a pet put to sleep only to have to go through it again in six weeks with another pet–twice. Since I do a lot of animal rescue work, we have had many cats and dogs in our family and have had to say good-bye 12 times. In 2001 we adopted a 15-yr-old Golden-Doberman mix because his family couldn’t take him to Texas with them. Flash had a LOT of issues, but we worked through each one and he seemed to accept us and our dog as his new friends. On the day before the 9/11 attacks I had to rush him to the vet. He had suddenly become very ill and our vet worked to help Flash all week as we all tried to deal with what was going on in our country. We visited Flash every day, and on that Friday, as we walked into the vet’s office after going to a prayer service, our sweet vet came over to us and told us Flash’s heart had stopped just before we got there and he could not be revived. We rushed in to see him; he was still warm and seemed asleep, but our Flash was gone. We were blessed to have him in our lives for 7 months. We keep on rescuing and loving and saying good-bye, even though each time it is excruciating, because these precious animals deserve to be loved, and we are privileged to receive their love in return. They love like God loves–abundantly, unconditionally, purely–and because I love and trust in Him, I believe He will allow me to see my sweeties in heaven again. Thank-you for sharing your story and for letting me share mine.

— Lisa from Daphne, AL

My wife and I love dogs, all animals but especially dogs. We currently enjoy two females. One is a damn near pure bread shepherd (not from a breeder) but very pretty. The other is a adoption from S.P.C.A. mix breed Border Collie, chocolate in color and equally beautiful. Both are young and very sweet. The shepherd’s name is Wendy and the other is Girlscout even though brownie would be more appropriate. We take the dogs on weekly adventures to Shadow Cliffs lake where they mingle with other cuties and swim. Were overjoyed with them and their calm but playful dispositions.

— Monty & Donnamarie from Livermore, CA