I have rescued several animals in my life including a cat from a shelter and 3 older dogs that were considered hard to adopt out. All of them are and were very special to me.

In July of 2002, I rescued a 5-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever from the shelter. I named him Barney. He was always a “velcro” dog, sticking with me everywhere. Each time I returned home after being gone, I was showered with his kisses.

Barney was protective of me and he so appreciated what I did for him. In January this year, he succumbed to his battle with cancer that had spread throughout his body and I had to mercifully put him to sleep.

Although I greatly miss my sweet Barney, I always am grateful for the 7 1/2 years that we had together. Each time I see one of his big Nylabones that he loved to play fetch with, I am filled with warm memories of him.

Thanks so much, Mark, for providing this page.

— Linda from Anaheim, CA

This is Clancy and he was my best buddy in the world. He passed on Sunday, May 30, 2010..his little heart was just so tired. My husband travels allot with his civilian and military jobs and our family has grown up with Clancy. He had such a great personality..he loved us so much..and we loved him..he was the best…he followed me everywhere, was happy when i was happy and sad when i was…he always just was so happy..he loved to go camping and on Friday he was so excited..he sat on my husband lap leaving the drive and i took a happy picture of him…he has only been ill for 3 weeks..it was so fast.. i will love him forever and he will always be my best buddy…

— Ellen from Albuquerque, NM

I lost my little Beagle Haley a couple of years ago. I was taught by my Father not to cry. I have never had any trouble keeping my emotions locked up inside. After my little “Fatty” died I lost control of all of my emotions. I tried so hard not cry but just couldn’t control myself. My wife seemed to learn to cope with Haley’s death after a while. I still to this day cannot talk too much about Haley or I start getting choked up. My wife thinks it is not normal for me to be this upset after this amount of time, but I feel guilty if I am not upset when I think about my dog. My wife read your book and recommended that I read it. I agreed and read it. It took me a little while considering I am not much of a reader (kind of ironic since I am a teacher). Your book made such an impact on me. I really and truly appreciate your book. I was amazed that as I read page after page I felt and have experienced each emotion that you wrote in your book. I distinctly remember reading after Sprite died that you felt like you executed him. That was the the biggest thing I connected with while reading your book. Little Haley died January 3rd 2008 and I still to this day feel like I executed her. She died because her body was loaded with cancer. I just feel if I would have spent a little more money and gave her more time she may have lived. Everyone I talk to tells me that it was her time to leave us but I just cannot forgive myself for letting her go. I have to pass her Vet everyday when I go to work and return home. I kid you not, there is not a day that goes by that I do not look at that building and think to myself “That’s where my little Haley died.”. Mark, Thank you for writing down your feelings and experiences with Sprite. I was sitting on my boat reading your book when a friend showed up and saw what I was reading. He smiled and asked which book of yours I was reading. I wasn’t aware at the time of what your occupation was until I got deeper into the book. My friend said “I listen to him all the time on the radio.” Kind of funny that my friend is a very political person and I am just a dog loving shop teacher. Seemed funny to me that he reads your political based books and I was just concerned with a dog book. I am happy to say that I often listen to you on WJR 760 in Detroit now. I must admit that I am listening to you more because of your love for animals than your political opinions. Thank you again for your love for animals and making me feel like I am not so wrong in how I feel. I have attached a picture of both of our Beagles. The top head is Katie (she is still with us) and Haley is the bottom head.

— Jason from Roseville, MI

I lost my Maddie Monday, May 17th. She was almost 15 and a half years old.  I had just nursed her back from to health from vestibular syndrome, completely healed, and was looking forward to a wonderful summer together.  We had just got back from a vacation in the U.P.  I have lots of great pictures. This one is one of my favorites

I became Maddie’s mom when she was 12 weeks ago.  She was a little ball of Chow/Lab red fluff, with a black mask and like the Chow in her, a black tongue I didn’t know her exact date of birth so I assigned her January 22, 1995.  Together we were “apackof2”

Maddie was a one of-a-kind.  I often referred to her as “Maddie the Wonderdog”. You could ask anyone who knew her. Maddie was intelligent, independent, dignified, beautiful, an excellent hunter, watchdog and an amazing athlete, adaptable, adorable, charming, loving companion and travel buddy.  I adored her and she loved me with that “unconditional love” reserved for only dogs and God and that dog parents are so very blessed to know.

We always walked, in parks where she could be off leach and hunt.  When a youngster, she would take off and be gone too long, sometimes 2 hours while I frantically searched for her, I would go back to where the car was parked and there she would be!  She did learn that choices had consequences method, “Good come, no leach, bad come leach”!  And she learned to come back when called or tell time and come back in a reasonable period and it became part of our walk…if she took off on an excellent adventure, I would continue my walk knowing that if she didn’t catch up to me on the trail then she would be waiting at the car when I returned.

She always came back.  Oh were there a few times when a thrilling adventure took her longer than she should and I would get anxious and worried and look but she always came back, head hung knowing she might get a spanking.. (Then a loving)

She was a wonderful watchdog, the Chow in her made sure she only barked when necessary so she was a quiet girl.  She had a doggie door and could come and go as she pleased and she preferred to be outdoors protecting our yard from furry critters

She had a “Yuppie Puppy treat machine” that she was a wiz at…a gum ball machine gadget with a fake bone that she pushed and treats came out!

She traveled everywhere with me and was a great traveling companion, always ready for an adventure, quiet so readily accepted anywhere.  Five years ago we went out West, Montana, and Wyoming and stayed at motels and the ranch and where ever we went she became the “mascot”  She was a welcome guest at friends, even over night.

She would wait patiently for me in the car if necessary. We went everywhere together, even for short errands rides because we just wanted to be together.  She would poke her nose out the window to catch all those great smells!  At times, when stopped at a light I would see the driver of the car next to ours looking over at her sitting up so straight, and they would have big smiles, she made such a pretty delightful picture!

She loved to put her head down and to the side and stick her bottom up in the air for a good scratch she did a thousand adorable things that made me laugh, gave me joy, endeared me to her, and made me fall deeper in love.

I was so blessed to be her mom for over 15 years, to know that kind of love. My friend Kevin said, “The only time they hurt you is when they die”

And it’s true

— Joan from Holt, MI