More Heart-Tugging Tales from Our Readers

Super Mario Saves a Princess

One early April morning, nine-year-old Princess, a cat in Ohio, went out for her usual morning stroll in the back yard.  Tom, her owner, began to worry about her when she did not return all day, especially since he knew Princess had a precise sense of time in her daily routine. After caIling her name and searching for her extensively -- with no luck -- Tom and his family were heartbroken. Several days later, Princess was still missing and a three-day storm brought cold weather and 22 inches of snow.  Tom had almost given up any hope of seeing Princess again.

Then, after returning home from an Easter Sunday dinner, Tom had an idea. On a whim, he brought Mario, his Black Lab, outside and commanded, “Mario – find Princess!”  Dutifully, Mario stopped, pointed his nose in the air and began to sniff furiously all over the property.

Suddenly, Mario ran to the corner of the house that was adjacent to the garage and bent down under the porch.  He seemed fixated on something, but what? Tom’s wife grabbed a flashlight and knelt down to take a look. There was Princess, lying motionless in a big pile of leaves!  Tom quickly broke off some decorative lattice, carefully removed her weak body and took her to their veterinarian. 

Princess was badly bruised and the veterinarian found six puncture wounds and two large lacerations.  After a two-week recuperation period and some prescribed antibiotics, Princess is now as good as new and she enjoys rubbing up lovingly against Mario – her hero!

Watch for your dog or cat on www.akcphp.com.  What better way to recognize and celebrate your pet ’s unique qualities!

A Marine, His Dog and a Life Lesson 

Buz in Texas wrote to us about special memories of Sandy, a dog he grew up with.  “He was part Chow, a yellow, medium sized, long-haired dog with a little patch of blue on his tongue,” Buz says. “Sandy was my good pal and he went to school with me every day and waited patiently until the afternoon when we would walk home together.  He was also very intelligent: I could talk to him and he understood all of my commands.  If I said, ‘Get out of the road,’ he’d do it immediately.  Or, I could say, ‘Get behind me’ or ‘Get in front,’ and he’d do that too. When I turned 18, I joined the Marines and was mighty homesick for my family and friends and the East Texas country area that I loved so much.  I was surprised when I finally returned home on leave from Boot Camp and there was Sandy, the first one to greet me.  He jumped and wagged and slobbered all over me.  I realized then that I had not thought about him at all, yet he had probably thought about me every day.

A few years later when I came home for good, Sandy was still in our home, but he was getting old. One day, my mother ran  into the house upset that Sandy had been hit by a car.  I quickly ran outside and scooped Sandy up in my arms. As I held him, Sandy looked at me and passed away.  I remember exactly what I was thinking then: things live and they die. That’s the way it is with the cycle of life and death, it’s just something natural that you face and you go on.  But I also remember being surprised about how ’hard’ I’d gotten and how tough I’d become as an adult.  

The day Sandy died, suddenly something hit me as though someone had just slapped me in the face!  I lost my balance, sat right down on the ground and cried like a baby.  Later that day, I reflected on Sandy's years with our family and the good times I had with him.  I am so thankful that my loyal friend Sandy was a part of my life and will never forget him.