Our Best Friends

Informationen zum Autor Michael Capuzzo & Teresa Banik Capuzzo Klappentext In this delightful and heartwarming book! America's premier pet columnist! Michael Capuzzo! presents remarkable true stories celebrating the powerful and nurturing bond between people and their dogs. Drawn from history and literature as well as from dog lovers--both famous and not so famous--from all walks of life all over the world! here are unforgettable tales of hope! heroism! and healing that capture the unflagging nobility of our oldest! dearest! and truly best animal friend. Inside you'll meet: Angus! the Labrador retriever who died while his master! a stained-glass artist! was working on the National Cathedral in Washington! D.C.--so his master memorialized Angus by working his beloved pet's name into the National Cathedral's stained glass and into cathedral windows up and down the eastern seaboard. Patches! the collie-malamute of Tacoma! Washington! who rescued his owner from the icy waters of Lake Spanaway! jumping in three times and towing him twenty feet to safety. Bobby! the young mutt so devoted to his master! he lay on his master's grave for over a decade! until his own death. Brownie the stray--adopted by an entire street of merchants! he was nobody's dog and everybody's dog! living happily and independently for fifteen years. His headstone in Daytona Beach says it all: "Brownie 1939-1954. A good dog." Woodie! the stubby little collie-mix who leaped down an eighty-foot cliff! crushing her hip! and remained at the side of her unconscious owner until help arrived. Inspiring! poignant! filled with laughter and tears! and always entertaining! Our Best Friends is a book whose deeply moving stories will touch your heart and lift your spirits even as they offer you the opportunity to develop a greater appreciation for and understanding of your own best friend. Leseprobe Patches Marvin Scott, owner of a furniture store just south of Tacoma, Washington, came home from work at about 10:00 p.m. one bitter cold December night. The thermometer was hovering around zero, and the wind was whipping up waves on Lake Spanaway, where the Scotts' lakeside home sits. Marvin was in his sixties, graying and bespectacled, given to dark suits, white shirts, and somber ties. But he was a square-shouldered, rugged man who liked to putter around his property, so he announced to his wife at almost 11:00 that night that he was going down to a small pier below their lake home to check on possible ice damage to a patrol boat moored there. As he clambered down the rocky, three-hundred-foot slope to the lake, Marvin was followed by his dog, Patches, a collie-malamute mix who liked to tag along. At the lakeside, Marvin's fears were confirmed. Noting that a film of ice was beginning to form around the boat, Marvin picked up a timber and tried to push the stern line to crack the ice. But he did not realize that spray from the lake had made the pier boards glassy with ice, and as he pushed with the timber he slipped from the pier, his body struck a floating dock causing him to tear virtually all of the tendons and muscles in both legs, and he rolled off into the icy, fifteen-foot-deep water and went under. The freezing waters, roiled by the storm, began to pull him toward the middle of the lake. Suddenly, while still below the surface, Marvin felt something grasp him by the hair. It was Patches, who had leaped into the icy waters and was holding his master firmly. Patches pulled the dazed and shivering man to the surface, then towed him nearly twenty feet to where he could seize the edge of the floating dock. Dimly aware that the dog, too, was by now nearly drowning and exhausted from his rescue efforts, Marvin managed to push him onto the dock. But as Marvin, his legs immobile and useless, vainly attempted to climb onto the dock himse...

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Michael Capuzzo & Teresa Banik Capuzzo

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In this delightful and heartwarming book, America's premier pet columnist, Michael Capuzzo, presents remarkable true stories celebrating the powerful and nurturing bond between people and their dogs. Drawn from history and literature as well as from dog lovers--both famous and not so famous--from all walks of life all over the world, here are unforgettable tales of hope, heroism, and healing that capture the unflagging nobility of our oldest, dearest, and truly best animal friend. Inside you'll meet:

Angus, the Labrador retriever who died while his master, a stained-glass artist, was working on the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.--so his master memorialized Angus by working his beloved pet's name into the National Cathedral's stained glass and into cathedral windows up and down the eastern seaboard.

Patches, the collie-malamute of Tacoma, Washington, who rescued his owner from the icy waters of Lake Spanaway, jumping in three times and towing him twenty feet to safety.

Bobby, the young mutt so devoted to his master, he lay on his master's grave for over a decade, until his own death.

Brownie the stray--adopted by an entire street of merchants, he was nobody's dog and everybody's dog, living happily and independently for fifteen years. His headstone in Daytona Beach says it all: "Brownie 1939-1954. A good dog."

Woodie, the stubby little collie-mix who leaped down an eighty-foot cliff, crushing her hip, and remained at the side of her unconscious owner until help arrived.

Inspiring, poignant, filled with laughter and tears, and always entertaining, Our Best Friends is a book whose deeply moving stories will touch your heart and lift your spirits even as they offer you the opportunity to develop a greater appreciation for and understanding of your own best friend.

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Patches

Marvin Scott, owner of a furniture store just south of Tacoma, Washington, came home from work at about 10:00 p.m. one bitter cold December night.  The thermometer was hovering around zero, and the wind was whipping up waves on Lake Spanaway, where the Scotts' lakeside home sits.

Marvin was in his sixties, graying and bespectacled, given to dark suits, white shirts, and somber ties.  But he was a square-shouldered, rugged man who liked to putter around his property, so he announced to his wife at almost 11:00 that night that he was going down to a small pier below their lake home to check on possible ice damage to a patrol boat moored there.  As he clambered down the rocky, three-hundred-foot slope to the lake, Marvin was followed by his dog, Patches, a collie-malamute mix who liked to tag along.

At the lakeside, Marvin's fears were confirmed.  Noting that a film of ice was beginning to form around the boat, Marvin picked up a timber and tried to push the stern line to crack the ice.  But he did not realize that spray from the lake had made the pier boards glassy with ice, and as he pushed with the timber he slipped from the pier, his body struck a floating dock causing him to tear virtually all of the tendons and muscles in both legs, and he rolled off into the icy, fifteen-foot-deep water and went under.  The freezing waters, roiled by the storm, began to pull him toward the middle of the lake.

Suddenly, while still below the surface, Marvin felt something grasp him by the hair.  It was Patches, who had leaped into the icy waters and was holding his master firmly.  Patches pulled the dazed and shivering man to the surface, then towed him nearly twenty feet to where he could seize the edge of the floating dock.  Dimly aware that the dog, too, was by now nearly drowning and exhausted from his rescue efforts, Marvin managed to push him onto the dock.

But as Marvin, his legs immobile and useless, vainly attempted to climb onto the dock himself, the combination of the frigid water, his terrible injuries, and the water he ha…