Comment from JJInfinity805

Excellent

I am incredibly sorry for your loss. I felt a stab of pain as I read those last few paragraphs yet I could also feel the love throughout the entire essay. You did them a great honor.

 Comment Written 05-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thank you for reading and your kind comments. It was a long time ago, and while I will miss my son forever, life goes on when bad things happen. I have learned to accept and live with it.

Comment from XGoneX

Excellent

Hi,
This is an extraordinary entry.
Congratulations for wining this contest. So well deserved.
Very well written and emotional.
I'm really sorry about your loss.

 Comment Written 04-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thanks for the kind words and great review. I will miss my son forever, but life goes on even when bad things happen. I have learned to live with it.

Comment from Natalie Walker

Excellent

This is a lovely and heartfelt story. Thank you for sharing. Dog sounds like an excellent dog.

It's amazing that Dog had an internal clock that told him when to be where. My dogs have that too, they always know when someone is due home from work so they wait by the door.

Excellent story, a great way to honor them both.

 Comment Written 04-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thank you for reading and commenting. Anyone who lives around dogs knows what amazing animals they are. The same can be said for cats only they don't like to let you know how smart they are. LOL

Comment from MTF1955

Excellent

My heart goes out to you. Roy and Dog are together and will be waiting for you when you reach Heaven. Animals make us better people. They love us unconditionally. The same can't be said about humans. Mary

 Comment Written 04-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thank you for the great review and your kind words. I agree, dogs are better than some people I know.

Comment from Jannypan (Jan)

Excellent

This is a sad, but beautiful, story of the love between animal & boy. Your picture is awesome. I understand the pain it must have taken to write this, but thank you for sharing. You are right about how dogs instinctly know about time & the ones who love them. Thanks for sharing a love story. Best wishes in the contest. Jan

 Comment Written 04-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thanks for reading and your kind words. I hope you are right about Roy and Dog waiting for me somewhere.

Comment from kathleenspalding

Excellent

A beautiful essay and wonderful tribute to a remarkable dog and a great friendship. I am so sorry for your loss. My heart goes out to you. You handled the heartbreaking part well, and I still cried.

The essay is well written and I only have a couple things for your consideration-

Perhaps-
...fields(semicolon instead of comma) a boy(delete comma) and his dog, doing...

...Dog followed me about(outside?on the farm?) or stayed...

Blessings.

 Comment Written 04-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thank you for reading and the constructive comment. I didn't think there should have been a comma after Roy either. One of the other reviewers insisted there should be. Oh well, everyone does their best to help and I appreciate it.

reply by kathleenspalding on 05-May-2017

Lol, I know what you mean. It's good to have lots of feedback, but in the end it is the writer's decision. I often have to go back to my Bradford Handbook for commas, and even then it seems to contradict itself sometimes. :-p. But the old "put a comma in where you would pause while speaking" usually works. And in popular literature, there seems to be a war on commas, so... But in this case, I think of "a boy and his dog" as a pair, not separate items in a list, so I'll stick with my no comma suggestion. ;-) All the best. (Virtual hugs)

reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thanks for the comma help

reply by kathleenspalding on 09-May-2017

You're welcome. :-)

Comment from mmonaghan777

Excellent

This is a touching and loving family story. It is wonderful when they come into your life and very difficult when they pass especially when you cannot explain it in human terms to their buddy.

 Comment Written 04-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thanks for reading and commenting. I have had several dogs and it is always hard when they must leave. I wish they had a longer lifespan. I have cats too, and most of them live to be twenty or older.

Comment from stevensandiego

Good

This is a very emotional story. It is well written. Reading it kept my interest.

It was a little suspense. I began to love Roy and the Dog. I am not a dog lover.

I never had any pets in my life.However, in this story I did love the dog.

I hope to hear another story from you.
Steve

This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.

 Comment Written 04-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed the story even though you are not a dog person.

Comment from apky

Excellent

What a moving story.
It reminded me of the story of
one of my mother's dogs who -
maybe I should say fortunately? -
dies of old age. But the dog and Mum
were so close Mum lost ten kilos in
the first year after the dog died.

Best with the contest,
Apky

 Comment Written 04-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thanks for reading and commenting. I can understand how your mother felt when she lost her dog. I wish dogs had a longer lifespan.

Comment from JDRBAR

Excellent

I am so sorry about the loss of your son, and subsequently Dog. Both are unending memory and pain. Well written with a clear understanding of the love you had and have for them both.

 Comment Written 03-May-2017

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reply by the author on 05-May-2017

Thank you for reading and the kind comments. I miss them as much today as I did when I lost them. It's been a very long time and I have learned to live with it.