Customer Reviews
Finding comfort... 
2008-08-16
This book brought so much comfort to me after the loss of my very best friend- little girl Ni-Ni! With so many unanswered questions and so much uncertainty when we lose our four legged companions- it was in reading this book that I found and continue to find comfort in Gary Kurtz work... Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates. For anyone who has suffered this type of loss this book will bring you peace in knowing we will meet again in heaven! I highly recommend this book!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Courageous Book that Addresses Animal Loss & Religion 
2008-08-13
Gary's book was the 3rd book I had read on pet loss, having experienced the very tragic loss of my beautiful cat Tyson (sadly hit by a car on May 18th 2008). While I am not overly religous, I found this book incredibly uplifting and helpful in coming to terms with my grief and understanding my beautiful boy's spirituality here and beyond. Gary is a very personable writer and while reading the book you feel like you are sitting on his back porch speaking with him. Of all the 'religious / Christian' pet loss books Ive read, this is by far the best.
Awesome! 2008-08-12
I lost one of my favorite cat's in April. This book really helped me in my time of grieving.I am so glad I found it. It did not take away the grief and sadness, but it helped a lot and made it a little easier.
interesting 
2008-08-12
interesting opinions from the author, I felt some of it a "bit over the top"....but the day we had to put our beloved 15 year old "schnoodle" to sleep, I was inconsolable, and spent a fortune on line looking for books that would maybe support my ideas & thoughts, especially Scripturally, that we could see our pets again when it is OUR time to go to Heaven...
Very disappointing.... 
2008-08-03
I actually found this book in my bookshelf several days after my beloved little dachshund died. I don't remember buying it, but there it was! Anyway, I was terribly disappointed in it for most of the reasons that have already been cited in other reviews.
My main complaint is that he effectively dashes the hopes of readers who are not Christians by stating that while God created us and loves all humans and all creatures, only those who accept Jesus Christ as their savior will see their pets in the afterlife. To my way of thinking, If God loves all the creatures He created (as stated in the book and the Bible), He will accept all His creatures into Heaven. To say that God will only accept Christians into Heaven is an insult not only to the billions who are not Christians but, in my opinion, to God Himself.
Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates 2008-06-25
I bought this book for my sister who has recently lost a 14 year old dog.
He was everything to her. This book has soothed her grief and given her hope. Excellent.
Has some good interpretations of scripture but there's too much left out 
2008-06-06
I bought this book shortly after my much loved sheltie passed away very suddenly. Many friends have sent me the "Rainbow Bridge" poem, but I personally never found much comfort in a cute little made-up story about what happens to pets after they die. I needed more to convince me that they really would live on and that I might someday see him again. Being a fairly scientific and logical person (but still very much a Christian) I was looking forward to a good discussion of scripture and how it relates to the topic of animal afterlife and help for those that are grieving the loss of a pet, having more basis in a source I could trust and not just personal opinion. And while this book did give me some of that, I came away really wanting more and feeling like I didn't get what I had hoped for and expected from it. While there are some decent discussions of some scripture passages, it seemed that the author spent more time setting it up and validating his positions than actually discussing scripture. Much of what he does cover is repeated (often more than once) and he routinely rambles off on tangents that have little to do with the main topic. There were too many things included I felt were unnecessary and not really germane to the discussion (like a evolution vs. creationism discussion, which was not particularly well-argued and just didn't need to be in there), a discussion of animals being able to communicate in heaven (interesting to some degree but not sure it really added much to the book), a whole chapter of "humorous" animal stories solely to "cheer" a grieving pet owner up, and even discussions of how to pick your next pet (something that most grieving owners don't really want to even think about). And yet, there's virtually nothing in here about how to handle grief and get through the grieving process itself. It boggles me that he would just pass this off telling people to just buy other books on the subject (and goes so far as to say they are pretty much all the same so it doesn't matter which one you buy...clearly not the case just by looking at the reviews on this site!) and yet he includes stuff on choosing and feeding a dog...something that makes *far* more sense to just tell people to buy a separate book for information on, particularly as he is clearly no expert in this area. He spends a lot of time telling you what to do...and then how he doesn't even follow the rules himself! It really ends up being quite confusing and I could not figure out what they were doing in there, instead of far more useful topics on grief management. I enjoyed the daily devotions at the end (probably the best part of the book and good enough to even justify buying it), and the small amount of discussion on scripture does indeed convince me that God cares for all animals and does not create life only to end it, so in that respect the book does what it sets out to do. It just could have been much better in a lot of ways, and so it's hard for me to completely recommend it, given the number of other books on the topic that are very well written and easier to read (such as Eternal Life for Animals).
Tremendously Helpful Theological Book on Pet Grief 2008-05-07
I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book. I bought it the week we had to put our 14 year old Vizsla to sleep. I struggled when she went with the questions "where is she?" "Will the Lord take care of her?" "What about the critics that say that animals don't have an eternal soul?"
The author says he struggled with the same questions, which led to the writing of this book. In all of his research of scripture, he became convinced and comforted to know that his precious pets do have an eternal soul and will be taken care of by the Lord in heaven. I loved his research style and I thought his arguments were solid. There were several arguments that prove that indeed animals do have eternal souls. I am seeing life for both animals and humans differently now.
The comfort this book brought to me was tremendously real and helpful in the midst of my grief. I am going to purchase this book for several of my friends. I wish I had read it before our sweet girl passed away.
Thankful 2007-12-10
I am very thankful for this book, Cold Noses, and have recommended it to others. When my elderly dog passed away in July this year, I was heartbroken (and still miss her every day). I knew her time would be coming as she lived many more years than most dogs her size/breed. After she died, it was important to me as a Bible- believing Christian to find out what the Bible says about what happens to animals when they die. Most pet loss books I found were filled with a bunch of "hocus-pocus" new age wishful thinking that had no basis on truth what-so-ever. I found that Mr. Kurz really did his research in the Word on God's special plan for His creations (human and animal). I am sure of God's mercy as I live in it everyday. Because of this (and what I read in this book), I also now know that He has a special place in His eternal Kingdom for His creatures we call "animals". This is a real comfort to me as I miss my dear old friend. Thanks Mr. Kurz!
Poor choice on my part - very religious book 2007-10-10
I give this book 1 star because I think the author had good intentions. However, instead of relieving any grief over the loss of my beloved friend, this book pushed my buttons and I became very, very upset. Hopefully you will read all these reviews before purchasing this book which is what I mistakenly did not do. As a scientist who believes in divine intervention as this planet has evolved, I felt like I was being insulted over and over as the author defended his belief in creationism and passive-aggressively ridiculed other beliefs. He insists that this book is appropriate for people of all faiths, however it is only appropriate for people who believe in creationism and accept literal interpretations from the Bible as reassurance that are pets are OK. Why does this discussion need to be in a book about pet loss? I suggest reading Animals and the Afterlife by Kim Sheridan if you are looking for comfort in other people's experiences. It is much, much more inclusive and has brought me great relief.
