This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories, and we tell stories about everything

here on this show, from the arts to sports and from business to history, and everything

in between, including your stories.

And our next story comes from our regular contributor, Stephen Rossettiak, who shares his

story from a terrific book, Chicken Soup for the Soul, My Very Good, Very Bad Dog,

which you can pick up at chicken soup.com.

Here's Stephen about his dad's dog, Benny, and Benny's relationship with his mom.

It wasn't that he didn't like her.

It was more that Benny just didn't care about her one way or the other.

The only reason he paid her any attention at all was because his best buddy did, and that was only for a few minutes at dinner time.

Only then would Benny acknowledge her presence and then only until his food was

served. Surprisingly, she didn't mind getting the canine cold shoulder because she knew

a sacred bond existed between a boy and his puppy. Even if this one-year-old dog wasn't quite a puppy anymore, and this 69-year-old man wasn't quite a boy anymore.

Unfortunately, one night, Benny's best friend became ill, and people that neither of them knew came to help.

They took his buddy away, and Benny never saw him again.

In the days and weeks had followed, he searched for him, and several times he thought he'd found him.

After all, his scent was everywhere, on his chair in the kitchen, on his coat hanging by the stairs,

and even in his shoes, still waiting for him out on the breezeway.

Benny became excited when he heard a car in the driveway,

or voices in the street.

But in the end, it wasn't him.

For weeks, he moped and refused to eat.

...