ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We'd like to thank, first and foremost, all the Bark readers who sent us photographs of their smiling dogs. For the past eight years, I have been on the receiving end of these e-mails—they help me start the day with a smile and give me a boost throughout the day.

One of our most challenging tasks was to select the 500 smilers needed for this book from the tens of thousands of your photos. Though all dogs do smile in one way or another, some have an uncanny talent for it, and those are the ones whose faces you see here. Dogs also express their joy in other ways—a wag of a tail, a sprightly bounce, a happy howl—and we toast them, too.

We would also like to acknowledge the everyday heroes working in shelters across the country, whose tireless dedication brings joy to the animals in their care. We’re especially grateful to the shelters who have sent us smiling dog photos so that we can publish their hopeful faces in every issue of Bark. This added cachet has prompted more than a few successful adoptions! In fact, Belle (page 15) was one of the lucky ones; after a very long wait, she recently found her forever home.

We’d like to thank some of our favorite writers—Lee Harrington, Laurie Notaro and Alysia Gray Painter—who contributed their charming, humorous and on-point prose to enrich the beginning of each chapter. Lee’s work can be found on pages 58, 120, 166 and 176. Laurie contributed the “Sweeties” intro on page 22, and Alysia’s writing graces pages 10, 36, 88, 100, 112, 142 and 154. We have “verbal cartoonist” Dan Liebert to thank for the inspiring DogJoy title and for his “brevities” on pages 54 and 101. A nod to Marc Spitz for his insightful joke found on page 60. To our literary agent, Lisa Bankoff, we offer a play bow for her enthusiasm and support. In our next life, we would like to come back as Ann Patchett’s dog—but for now, we just want to thank her deeply for bringing her ebullient touch to this book’s Foreword.

Finally, to Dirk Walter, who helps us pull together our Smiling Dogs feature in each issue of the magazine, and Daniela Lopez, who wrangles the online smilers, our heartfelt thanks. And our special obeisance to Susan Tasaki, Bark’s indefatigable, unflappable, keen-eyed senior editor.