The Editors of Bark - Dog joy: the happiest dogs in the universe

nce I sit down on the couch with my computer to write this, once I get really comfortable with all the pillows in the right place, my dog Rose approaches and, panting on the last warm night before I break down and turn on the air conditioning, smiles at me. Rose is a white Terrier-Chihuahua sort of dog who is pushing 14. Its been two or three years since shes been able to jump up on the couch by herself, and she never decides that she wants to be up here with me until I am in exactly the right position.

But now that I am and now that she does, I put the computer on the floor and get up to lift her to the spot she likes by my knees. She drops her muzzle over my shin and sighs heavily in a way I take to be a combination of gratitude and contentment, although its possible that it is simply a sigh of entitlement. We are both very happy this way or, I should say, I am happy. My assumption of Roses happiness is based on the smile and then the sigh, the languid licking on my calf thats her way of winding down before sleepall the things Ive come to count as communication from her to me.

There are, of course, plenty of people who will tell you that the expression on a dogs face that is open of mouth and squinty of eye is not a smile in the same sense as a human smile, and that when a dog licks your calf, it is not love but an instinctual desire for food or a grooming ritual because you are a member of her pack and that is her job.

Okay then, lets not burden these dogs with our human projections. Look through these photographs and do not assume that just because that mouth is in very much the same position your mouth was in when you got the bicycle you desperately wanted for your ninth birthday or heard a very funny dirty joke after two glasses of champagne that we can call it a smile. In short, do not speak for these dogs, do not assume their joy, just have some joy of your own. Look at them squirming and rolling and leaping and laughing and let them do what dogs do best: give us an effervescent dose of wordless euphoria.

My dog Rose is looking at me now, her head on my leg. Its hard not to assume that she is deeply in love with me, because the only times in my life Ive looked at someone that way there was a great deal of love involved. I guess the only thing I can be sure of and therefore have the right to speak to, is that I am deeply in love with her. Thats enough.

Sometimes, the best moments in human relationships are the ones in which we have the self-restraint to say nothing at all, to demonstrate our love and joy instead of trying to break down the experience and reshape it into words. This is the genius of dogs, one of the many geniuses of dogsthey have the nonverbal-expression thing down cold. And if were reading too much into everything theyre not saying, then so be it. Theyll forgive us. They always do.

Ann Patchett

A few years ago, a reader sent us a snapshot of her smiling dog, Peppy, and suggested that we include it in our magazine, The Bark, and launch a Smiling Dog contest. We thought it was a great idea, and did just that. Since then, weve published thousands of photosboth in the magazine and onlineof dogs displaying their boundless enthusiasm for life. Each time I open my e-mail, Im greeted by a batch of new entriesI ooh and aah over the sweetest of puppies, romp with the pack, take adventure-filled trips or am moved by the sincere seniors. I feel that I must have the best job in the world. Not only do I get to befriend these joyous dogs, but Im also able to introduce them to the readers of my magazine and now to you, the readers of this book.

Smiling, the purest form of communication, is indeed universalwe do it, dogs do it. Want proof? Youll find it here. Dig in, delight awaits... here come the smiling dogs!

Claudia Kawczynska

Editor-in-chief, The Bark

YOURE HOME

Only gone for a day. A few hours. For a quart of milk. And there they are, their bright, tongue-waggy faces at the window, at the door as it opens, their furry feet pawing at our pant legs in happy reunion. Luggage dropped. Laptop laid down. Milk set on counter. Were on the ground, theyre in our arms. Were theirs. Theyre ours. Were home.

FRANKIE stands proud on his porch. He smiles into the sun and watches the white cat across the street.

Sammy loved to hunt for lizards, which were abundant in our backyard on Iberville Street in New Orleans, where we lived before Hurricane Katrina. But he didnt have much luck catching them. So on this day when his daddy arrived home from work with a lizard for him, Sammy was beside himself with joy.

SOPHIE is an exuberant little dog with a passion for life, biscuits and walks in the woods.

Both dogs are Save a Sato rescues from Puerto Rico and now serve as the welcoming committee, greeting visitors to our home with their smiles.

BENJI loves to run full speed to greet me

DogJoy is running toward your human. PeopleJoy is knowing your dog is smiling because shes running toward you!

Belle is a homeless dog at an all-breed rescue who enthusiastically greets all who come in, positive that they are there only to take her home!

Cooper is equal parts sweet and sassy. Seen here enjoying his job as a backyard wood chipper.