DogJoy: The Happiest Dogs in the Universe

by The Bark

THERE IS NO GREATER JOY than seeing a beloved dog smile. Whether they're greeting us at the door, romping with their pals, or celebrating a birthday, their happiness is completely infectious. Do dogs really smile? We set out to prove this idea after a reader of The Bark sent in a photo of her grinning dog, with a suggestion for a contest ... and, the Smiling Dog contest was born. So for the past eight years, enthusiastic dog lovers everywhere have been sending in photographs of their smiling pups. DogJoy assembles the best of the pack—presenting proof positive that dogs not only smile, but also laugh, grin, snicker and even share jokes. Highlighted by personal stories and peppered with charming observations, dog lovers everywhere will adore this wonderful collection.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Dogs, Humor

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2009

Reviews

[Mayda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is crammed full of pictures of happy dogs. They are laughing, smiling and jumping for joy. There are short notes about many of the dogs, and a foreword by Ann Patchett. It’s a wonderful and humorous look at our canine companions. The pictures are marvelous and uplifting.

[Jen (The Jenerator) · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can you not love a book full of dog happiness and dog pictures!??!!??!

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book of photos of some of the happiest pups you've ever seen😊

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Page after page of grinning, happy dogs. What's not to love? The forward by Ann Padgett was particularly fabulous. She addressed those who correct us to say the dogs aren't actually smiling and how a doggy kiss is actually the inner puppy trying to extract a treat from mom's teat or whatever: Who cares? It makes me happy, the dog is obviously enjoying him or herself, so go find something else to take issue with. She says it much more sweetly and kindly, though. I wish the book had been bigger and the pictures bigger, some are just tiny little 1 x 1.25" snippets, but I suspect that this is because they are low resolution snapshots e-mailed in. There were a handful of shots where the dog didn't really look happy and one where the dog looked to me like it was actually about to eat someone (it had on a silly hat and was clearly snarling, not smiling) but mostly these are dogs at their silly, happy best: just being dogs.

It's a quick read but a great pick-me-up. Who can't smile after seeing a big sloppy dog face grinning at you? This one's a keeper.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pictures...not really a book I "read" but still...it was great.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would be five stars, but they forgot to include my dog!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a fun collection of dog photos - some with quips.
If you are a dog lover this will make you smile.

[Amie]

Fun, light read with lots of dog pictures.

[Ginny Tata-Phillips]

192 pages of smiling dogs from the editors of The Bark magazine - what is not to like?!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book

[Deborah Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Quick Pick-Me-Up

Sure to bring a smile (or 500) to your face! Pure doggie bliss will drive the blues away every time.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty presentation. Pictures are varied, well selected. It is easy light reading; would be good for a read with a child. Most of the words are the names of the dogs.

[DelGal · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to grin ear-to-ear, laugh and just have a really simple fun time, check out this book!

Only small "issue" that I had with this dog picture collection was that some pictures were especially small and a bit hard to see those adorable mugs - if they wanted to include lots of enteries to make everyone happy, the book should have been made a little bit larger.

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may be a Cat Lady, but i can still enjoy a book such as this! Some very adorable images in here - dogs 'smiling', playing, with children, with other dogs, etc. My fave was of the shelter dog (I read in the notes at the back that after a long wait, she ended up getting adopted- yay!) and the dog that was rescued from that poor excuse of a human, Michael Vick.

[Aire · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute, not really a big deal, just kind of a picture book. I read it in an evening while waiting for dinner to be done. I think now i'll just pass it on to the next person. It is cute, but the internet is full of smiling dogs... This may be a good gift/coffee table book for a really hardcore dog person, but for regular dog people its a regifter.

[Christyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dog Joy was page after page of pure doggy bliss! What more could you ask for than pictures of happy, smiling dogs? The introduction was great, and I enjoyed the accompanying captions that were with some of the pictures. I do wish some of the smaller pictures had been bigger, but I still enjoyed it. It is a great pick me up when you need a smile.

[Moorhead Public Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love dogs, this book is guaranteed to make you smile. :)

The book is a collective of pictures and short bios on "the happiest dogs in the universe." If you pick out this book, I recommend a glance at Arthur and his BIG grin on page 82!

Reviewed by: Jody

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, cute, cute!!! Can't help but smile when looking at these happy faces.

[Lynn Siler · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are wonderful photos--I just wish they had been printed on larger pages. It was hard to get the full, joyful impact, when I had to squint to see everything in the picture.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A half an hour of looking at photos of cute dogs and reading little snippets? Time well spent!

[KNK · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in about 20 mins, since it's pretty much photos and "light" captioning of 500+ smiling dogs....

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute!

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want them all!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

nothing but pictures of smiling dogs! love it!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who doesn't love a smiling dog? Or in this case, hundreds of them! A real feel-good book of doggies.

[Megan Lass · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dare you to look through this book and not smile.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little book of hundreds of dog photos. Now about one of cat photos??

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cuties!