Readers Write | The Bark

“Street Dog,” about a homeless man and a stray dog, is Shawn Kobb’s first published story (Bark, Sep/Oct 2010). Kobb, 33, was one of three finalists in our first fiction contest earlier this year. In his non-writing hours, Kobb is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, currently living in The Bahamas with his wife and their adopted Doberman puppy, which they adopted during a two-year stint in Ukraine. Kobb recently shared with TheBark.com a little about the real man and dogs who inspired his story.

Emma Zen Rolls into Sturgis

by Debra Jo Chiapuzio

Emma Zen, the Labrador/Great Dane shelter survivor and therapy dog from Orange County, Calif., is just that! She has been riding since she was six-months-old. “How did you train your dog to do that?” many have asked. Well, it sort of just came naturally for her. It is who she is. My husband, Jim, and I have never tricked her or teased her and she trusts us with all that she is. Your dog jumps in your car and hangs its head out the window. Well, we just have a different mode of transportation.

How I Found My Dog

Courtney Milam | August 5, 2010

This is Riley. She is a 5-month-old Pit Bull mix. She found us on a cold and blistering midnight in February. My partner and I were living in a one-bedroom apartment with two cats, not looking for a dog until we purchased our first home. When she stuck her little block head through our back porch, she was soaked and shivering with bones sticking out all over and a perfect burn mark on her little forehead.

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How I Found My Dog

Blair Meeks | July 25, 2010

As soon as his paws hit the wooden slats, his hair raised and his body froze in fear. Then I saw what Furio was looking at: a big black bear underneath the deck. I rushed Furio into the house and came back outside to make sure my eyes weren’t fooling me. Sure enough, there was something very large and black hiding out under our house.

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A Change of Heart

Carolyn M. Miller | April 1, 2010

Small and dejected, the dog hung its head. I couldn’t imagine a little dog like this surviving Belize City streets for long. There were rats just about its size and scrappy wild-eyed cats and cocky streetwise feral dogs. Not to mention boa constrictors. I thought about the Snake Man who stood on the street corner with boa constrictors looped around his torso.

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Q&A with Don Katnik

by TheBark.com

A fictional haven called Dog Island is the setting for Don Katnik’s story, “The Stepping-Off Place” (Bark, Summer 2010), which was one of three finalists in our first-ever fiction contest. A wildlife biologist, Katnik shares his 200-year-old home in Maine with his wife Misty and dogs Copper “The Rocket” and Jedzia Dax. Katnik, 44, took a break from writing, home-improvement projects and dancing (ballroom with Misty, free-style with the Jedzia and Copper) to answer a few questions about Dog Island and fictional canines.

We frequently receive insightful, amusing and thought-provoking letters and essays—the only downside is we can’t print them all. Now, rather than keep these wonderful stories in a drawer, we’re making them available here.

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