You will enjoy what we have in store for you in this summer issue. If, like me, you relish digging into the newest trove of fascinating dog books for your summertime reading, don’t miss our special book section, which highlights our best picks, along with excerpts from some of them. You’ll also see a new feature we call Bark Talks (something like TED talks), which zoom in on our favorite subject with Frans de Waal—just what is behind that unique bond we have with our dogs.

This issue’s cover dog—a coconut-coveting Lab named Bono—is a rising Brazilian wave-riding star. Coconuts, we’re told, are a favorite find among Copacabana canines, and Bono’s no exception. We visit an extremely dog-friendly town in Patagonia, Julie Hecht gives us a run-down on the latest research into dogs’ fondness for following our lead, and we catch up on evolutionary news, including a project that’s wrangling disparate hypothesizers into a joint effort that might result in a date for domestication all can agree on.

Plus, you will meet an amazing woman who is the winner of Bark’s Shelter hero contest, pros and cons (mostly) on e-fencing, airport therapy dogs, and Karen London probes if our dogs make us more appealing (let’s hope she’s right). From a young person’s perspective, we learn how lessons gleaned in the conformation ring included this rule, “always stand by your dog—after all, your dog will always stand by you.” We catch up with Cat Warren as she trains her new scent-detection dog. Our endpiece, by Mat Zucker, takes a humorous look at the nature/nurture question, probing the differences between boy and girl pups. Hope you enjoy it all.

FEATURES Shelter Heroes The people and practices making a difference.   What’s the Point? Studies focus on dogs’ ability to follow our gestures. By Julie Hecht   Summer Reads Best picks from The Bark bookshelves   Day One of the Search [Dog Gone] A Golden goes missing during mountain hike and the family reaches out for help. By Pauls Toutonghi   The Dog Who Hated Surprises [Pets on the Couch] A vet behaviorist gets to the root cause of a fear-aggressive behavior. By Nicholas H. Dodman, BVMS, DACVB   What’s in a Breed? [Pit Bull] Scrutinizing the science behind a misunderstood and complicated behavior. By Bronwen Dickey   Shelter Dogs [Underdogs] A woman at a turning point, on the verge of ignoring the unwritten no-dogs-for-kids ban in the service-dog industry. By Melissa Fay Greene   Battle Scarred Wounded Warrior Dogs by sculptor James Mellick celebrate America’s canine heroes. By Susan Tasaki   Game On! Training a scent-detection dog. By Cat Warren   Origin Story State of the debate on canine domestication and the descent of dogs. By Jane Brackman, PhD   Dog Days Are Forever Rules for dog-handling … and life. By Erin Tack   Endpiece: The Nature/Nurture Question  By Mat Zucker     It’s a Dog’s Life   CRAFTS: Alexandra Thurston’s personalized porcelain plates.    DISPATCH from Patagonia: The dogs of El Calafante. By Johnny Runnette   SPORTS: On Board Man and dog ride the waves together. By Marcia Triunfol    DOGS AT WORK: Stress BustersAirport therapy dogs turn down the volume for harried travelers. By Rebecca Wallick   WELLNESS: Canine Disease Forecast, 2016A review of what’s trending in the veterinary world. By Heather Loenser, DVM   TRAVEL: Pound Puppy Hikes Exploring Utah’s red rock country with shelter dogs. By Rebecca Wallick   BARK TALKS: Frans de Waal, renowned ethologist, talks about animal behavior and his new book.   TRAINING: Faux Fences The debate on electronic barriers continues. By Tracy Krulik   BEHAVIOR: Animal Attraction Does your dog make you more appealing? By Karen B. London, PhD   MASTERWORK: Henri Rousseau, le peintre primitif   REVIEWS Underdogs, Dog Merchants, What Is a Dog?, Pit Bull, Heal   Q&A with Arlene Weintraub, author of Heal With Bev Thompson   BARK TALKS: Kim Kavin, author of The Dog Merchants With Claudia Kawczynska   DOGPATCH Dog Parks Rule What’s in a Hug?; LA’s Dog Café States promote their dog-friendliness. Good Kids: Making a difference Heads-Up—It’s Summer Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds; Shakespeare Quotes; Jim Harrison Smiling Dogs: Always Irresistible  What’s New: Round-up of new product picks.   Poetry S. Siporin, Brian Beatty, Tom Greening  

Share your photos of moms & dogs and enter to win a Bark Gift Box. We invite you to share family photos featuring dogs with us. Photos could be of your own mom or even yourself as a dog mom. Bark gift box includes a subscription to the Bark, a book, bumpersticker, a toy, and a treat. Enter by Tues May 10th, 11:59pm. Must submit photo and caption to Bark on facebook, twitter or in the comments below. Prize offer eligible to US residents only but international people are welcome to share their photos too.

Contest ends Tuesday, May 10th 2016, 11:59pm Prize Value: $120.00

Contest is over folks, but you're welcome to continue to share your photos below.

Our winner, Rae, shows her photo of her mom and dog Scout. Photo caption:  "Mom isn't much of a dog person (she was badly frightened when young) so this [picture] w/ my Scout was a treat!"

This small volume of “lessons” and ref lections is written by a Benedictine nun who loves and appreciates animals. In it, she illuminates the signif icance that dogs and other pets have had in her life. Each chapter begins with a story of what an animal did to inspire qualities such as acceptance, purpose, enjoyment, empathy and diversity (plus many others). Each vignette is followed by a consideration of the importance those qualities should have in our lives. Not surprisingly, the book is constructed much like a sermon, but one that’s offered with a very tender, and at times humorous, tone.

In her introduction, she relates how “spiritually profound” she finds the question of “what it means to be entrusted with nature, to live with a pet.” She also notes that there are two creation stories in Genesis. The more widely known suggests that humans were assigned “dominion” over other living creatures and nature. The other, she points out, tells us that animals were brought to Adam to be named; her take on this may differ from what many others have interpreted as having “power over them.”

The second creation story is actually older than the first, and Chittister construes it more generously—she feels that to name “is an act of relationship, not dominance.” She also makes the important point that if we look at a creation story as a relationship tale, it “inserts us into the animal world and animals into ours—with everything that implies about interdependence.” The book goes on to illustrate this perfectly. You don’t need to be spiritually inclined to find significance in it and to take inspiration from it.

Randy Rubin, co-founder of Crypton, launched the company’s first line of pet products back in 2004 in an inspired collaboration with artist William Wegman. A dozen years later, Rubin and Wegman are at it again with a brand new line of canine home products by Crypton. 

Renowned for his whimsical photographic portraits of Weimaraners, Mr. Wegman is also famous for his work in a variety of media—photography, video, painting and as an author. For decades, while Wegman was creating art in New York, Crypton was at work in the heartland, revolutionizing commercial fabric with the introduction of a patented process that produces a virtually indestructible, stain and odor-resistant material appropriately named Crypton Super Fabric. They’ve also launched soft, luscious Crypton Home Fabric, using a new performance technology especially for residential interiors, offered by major furniture and home fabric brands in stores and showrooms from coast to coast.

 

Wegman provides the art and Crypton supplies the science with their permanent stain resistance properties—ensuring neither microbes or odors penetrate these dog beds. Crypton founder Randy Rubin (right).

 

The creative collaboration between the textile innovator and the downtown visual artist has proven hugely successful, with a visual style that is once recognizable and inspired. Combining the ultimate in function and aesthetics, the resulting beds, pillows and throws (christened Throvers) are elegant, bold and sturdy...fulfilling the must-have checklist for stylish dog lovers. The line is offered exclusively at crypton.com.