A dog's antics can make you laugh.

Its cuddles can melt your heart.

Its mischief can push your buttons.

In short, a dog is rather like a well-written story. With little warning, it can sneak up on your emotions and take you to an unexpected place.

In this volume, The Year's Best Dog Stories 2021, Secant Publishing of Salisbury, Maryland, and The Greyhound-An Indie Bookstore, of Berlin, Maryland, present slightly more than two dozen stories, by two dozen writers, which we believe are worthy of their canine heroes and heroines.

These winning submissions were selected by our panel of six independent judges following an international competition in which we asked writers to illuminate some aspect of communication between dogs and humans. We particularly welcomed reflections on the painful emotions our world has shared during the time of COVID.

Our call for entries elicited contributions from around the U.S. and several other countries. The stories in this collection include drama, humor, and suspense.