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The Bark magazine has announced the winner of its first-ever Cover Dog contest in which readers were encouraged to submit a photo and a short essay about their dog for a chance to grace the 10th anniversary issue cover and win an exclusive photo session with top dog photographer Amanda Jones.
Plucked from over 6,000 entries, 4 of the 6 dogs that reside with Sarah Babcock in Richmond, Va– Gadget, Flake, Pilot and Crosby – were chosen as Bark’s Cover Dogs for Bark’s 10th anniversary issue, on newsstands January 15, 2008.
In addition to embodying the qualities the judges were looking for – happiness, spirit, charm and personality – Sarah Babcock’s six pets, all rescue dogs, work with children’s groups as part of the Richmond SPCA’s humane education program. Sarah Babcock is Chief of Education & Training at the Richmond SPCA, a job that represents a major career shift for this former IBM systems engineer and software specialist.
“We were thrilled by the incredible number of entries we received in such a short time,” said Bark editor-in-chief, Claudia Kawczynska. “There were so many beautiful dogs and compelling stories it was extremely difficult to narrow it down. In the end we chose Gadget, Flake, Pilot and Crosby because together they presented such a convincing case for what wonderful dogs can be found in shelters everywhere—they are excellent ambassadors for mixed breeds too! We are proud to introduce them on our cover.”
Fascinated with the new application of learning theory to real-life dog training and behavior modification, Sarah left IBM in 1998 to pursue additional education in animal behavior. She graduated from Jean Donaldson’s Academy for Dog Trainers at the San Francisco SPCA in 2001, and joined the Richmond SPCA in Richmond, Va shortly thereafter as their director of education and training. She appears weekly on WTVR’s Pets & People segment on Saturday mornings.
Amanda Jones is the author of books on dogs, including: Frenchie Kisses, Greyhounds Big and Small, and a book about mutts, A Breed Apart. Her work graces the cover of many greeting cards - as well as Bark covers - and can be seen in exhibitions across the country.
A decade ago, Claudia Kawczynska and Cameron Woo founded The Bark, the award-winning modern dog culture magazine known for its hip and literary vibe. The magazine has an international readership of 250,000. They are editors of the New York Times bestseller, Dog Is My Co-Pilot: Great Writers on the World’s Oldest Friendship (Crown), which garnered a Maxwell Award in 2004 for Best Dog Book, and the recently released Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit, a collection of canine-inspired humor (Crown).
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