In 2006, the screenplay for this movie was included on the Black List: an annual survey of the "most-liked" motion picture screenplays that had not yet been produced.
The website where Molly Shannon's character Peggy makes her card is a real website for making greeting cards.
In a 2007 interview with Groucho Reviews, Mike White spoke about how one of the inspirations for the film was his relationship with a cat: "I, well, uh-the cat was a stray cat that lived behind my house, and I kind of inherited. And didn't realize how attached I had become to this cat until it sort of up and died unexpectedly and kind of threw my world into disarray because I was actually, like, deeply upset over the loss of this cat. I felt sorry for myself and the cat, and I was in this sort of very stressful professional place. And ended up getting behind on scripts for this TV show I was running, and then the whole show fell apart. And I really think that, had that cat not died, it would definitely not have had such a dramatic, tragic end for this TV show. So that was the backstory, but out of it, I had the idea to write something about how a pet's death can end up having sort of a profound effect on your life. But the reason it became a dog is just cause I think it's just sort of the demands of moviegoing, which is I think cats are just more aloof on screen. And I think it's easier to depict the emotional connection that someone would have with a dog rather than a cat, even though I'm a cat person, kind of."
Mike White's directorial debut. Although he had written the screenplays for several movies and TV shows, many in which he acted, this film is the first project he ever directed.
Year of the Dog (2007) was first released into theaters on January 20th, 2007, which, according to the Chinese Zodiac related to the Chinese calendar, was actually in the Year of the Dog.