Photographer Elias Weiss Friedman literally has the best job ever. Having caught “canine nostalgia” upon moving to New York, he needed an excuse to meet other people’s dogs. He decided to create a new account called The Dogist in 2013, inspired by The Sartorialist, a fashion blog that highlights style on the streets of NYC. Four years later with more than 25,000 dogs photographed, Weiss Friedman has garnered 2.7 million followers on his Instagram account, and the recent release of his second book, The Dogist Puppies.
The Dogist Puppies, a following up to the first New York Times best-seller book, The Dogist, is a collection of stories and photos of dogs from a variety of breeds, like Seppala Siberian Huskies, German Shepherds, and Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers in a variety of settings, from Seeing Eye Dogs, Assistance Dogs, to a Prison Puppy Program. Cleverly timed to publication for Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog month, The Dogist Puppies encourages readers ready for a pet to consider rescuing an equally deserving dog from a shelter.
The in-depth focus on these furry friends makes for an enlightening notion that though puppies are undeniably adorable and most cannot resist the urge to adopt one for the sake of having one, they are a commitment. They have personalities and feelings like all living creatures and should be respected as such and properly matched with owners accordingly. Weiss Friedman urges, “Never buy a puppy from a pet store. If a breeder is careless enough to allow their puppies to be featured in a store window and to go home with anyone with a credit card, you can be sure their breeding programs and health protocols are equally as careless.”
Top photo: Max, Shih Tzu/Terrier mix, 11 months old
Excerpted from The Dogist Puppies by Elias Weiss Friedman (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2017. Photographs by Elias Weiss Friedman.”
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