New York goes to the dogs with glossy magazine
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-02 15:07

He was a Greenwich Village bon vivant who enjoyed gourmet food, a drop of wine on festive occasions, a silk bed and his velvet collar.

New York Dog's first issue features the headline "Dogs on Atkins!"

Fido Graham was 11 when he died of heart disease and back problems. The miniature dachshund's ashes were sprinkled on New York's Bleecker Street, where he took his daily walks.

The first obituary column expressly for dogs is just one of the features of "The New York Dog Magazine," a glossy new magazine that debuted on newsstands across the United States on Friday.

"We have used all the standards of a very strong women's title like Marie Claire or Cosmopolitan and transferred it into the world of dogs and dog-lovers," said publisher Gregg Oehler.

Dog lovers can send in behavioral questions to a dog shrink, track their pet's astrological "Doggiescope" and check out makeover possibilities in "Queer Eye for the Scruffy Dog." Groomers Larry and Howie transformed Yorkshire terrier Max in the premier issue.

Bejeweled collars, woolen sweaters and delectable cuts of raw meat for that special canine in your home are found among the advertisements in the polished magazine. The first cover features a pair of Chihuahuas, one draped in pearls and the other wearing a gauzy tutu.

The 108-page magazine, which Gatsby Publishing Inc. will put out six times a year, costs $4.99.

The magazine looks upscale, but it does not cater strictly to owners of pedigree pooches.

In "What I Learned from My Dog," a slew of celebrities, including actresses Mary Tyler Moore, Bernadette Peters, Laura Linney and Shirley MacLaine, wax lovingly about their housemates, many of whom were adopted from shelters.

Special articles in the inaugural issue included "Ruff Justice," on how to keep your dog in a custody battle, and another on how rescue dogs and regular canine denizens of Lower Manhattan coped with the bad air of the September 11 attacks.

The obituaries are not paid for by the dog's owners, but are chosen from tributes e-mailed to the magazine.

Seven obituaries are in the first issue. Among them, Buddy Nolan, a loving mutt done in by his love of people. Recognizing a delivery person he loved, Buddy raced out of his New York apartment building and into street traffic.

He was 14.

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