Meet the Nice Jewish Boy Behind the Insanely Cute ‘Dogist’ Instagram

Image by Dogist

By Ari Feldman June 22, 2017

Image by Twitter

Meet Elias Weiss Friedman, a nice Jewish boy who left corporate life behind to make a living taking pictures of cute dogs all over New York City.

After getting laid off in 2013, Friedman started an Instagram account that showcased pictures of adorable dogs. He called it The Dogist. Nearly 5,500 posts, 2.6 million followers and two anthology books later, Friedman has made a career out of Insta-perfect dog portraits.

Friedman’s tricks of the trade include wearing kneepads, to get up close and personal with his subjects, and pockets filled with dog treats.

If it sounds like a doggie dream job — well, it probably is. But Friedman still puts in the hours, pounding New York pavement every day of the year in search of ‘Gram-able pups.

“I don’t take days off because my life would be less exciting without The Dogist,” Friedman told Buzzfeed. “I somehow found great purpose in carrying a camera and a squeaky tennis ball, so why miss any opportunity to put them to use, especially when it makes so many people happy?”

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO