Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Alert your pups! The Dogist is coming home to Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Elias Weiss Friedman, the Narberth-raised canine street photographer whose blog The Dogist has over 10 million social media followers<\/a>, will be in Philadelphia this weekend for a group walk and photo shoot. <\/p>\n Friedman \u2014 who has posted over 50,000 photos and videos of dogs (and their humans) online since 2013 \u2014 is hosting a meetup on Sunday morning on the Schuylkill<\/a> Banks. Hundreds of hounds are expected to attend. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to meet at the Schuylkill River Dog Park,\u201d said Friedman, speaking via Zoom from his Manhattan apartment, \u201cand then we\u2019re going to walk along the river up to the Art Museum and climb the Rocky steps for a group photo.\u201d<\/p>\n Friedman will be there with his dog, Elsa, the Instagram-famous white husky mix<\/a> who was dog of honor at his 2025 wedding to Samantha Cutler, his fellow alum of Wynnewood<\/a>\u2019s Friends Central High School. The wedding was featured in the New York Times\u2019 Vows column. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little crazy for me,\u201d said Friedman, \u201cbecause I feel like I\u2019m a prophet, or\u201d \u2014 he laughs \u2014 \u201csome sort of dog evangelist, where everybody\u2019s gonna follow me. It\u2019s like I\u2019m leading a march.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very joyful thing to have people meet up around a shared love of dog. They get to know each other, and make a lot of connections. It\u2019s an amazing show of the power of not just the dog community, but the Dogist community.\u201d<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s walk with Friedman is part of a Dogist tour tied to the launch of the Dogist Company, a canine wellness brand whose first product is Vitality, which is advertised as a \u201cBoard-Certified Vet-formulated antioxidant chew that supports brain, joint and immune health.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s salmon flavored so a dog might consider it a treat,\u201d Friedman says of the product he developed with veterinary nutritionist Angela Rollins, which is available at thedogistcompany.com<\/a>. \u201cBut it\u2019s not a treat, it\u2019s a supplement.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody wants more years with their dog. But it\u2019s also about having good years with your dog,\u201d say Friedman, who credits Elsa, 6, as \u201cchief wellness officer\u201d on the Dogist Company website<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve spent the last 13 years of my life showing the world how amazing dogs are. So the next evolution of the Dogist ecosystem<\/a> is creating products that make dogs\u2019 lives better \u2014 because it\u2019s the least we can do for them for all they do for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Friedman is also active with the Dogist Fund, a charitable partnership with GoFundMe<\/a> that supports three nonprofit canine support organizations each year. <\/p>\n This year\u2019s beneficiaries are the Maryland-based Pets With Disabilities<\/a>, Paws & Affection, which is headquartered in Montgomery County<\/a>, and New York\u2019s Animal Rescue Consortium, which was featured in a heart-tugging post this week about Zoe<\/a> \u2014 a pit bull who suffered violent injuries as a bait dog in a dogfighting ring.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re based in Narberth<\/a> where I grew up,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cThey raise service dogs to work with teenagers and children who are clinically diagnosed with depression, or PTSD, or are on the autism spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n Friedman also has a show on YouTube \u2014 simply called Dogs<\/a> \u2014 where he strolls around meeting pups with celebrities, such as actors Zooey Deschanel and Sarah Paulson, and comedians Roy Wood Jr. and Lewis Black. <\/p>\n Last year, Jane Goodall was a guest in an episode recorded a week before her death. Meeting the English primatologist and anthropologist \u201cwas the biggest honor, probably, of my life,\u201d said Friedman.<\/p>\n The Dogist origin story dates back to when he was a 2 year old and wandered away from his grandmother\u2019s house in Narberth toward traffic on Montgomery Avenue. Oreo, his grandmother\u2019s dutiful black Lab, kept him from walking into speeding traffic. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: The Dogist\u2019s first follower was Oreo, a dog who saved his life in Narberth. Now he has 10 million more on social media.<\/a><\/p>\n Most of the Dogist\u2019s photos are taken in New York, but Friedman\u2019s content-gathering travels have frequently brought him to Philadelphia<\/a>, where he\u2019s found four-legged subjects in Manayunk<\/a>, Rittenhouse Square, and the Main Line<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cNegativity is easily found on the internet,\u201d he said. \u201cDogs are an antidote or a respite to all that.\u201d <\/p>\n At group meetups like Sunday\u2019s \u2014 where walkers without dogs are also welcome \u2014 he can connect IRL with members of the digital Dogist community. <\/p>\n \u201cI always enjoy going out and meeting people and talking to them about their dogs,\u201d said Friedman, who has published three books including last year\u2019s This Dog Will Change Your Life<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cDogs don\u2019t have an ego, right?\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re not burdened by one like we are. So part of the joy of seeing that they\u2019re so free is that it allows us to transcend our ego for a few minutes. And that\u2019s a very liberating experience.\u201d <\/p>\n The Dogist Company Vitality Walk at Schuylkill River Park, 30 S. 25th St. at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4, Instagram.com\/thedogist<\/a><\/p>\n