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A new publication on Flea Street

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

That is, until now. Michael O’Doherty and John Ryan are listening. Tongues and tails alike were set wagging last month with the news that the two Irish publishers were launching a magazine with a twist or two.
The New York Dog will be a first for the pair: a publication catering to dogs and the well-heeled owners who love them.
In the interest of fairness, giving those who don’t share an affinity for four-legged furballs a voice will be Breslin himself, writing a column titled “The Back Yard.”
New York is, of course, a notoriously media-hungry market that sees the launch of scores of magazines in any given year. There were eight new magazines launched last year alone that were devoted to pets, according to the American Society of Magazine Editors.
The idea of serving such a small niche is nothing new for publishers, but it should act as a trial-by-fire for the venture. After the inaugural issue launches on Sept. 21, O’Doherty and Ryan plan to print every two months.
O’Doherty and Ryan, the brains behind Ireland’s successful VIP magazine as well as the failed Gay Ireland and Stars on Sunday tabloid, said they feel this time they have a sure thing. “In Ireland, a pet is a pet,” O’Doherty said, “but in New York especially, they are like children, and people treat them like a part of the family.”
He would seem to have a point. The American Pet Products Manufacturing Association estimates that in 2004 pet owners will spend $34.3 billion on their pets, nearly double that of a year ago. This includes an estimated $100 billion spent on supplies and pet services, which The New York Dog will focus on.
The AMPPMA also notes the increase of expenditures for what it calls luxury dog items, such as beds, designer clothes, and food that goes beyond Alpo. Omaha Steaks, anyone?
Established names from Ralph Lauren to Ikea already have product lines that cater to the dog-owning population.
Think of The New York Dog as a furry Vogue.
Spreads will focus on canine couture, and there will be feature pages of high-end dog fashion with stylish photos that rival those in major women’s magazines. Picture Prada-clad Pomeranians and Greyhounds lounging in Gucci. The spreads will list pricing and purchasing information but will stop short of being a shopping magazine, in the vein of Lucky, a well-known women’s glossy that some in the industry say is more like a catalogue.
For the dog owners who dote on their pet, features such as dog horoscopes, advice on how to handle dog custody after a divorce, and a timely piece about dogs in the White House should all make for pertinent reading.
The magazine will also have a heavy celebrity bent, with luminaries such as former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and actress Mary Tyler Moore talking about their dogs.
Ryan, who is widely credited with an uncanny ability to drum up the necessary buzz for his projects, seems to be doing more of the same while in New York.
The guest list for the upcoming launch party, which will be at the Ritz Carlton, reads like a who’s-who of New York’s well-heeled glitterati, with names such as Liza Minnelli, Barbara Walters and even the Clintons being thrown around.
What makes The New York Dog even more complex is how it is being produced. The magazine will be written, edited, and photographed in New York, with files sent to Ireland via a broadband network for approval by O’Doherty. A team in Dublin will then design the pages.
The finished product will make the rounds back to New York and, barring any changes, will be sent to a printing facility in New Jersey.
The magazine’s publisher in New York, Gregg Oehler, is coordinating the advertising and circulation out of his SoHo offices.
The logistics of the trans-Atlantic exchange is not much different from how many magazines and newspapers are printed, with the only difference being the vast ocean between the New York and Dublin offices.
“The e-mailing of ideas and updates is something you could not have gotten your head around 10 years ago,” O’Doherty said. “But it’s a fairly simple production process.
“We were almost worried that there was no panic. We were almost waiting for the madness.” Initial estimates are positive. O’Doherty told the New York Times that to break even, The New York Dog would have to sell 20,000 copies of the first issue at the $4.95 cover price.

The germ
The idea for the magazine came about when Ryan had moved to New York City a year ago after O’Doherty had bought out his share of VIP magazine.
Ryan had noticed the abundance of dogs being preened, toted, and cared for in his adopted city, almost to the point of obsession. He soon had O’Doherty on the phone discussing the idea of a magazine that catered to this “untapped market” of upwardly mobile urban women who spend serious cash and time on their pooches.
The two were able to hammer out some 40 story ideas in a matter of weeks, and decided to go ahead with the project. Ryan set up the infrastructure in New York and got to work making contacts and looking for a staff.
“Every time we approached people with the idea, they thought it was obvious,” O’Doherty said.
The New York Dog’s editor, Leslie Padgett, dares detractors to doubt pet owners’ commitment to their animals.
“Dog lovers are passionate about the care, coddling, and overall lifestyle of their ‘children,’ ” she said. “They need a resource that combines these things and spotlights the hilarity we so often experience when living with our dogs.
“Cynics can check the numbers — the market is there.”
Ryan met Padgett, an experienced contributor to magazines who had most recently worked on publishing technology consulting, in New York and the two set out to create what would become The New York Dog.
O’Doherty remarked that the magazine’s premier issue is remarkably unchanged from the original page plan that he and Ryan had come up with six months earlier.
Padgett tells how it was easy to secure contributors for the magazine, most of whom are working on a free-lance basis.
“Dog love [or disdain, in the case of Mr. Breslin] is hard to bottle,” she said.
The plans are to keep the focus for the first few issues on dog fashion and lifestyle — in fact, readers can look forward to a possible look into the “doggie dating scene,” according to Padgett, who also touts the magazine’s mainstays of health and nutrition.
The team of O’Doherty and Ryan won’t be hindered by their past stumbles on the magazine market, even with something like The New York Dog.
“In Ireland we were almost used to the begrudging response and getting knocked for our ideas,” O’Doherty said. “It is refreshing to be embraced in New York for your ideas, and everything is positive.
“It’s not as bizarre as the instinctive response is. The more people think about it, the more normal it seems.”
O’Doherty expects one of the bigger challenges to be cracking into the subscription culture of America, and getting people to sign up.
“In Ireland, 95 percent of your sales are at the newsstand, and people will see the product when they go down to the store,” he said. “Here, the biggest obstacle is awareness — getting it into people’s hands.”
Or rather, paws.

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