My friend Porochista Khakpour, a smart and gorgeous writer I met at Yaddo a few years back, had a dream that she started a magazine called Dog Lady Magazine.

Porochista announced this dream to her friends and there was a unanimous clamoring (if clamoring can be unanimous) for her to really do it, to launch Dog Lady Magazine.

I jokingly volunteered myself as co-editor and Porochista, a force of nature, seriously took me up on it.

And so, I proudly announce the birth of Dog Lady Magazine: A Magazine of Women and their Canines.

One of our taglines will be “From Pitbulls to Poodles” because, fittingly, I have “pit bulls” (aka mutts with short hair and big heads) and Porochista has a poodle named Cosmo.

Porochista and Cosmo

Moments after we decided that we would in fact do this, Porochista  found inspiring photos of Dog Ladies of the Past.  My favorite of these was Gertrude Stein with her poodle Basket.

Gertrude Stein and Basket

Though I studied Gertrude Stein semi-extensively one semester at Naropa University, I somehow never encountered stories of her poodle named Basket.   One of the regular features of Dog Lady Magazine will be Dog Ladies in History, each issue featuring the story of a Dog Lady from a bygone era.

There are zillions of dog magazines, even more zillions of dog books.  And our world is rife with literature about CAT LADIES but, now, it’s time for a magazine by and for the ladies who love dogs.

I like the “from pit bulls to poodles” approach, so the featured Dog Ladies won’t JUST be zealous pit bull advocate types like me, but will include people like my mom, who has FIFTEEN POODLES.

Zealous Pit Bull Type Me

One of the FAQ’s I get from my mom’s friends is “Why don’t you have a poodle?”

The short answer is “Because I fell in love with a pit bull from death row and that changed my life and worldview.” And made me an unrepentant Dog Lady.

I am excited about this. Though I’m already writing two books and trotting out the occasional magazine piece, (soon embarking on a profile of Extreme Dog Man Jon Katz) usually, the more work I have on my plate, the more productive I become, less prone to wiling hours away watching Cat Dressed In Shark Costume Cleans Floor videos and/or shooting videos of Mickey rolling and exposing himself.

Here is Mickey exposing himself.

Porochista is about to head out West for some journalistic exploits involving buried treasure (seriously) but, when she gets back, we will be developing our ideas, doing some photos and videos, and, as is the modern way,  launching a Kickstarter campaign to get Dog Lady Magazine our of our heads and into the world.

Until then, I will spend my spare time trolling Animal Farm Foundation’s incredible gallery of historical pit bull photos, including many featuring Dog Ladies and the pit bulls who loved them.