NY Times: Dogs Before Instagram

Vintage photos from the New York Times archive show the enduring power of the pooch.

By Jessie Wender

Decades before Instagram or #packwalk, Jim Buck was troupingthrough the streets of New York with multiple leashes and multiple dogs in tow. In 1964, Gay Talese profiled Buck, pictured above, in The New York Times. “145-Pounder Walks 500 Pounds of Dogs,” ran the headline. That doesn’t sound exceptional now, but Buck was apparently the first professional dog walker. In the story, Talese noted that Buck was 32, married with two children and two big dogs of his own. He was making a decent income — in the low six figures, in today’s dollars — in electronic sales. But, Talese explained, Buck was bored. He loved animals and the outdoors, so, with “a little advertising and a little salesmanship,” he began a dog-walking business and not only earned a living but also became a fixture of the Upper East Side.

As Talese reported it, Buck always drew a crowd. “Hook up a sled!” cried one doorman. “Opening race at Aqueduct!” was one policeman’s quip. When Buck died in 2013, his Times obituary said he “is widely described as the first person to professionalize dog walking in New York City and, by extension, in the United States. … He walked in sun; he walked in rain. In wintertime, his charges might be clad in small sweaters bearing the logos of the European resorts where their masters skied.”

Continue reading and see more photos here.

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=160140

Posted by chesliepickett on Mar 18 2019. Filed under The Buzz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.