Brian Lerer on WNYC.

And to end the show every day during this membership drive, we're going to have a little fun talking about all the animals that people in our listening area love and care for in your homes.

Yes, we're talking about pets. And we're kicking off the series with what else, dogs, by far the

most visible pets on the sidewalks and in the parks, right? And so we're joined by Elias Weiss

Friedman, who you might know better as the doggist on Instagram, at least if you're

among the 7.7 million people who follow him there. Besides Instagram, he brought out a book this

summer called This Dog Will Change Your Life. And today, as it happens, he's launching a new

YouTube talk show called Dogs with Elias Weiss Friedman, where he will

interview people, not their dogs. Elias, welcome to the show. Thanks for coming on.

Hi, Brian. Glad to be on. Yeah. Your book opens with a story, I see, that explains why dogs are so

great in your opinion and will give anyone, especially parents, I think,

chills. You want to share that briefly?

Yes. When I was about two or three years old, I was with my grandmother and the story is that

she went inside to grab a jacket. And when she came back outside, I was gone along with her dog, Oreo.

And, you know, they called the police and the fire department.

And they found, you know, landscaper spotted me within 20 minutes, about to cross a busy intersection.

And Oreo was keeping me out of the street.

So I guess that's part of my origin story that I owe my life to a dog named

Oreo. Oh, it's a real lassie story, right? And I understand that you've had a lot of different

pets in your life. In this series, we're going to be talking about a different kind of pet each day.

Did you decide somehow that dogs were the best

of the bunch, at least for you? Yeah, I mean, dogs create a source of joy for us, unlike anything

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