Dogs of the World at the Museum of the Dog!
Lili Chin
I love this photo by Drew Watson! drewwatsonpups.com
I had never been to the AKC Museum of the Dog (NYC) before, and I won't lie, I was nervous before my book presentation. Does the Museum genuinely like my dog art that doesn't conform to AKC breed standards? What if nobody shows up?
On arrival, all that worry melted away. The Museum had a beautiful set-up on the front counter of my merch and copies of Dogs of the World and Doggie Language. I got the feels seeing this event listed on the same signage as Westminster and Meet The Breeds, the two largest dog events of the year!
It was a full house! A large group of New York dog trainers showed up; including some people who had followed my work from over 10 years ago. As it was Furry Friday, dogs were welcome at the Museum, and two Sammies who were Dr. Tu's clients, also graced us with their presence!
Photo by Julie Wintrob, leveluppaws.com
I had created a slide presentation on the making of Dogs of the World: the inspirations and challenges. Dr. Andrea Y. Tu and I talked about our backgrounds and how we got to where we are now - Dr. Tu as NYC's most prominent Veterinary Behaviorist, and me as a dog artist and author who has spent the last 15 years interested in dog behavior.
Through the slides, I shared photos of how Dogs of the World had evolved from my curiosity about dog breed origins (Mahjong was a part of this! And I am grateful that Dr. Tu explained what Mahjong is because I take it too much for granted these days, lol), and from a illustrated poster project that led me down many rabbit holes of research.
I shared photos of the dogs that served as models for some of the Village Dogs, Mutts, and Free-Ranging dogs in the book. Dr. Tu gave her expert answers to audience questions and talked about why, as a Veterinary Behaviorist, a dog's breed matters in her evaluations and health diagnoses.
I am very grateful to the AKC Museum of the Dog for hosting us, and thank you so much to everyone who came to this event!
If you are in NYC, I highly recommend paying this museum a visit! (Note that it may be hard to see from the street as it is inside a corporate building on Park Ave) Inside, are 3 levels of stunning and sometimes funny dog paintings, drawings, and sculptures that go back to the 19th century. It was incredible to see life-size versions of old paintings I had only until now, seen in miniature on the internet.
Also check out @friendofthedog's instagram reel
I enjoyed their selection of very cool vintage New Yorker covers, more quirky doggie curios and sculptures, and the most amazing thing of all was their library, which had tons of books organized alphabetically by dog breed! I wish I had more time to spend here. Many of these books looked out of print.
But not everything was old or vintage. Downstairs was an interactive screen thingy to find a breed match for your photo which was fun to do. Whoa, really? I am a Boston Terrier? Is this thing rigged? We noted that your breed results change depending on how you wear your hair or facial expression. Another interactive screen was for training a virtual dog to sit, stay, roll over, etc. (I was less impressed with this one. It lost me at "Stay! Good Stay!")
