If you can judge a city's health by its specialty publications, Baltimore's doing pretty darn well. The city's recently seen an influx of new titles about everything from clubbing to shopping; the latest is Baltimore Dog, a quarterly magazine devoted to Charm City's best friends. The 52-page first issue debuted this month; it's available for free at pet-oriented stores and veterinarians' offices, and by paid subscription.
"Could this have worked three years ago? No," says the driving force behind the publication, publisher/editor Denise Iannatuono, The One-time Salon Owner Formerly Known As Denise Christensen.
"My love, other than hair, is animals," Iannatuono explains from the Charleston, South Carolina home she shares with husband Bruce (the couple spends most of their time here, at their home on the Magothy River).
After retiring part-time to the languorous Charleston, which is home to several dog publications ("it's such a dog town," she says), Iannatuono decided she was going to create a magazine for Baltimore's dog owners.
Now, don't expect Baltimore Dog to be like the snarky, celebrity-obsessed New York Dog (for one thing, Baltimore simply doesn't have enough celebrities)—Iannatuono says Baltimore Dog will be education-driven. The product will be more like Low Country Dog, one of Charleston's most popular canine periodicals. There will be regular columns from vets, shopping ideas, and even memorials to beloved pooches who have gone to that great doghouse in the sky.
"There are so many people who are really into the dog community," says the 52-year-old Iannatuono, "but they don't have a clue about things. They need information."
And finally, here are Iannatuono's most critical credentials: She has four dogs; Tyson, Astro, Star, and Skye, the Weimaraner which adorns the billboard you might have seen on I-83.
