About Dogs

Dogs

Dogs is a bimonthly German dog magazine published in Munich by the Ein Herz für Tiere Media GmbH, a subsidiary of the GeraNova Bruckmann publishing group. First issued on 24 October 2006, Dogs positions itself as the premium magazine for dog lovers — "the magazine for dog people" — combining high-end photography and design with in-depth reporting on dogs and the human-dog relationship. It appears six times a year and carries the ISSN 1863-6330. In 2008, the magazine received the LeadAward, Germany's leading print-design prize, recognising the exceptional quality of its visual presentation.

Overview

Dogs appears every two months and is sold at newsstands and by subscription throughout Germany. It is part of the Ein Herz für Tiere Media portfolio, the Munich-based pet-media publisher owned by the GeraNova Bruckmann group, whose titles also include the monthly Ein Herz für Tiere and the line extensions Partner Hund and Geliebte Katze.

The magazine's concept distinguishes it from conventional pet magazines. Where service titles emphasise training tips and product advice, Dogs pursues a magazine-journalism approach: long-form reportage, photo essays, portraits of remarkable dogs and their people, and explorations of the cultural and scientific dimensions of the human-dog relationship. The visual language is lavish — large-format photography, generous white space, elegant typography — earning the title its reputation as the design-conscious dog magazine.

The readership is educated, urban and design-aware, with a strong emotional bond to dogs and above-average purchasing power. For advertisers in the premium pet, lifestyle, automotive and travel sectors, Dogs offers an environment of quality and a readership with a demonstrated affinity for high-end products.

History

Dogs was launched by Gruner + Jahr, Germany's largest magazine publisher, with a first issue dated 24 October 2006. The launch was preceded by three test issues — a cautious market-testing approach typical of G+J's magazine development — before the title went into regular publication on 7 May 2007. The concept was developed to occupy the premium position in the dog-magazine market: a title that would treat dogs with the editorial seriousness and visual ambition of a lifestyle magazine.

The magazine's quality was recognised early. In 2008, Dogs received the LeadAward, the German print industry's leading award for editorial design and photography, confirming the title's visual ambitions. The LeadAward — presented annually in Hamburg — honours excellence in German-language print media, and the prize placed Dogs among the most visually distinguished magazines in the country, a remarkable achievement for a specialist pet title competing against general-interest magazines with far larger budgets.

In 2018, the magazine underwent a relaunch under the Hamburg agency Territory, refreshing its design and editorial concept for a new decade. The relaunch sharpened the title's visual identity and reaffirmed its premium positioning at a time when the German magazine market was contracting and only titles with a clear, distinctive profile could hold their ground. A more significant change came at the start of 2021, when Dogs — together with the entire Ein Herz für Tiere Media portfolio — was transferred from Gruner + Jahr to the GeraNova Bruckmann publishing group. The Munich-based GeraNova Bruckmann, one of Germany's leading special-interest publishers, integrated the pet titles into its portfolio, where they sit alongside the group's magazines on travel, history, railway and outdoor topics.

The most recent verified circulation figure, from the fourth quarter of 2021 (IVW), showed 13,651 copies sold. The magazine continues to appear bimonthly under the GeraNova Bruckmann umbrella, with its digital home on the herz-fuer-tiere.de portal.

Content and Programming

Dogs' content reflects its premium positioning. Long-form reportage takes readers into the worlds of working dogs, rescue dogs, therapy dogs and remarkable individual animals, told with narrative ambition and photographic excellence. Breed features go beyond standard portraits to explore the history, character and culture of dog breeds. Scientific topics — canine cognition, behaviour research, the evolution of the dog-human bond — are presented for an educated general readership.

The magazine also covers dog-related culture and lifestyle: travel with dogs, dog-friendly design and interiors, books and films about dogs, and the aesthetics of the dog-owning life. Service content — training, health, nutrition — is present but framed within the magazine's elevated editorial voice rather than as utilitarian instruction.

Photography is central to the Dogs experience. The magazine commissions and publishes dog photography of exceptional quality, and its pages have featured work by leading animal photographers. The visual storytelling — sequences of images that capture canine character and movement — distinguishes Dogs from text-driven competitors. The magazine's design treats each issue as an object to be savoured: the paper, the printing and the layout all serve the photography, making Dogs a magazine that readers keep, display and return to.

The editorial voice is literate and reflective, addressing readers as fellow dog lovers rather than as pupils in need of instruction. Interviews with writers, artists, scientists and public figures explore what dogs mean in human lives, while features on dog culture — from the history of breeds to the representation of dogs in art — give the magazine intellectual breadth beyond the pet press mainstream.

Coverage and Audience

Dogs is distributed nationally throughout Germany, sold at newsstands and by subscription. Its audience is the design-conscious dog lover: educated, predominantly female, urban, with above-average income and a willingness to spend on quality for their animals. The magazine's readers treat their dogs as family members and companions, and they expect their magazine to reflect the importance of that relationship.

The bimonthly rhythm and premium presentation position Dogs as a collectible magazine — issues are kept and displayed rather than discarded. For advertisers, the title offers a precisely defined, high-value audience in the premium pet and lifestyle segments.

Ownership

Dogs is published by the Ein Herz für Tiere Media GmbH in Munich, a subsidiary of the GeraNova Bruckmann Verlagshaus. The GeraNova Bruckmann group, based in Munich, is one of Germany's leading special-interest publishers, with a portfolio spanning travel, history, railway, model-making, outdoor and pet titles.

The transfer of Dogs from Gruner + Jahr to GeraNova Bruckmann at the start of 2021 placed the magazine within a publisher whose special-interest expertise and Munich base align with the title's positioning. The Ein Herz für Tiere Media unit manages the group's pet titles, including the monthly Ein Herz für Tiere and the Dogs brand. GeraNova Bruckmann's portfolio — spanning travel, history, railways, model-making and outdoor pursuits — gives the pet titles a corporate home built around passionate specialist audiences, a natural fit for a magazine devoted to the human-dog relationship.

Digital Presence

Dogs' digital home is on the herz-fuer-tiere.de portal, the online platform of the Ein Herz für Tiere Media group, where the magazine's content is presented alongside the group's other pet titles. The portal carries dog-related news, features and service content, extending the Dogs brand to the web.

The magazine is present on social media, where its exceptional photography finds a natural audience among dog lovers. Digital editions of the magazine are available for screen reading. While the bimonthly print issue remains the title's core product — its lavish visual presentation is designed for paper — the digital channels extend its reach and provide the brand with direct contact to its community of dog enthusiasts.

The website field in this profile reflects the magazine's online home on the publisher's portal. Since its 2006 launch, Dogs has defined the premium segment of the German dog press — a magazine where photography, design and journalism serve the celebration of the dog.