Dog Only Knows: The Dog Portraits of Alison Friend

by Alison Friend

From the artist Alison Friend, a collection of 125 unconventional dogs posing for traditional oil portraits

Welcome to Alison Friend’s world of dogs—a collection of playful, mischievous, and quirky dogs posing for oil portraits in a traditional style, all while eating their favorite foods, wearing their favorite outfits, showing off their favorite hobbies, and more.
 
Meet Dave, the Boston terrier who loves gummy bears. Pip, the Border Collie who’d rather solve her Rubik’s Cube than herd sheep. Johan Sebastian Bark, piano aficionado. Debbie, a Chihuahua sipping a raspberry mojito. And Super Dog, dressed in a mask and cape, whose superpower is hearing snacks being opened from a mile away.
 
With dogs of every personality, every breed, and every interest, and with witty captions accompanying each portrait, Dog Only Knows is a collection full of humor and charm on every page.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

Published October 21, 2025

About the author

Alison Friend creates sweet and funny watercolors of animals that have been featured on greeting and holiday cards. She lives in South Yorkshire, England.

Reviews

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cutest doggo’s 💛

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me so happy 🥰

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am glad that I have this book to look at offline after admiring the art on Instagram for a very long time! Just adorable!

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

so very cute and delightful. it even caught the attention of the cashier who asked if he could flip through it

[Brownd2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

pawsitively adorable...

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um the most precious dogs ever.

[Nathanael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly cute art. Smiled and laughed the whole way through.

[Hannah Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is now my new bedside book. I love all da puppers 💚

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this charming and delightful book will now be my go-to when I need to smile; in fact, I chuckled through most of it.

I have been enjoying Alison Friend’s dog portraits for quite a while and jumped at the chance to have a book full of them. She combines Old Master oil painting techniques with love of dogs and, perhaps most remarkably, captures the dogs’ eyes to perfection. The cover of the book offers a hint of its contents, but what you can’t see is the back cover, which depicts this little dog’s other side. (His entry also taught me a new word—“gilet”; how had I never heard or read it?!!)

Bottom line: If you love dogs, treat yourself to this book. I am still smiling. 🥰

[Tarney Sheldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much joy packed into each piece of art… and the oh-so-clever accompanying text makes the book shine! Will pick up this coffee table book any time I need a little infusion of happy.

[Francesca Pohlman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alison Friend has a way of painting dogs that causes the observer to smile. In Dog Only Knows, she includes little humorous descriptions of the dogs she paints. From the dog with a multi-colored puffer jacket to a dog doing a Rubik's cube, all her dogs wear expressions of humans. This book brings joy, especially to dog lovers.

[Karen Lam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi cerebro no podía soportar tanta ternura 🥹🥹

[Kristina Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want every single one of these framed on my wall.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish there was more big dogs instead of mostly small but I love it

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I give 10 stars out of 5? What a glorious way to spend time- with these whimsical, wonderful dog paintings along with their stories. Simply the best!

[Caroline Horgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming!

[Araliya · Rating 5 out of 5]

😍😍😍

[Cathy Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

canis lupus familiaris 🙂🐕

[Amanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this, though I don't think there was a single pit bull in here, bummer.