Dolph studied animal painting with Van Kuyck in Antwerp and in Paris from 1868-1873.  He was an associate of the National Academy in 1877 and a full member of the Academy in 1898.  He was also a member of the Lotos Club; the Kit-Kat Club; and the Salmagundi Club.  He exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Association (1867-1886); the National Academy of Design (1864-1900); PAFA (1866-1868, still lifes of fruit, 1879-1899); Paris Salon (1882); Boston Art Club (1889-1903); Pan-American Expo, Buffalo, 1901 (bronze medal); and the Art Institute of Chicago.  His work is in the PAFA collection.

Best known as a painter of cats and dogs, he was referred to as the “American Landseer.” He exhibited genre scenes and Hudson River landscapes until 1874 but in 1875 his painting of a Persian cat attracted such great attention that cats and dogs became his focus.  He had begun his career as a portrait painter during the 1850s in Detroit, MW, and was working in NYC by 1865.