Friday, March 23 is National Puppy Day!

National Puppy Day is a special day to celebrate the magic and unconditional love that puppies bring to our lives. But more importantly, it’s a day to help save orphaned puppies across the globe and educate the public about the horrors of puppy mills. National Puppy Day was founded in 2006 by Celebrity Pet and Home Lifestyle Expert and author, Colleen Paige, who is also the founder of National Dog Day and National Cat Day (among many others).

National Puppy Day is actually considered an international holiday now, as it’s trended worldwide on Twitter in 2012, 2013 & 2014 and 2015. Colleen Paige has devoted her life to creating special days of recognition that improve the lives of animals and their people.

Why adopt?
There approximately 8,000-10,000 puppy mills in the U.S. and this would include many businesses that call themselves breeders such as “backyard breeders”, people who purposely allow their dog to get pregnant in hopes of selling puppies through their local paper or online. Pet stores that sell designer puppies are the number one reason that so many puppy mills exists today. Convince each and every pet store to stop selling puppies and the mills will go out of business. The most successful way to accomplish this is by organizing rallies and peaceful demonstrations outside of pet stores that sell puppies.

The tragedy of puppy mills is that they don’t care about the animals more than a commodity to be sold. Most of these animals live in crammed cages with no room to move, in complete and utter squalor. Many puppies are sick and never given true health exams, necessary vaccines or proper health care. The puppies are always taken way too early from their mothers, so they’re denied the basic social skills they need to behave well in the home, thus, resulting in many dogs later being abandoned at the shelter. After a female dog’s fertility wanes, she is often killed, abandoned or sent to another mill that will attempt make her produce one more litter. Puppy mills and backyard breeders are the number one reason we have an overpopulation of dogs in this country…that and a lack of spaying and neutering.

Responsible breeders have a limited number of litters per year, they care for their animals like their own and help to keep bloodlines pure. However, people need to do their homework if they want to buy a pure breed puppy from a breeder. They need to make sure that the breeder is licensed by their city and state, has a good reputation, no BBB complaints, no law suits, valid customer testimonials, a health certificate from a reputable vet and no signs of illness with their puppies. If you go to visit your prospective puppy from a breeder, be wary of the following:

Bad odor/unhealthy conditions in kennel
Breeder unwilling to allow you to see the puppy’s mother and father
Puppies with weepy eyes and overall lethargy
A puppy that shows no interest in interacting with people
A skinny puppy
A limping puppy

Better yet, there are many pure breed puppies and young adult dogs that are orphaned for one reason or another and there are plenty of pure breed rescues that you can visit to give one or more of them a forever home. National Puppy Day encourages you to always consider adoption first and don’t forget the importance of spaying and neutering to reduce the overpopulation of unwanted pets and unnecessary suffering.

Ways to Celebrate

1. Adopt a puppy from your local shelter, rescue or pure breed rescue organization.
2. Are you prepared for puppy parenting? Start off on the right paw! Hire a professional that can help you.
3. Donate money, food and toys to your local shelter.
4. Organize a peaceful demonstration in front of your community pet store that sells puppies.
5. Write your Congressman and ask that he/she support the ban of Puppy Mills in your state.
6. Assist an ill or elderly neighbor by walking their puppy.
7. Have a puppy party and invite all your friends and their puppies!
8. Join a fun, dog friendly community online and post pics of your puppy for the world to ooh and ahh over!
9. Host a community event to raise money for your local animal shelter.
10. Volunteer at your local shelter and offer to walk a puppy or play with a puppy, clean cages or anything else they need help with.
11. Have a portrait painted of your puppy to suspend the fleeting magic of puppydom.
12. Buy your puppy a fun, new puppy toy.
13. Give your puppy some fun exercise by taking him or her to puppy daycare.
15. Brush your puppy to eliminate excess fur.
16. Give your puppy a massage or holistic spa treatment.
17. Get your puppy some leash training lessons.
18. Buy your puppy a cute new outfit or fashionable collar and leash.
19. Have a tee shirt made with your puppy’s photo on it.
20. Take your puppy to the beach.
21. Throw out all your chemical cleaners and purchase non-toxic cleaners for your home to keep your puppy cancer-free!
22. Puppy-proof your home and yard with a “puppy safe” inspection.
23. Revamp your puppy’s toy bin with new, clean toys and get rid of the old, bacteria infested ones!
24. Install a car safety harness to keep your puppy safe during travel from
25. If you haven’t already, switch to a holistic brand of puppy food to keep your puppy healthy.
26. Hire a pet photographer to capture your puppy’s fleeting moments.
27. Pamper your puppy in pure luxury by purchasing all natural bath products.
28. Buy your puppy a comfy new bed.
29. Take your puppy on a pet friendly vacation.
30. Buy yourself and your puppy some matching tee shirts.
31. Join our Facebook page 32. From the first bark, make sure that your garden is puppy safe from toxic plants and materials.
33. Buy a puppy gate to keep your puppy out of hazardous areas of the home.
34. Puppy-proof your pool to prevent the risk of drowning.
35. Buy a canine first aid kit and put it in your car in case of injury while away from home.
36. Microchip & I.D. Tag your puppy so the shelter can locate you if he gets lost.
37. Make sure you have all required vaccines and a regular health exam.
38. Pledge to feed your puppy only all natural food and treats.
39. Switch to filtered water only from now on, to prevent illnesses related to toxins in normal water supplies.
40. Teach your children and their friends to be kind to your puppy by never pulling on his ears or tail.
41. Pledge to walk your puppy every day for proper health and behavior management.
42. Teach your puppy some fun tricks.
43. Take your puppy to an elderly community and spread some love.
44. If you like your puppy to snuggle in bed with you, buy him some puppy steps to make it easy for him to join you.
45. Buy your puppy a designer crate that fits with your interior décor style.
46. Make your home pet friendly by choosing pet friendly fabrics that hold up to your puppy’s wear and tear.
47. Install a fence around your unfenced yard so your puppy can run and enjoy some freedom at home.
48. Pledge to never chain your puppy to a tree or doghouse. Always include your puppy in your family by letting them live inside the home with you.
49. Carpet any stairs you may have to reduce risk of injury to your puppy by slipping and falling.
50. And last but not least – pledge to never yell at or hit your puppy…to be patient and kind and give your puppy lots of love and praise every day.

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Article from National Puppy Day