5 Ways to Celebrate National Puppy Day

If you’ve ever thought that song, “It’s raining men” should have been called, “It’s raining puppies,” then this post is definitely for you. National Puppy Day is coming up on March 23, and yes, it is the perfect day to celebrate your love of puppies unapologetically. 

But it’s also the perfect opportunity to give back. Colleen Paige, celebrity pet writer, philanthropist, and animal behaviorist, founded National Puppy Day in 2006 as “a day to help save orphaned puppies across the globe.”

For National Puppy Day this year, why not do both? You can celebrate how adorable puppies are and also give back. Here’s a list of ideas to get you started.

1. Make some shelter puppies’ day.

Puppies love to play. You love puppies. So, for National Puppy Day, you can make everyone happy by bringing puppy toys to your local shelter. First, find a shelter that has puppies and find out how many puppies are there. 

Then comes the first fun part–shopping for the puppies, in person or online. Make sure to pick out puppy-specific toys like puppy teething toys and soft puppy KONGs. Don’t get any toys with squeakers, because a puppy could chew those up and swallow the squeaker. Puppy treats are also a great idea. 

The second fun part is making little puppy gift baskets or bags for each puppy. You can even find out the names of the puppies at the shelter and put their names on the bags. Be sure to bring a few extra in case more puppies come in that day. 

Coordinate with the staff on when the best time would be to deliver the gifts. Get a group of friends to help you, too. Then you or the shelter volunteers can take a video of the puppies getting their presents and post it on the shelter’s social media to inspire people to donate or adopt a puppy.

2. Volunteer your time to help puppies get adopted.

There are so many ways you could help out when it comes to helping puppies find their new families. If you have some free time on the weekend, check with your local puppy shelter to see if they have any upcoming adoption events where you could volunteer. Make sure to find out the volunteer requirements so you can take care of them ahead of the event. 

Ask the shelters if there are other ways you can help promote the adoptable puppies, like doing a cute puppy photo shoot or writing funny bios to post on social media. Let them know you’re willing to help in whatever way you can, or even suggest some ideas of your own.

3. Share your home with puppies until they find their forever home.

Maybe you can’t commit to adopting a puppy right now, or at least not another one, but that doesn’t mean you can’t foster one or two. This isn’t a long-term commitment. With puppies, it could be anywhere from a few days to a few months on average. 

Some shelters do want you to commit to fostering in general for a minimum time period, but you may have different foster puppies come and go in that time. Check out some of the guidelines for the shelters near you, and talk to the foster coordinator for more info. There might also be some requirements for fostering puppies specifically.

In terms of costs, the shelter will pay for any medical costs like vaccines and checkups. You will just need to transport the puppy to and from the vet or shelter for any medical needs. You’ll also need to bring them to adoption events to help them find their forever home.

If you have the means and time, it’s very rewarding and so worth it to foster a puppy.

4. Put your puppy on literally everything.

Everyone knows that your puppy is the cutest puppy of them all, right? So you should probably have their face on everything. There are tons of sites online where you can upload some of your pup’s best shots and they’ll send you sheets of the pics as stickers. 

You can even get greeting cards made that feature your pup, or tiny books with a curated selection. These also make great gifts for National Puppy Day for your fellow dog lovers. Mix in some pics of their pup with some of yours and surprise them with the cutest unexpected gift.

If you want to take it a step up and be a little fancier, you can even go for pics of your puppy or your friends’ puppy on some socks or a small pillow. 

5. Start your puppy on a therapy dog career path.

Do you have the friendliest, most goodest puppy ever? Well, even if they’re just friendly, they can still apply to be therapy dogs. 

These are the cute pups that get to brighten a person’s day just by being their adorable puppy selves and sharing some cuddles and tail wags. Usually therapy dogs visit places like nursing homes and children’s hospitals. 

If there is a specific place you want to take your puppy to that’s nearby, ask them if they allow therapy dogs to visit and what their requirements are. If you don’t know where to go, start with the AKC’s list of therapy dog organizations.These organizations will give you info on the steps you need to take to get your puppy certified, and they also provide liability insurance while your pup’s on the job. They also know where your puppy could volunteer in the community.

Many places require your dog to pass the Canine Good Citizen test, which has 10 skills that your pup needs to pass. When you think your puppy can pass the test, find an evaluator near you so you can have them certified.