March 23^rd is National Puppy Day, which is all about celebrating the unconditional love and happiness that puppies bring to our lives as well as highlighting the importance of puppy welfare!

National Puppy Day was founded in 2006 by Colleen Paige, one of America’s leading pet and family lifestyle experts. Colleen has spent her life trying to improve the lives of pets and their owners and National Puppy Day is a great way for us to do the same!

National Puppy Day has a special focus on welfare, adoption and the abolition of puppy mills. A puppy mill is a breeder that doesn't care about the welfare of their animals, who treats them purely as a commodity to be sold and keeps them in cramped and unsanitary conditions. Dogs that can no longer breed are often put down, and puppies are regularly taken from their mothers too early. This is a sad practice and National Puppy Day encourages people to be aware of where their puppies come from and how they can support responsible breeding practices.

National Puppy Day asks people to consider the welfare of the puppies that light up their lives, urges them to do their research on breeders and supports adopting puppies from a shelter over choosing a backyard breeder.

The bones are on me!

There's plenty of ways you can celebrate National Puppy Day. If you can't adopt from a shelter or rescue, why not donate money, food and toys to your local shelter? Or you could have a puppy party with your friends or local neighbourhood! If you want to have a more low-key celebration there's no better way to spend the day then cuddling, caring for and exercising your puppy and maybe giving them a special gift! If you don't have a puppy of your own you can always volunteer at a rescue or spend time with friends and family and their puppies!

Most importantly, try to keep in mind all the wonderful ways puppies enrich our lives, and what you can do in turn to make theirs better! National Puppy Day is about love, companionship and joy, and we should all take the opportunity to celebrate it!