National Puppy Day is observed on March 23rd every year. It celebrates the sweetness and fun of puppies and how just looking at them can make us smile. But the woman who got the day started had a more serious goal in mind beside making us all smile. National Puppy Day began in 2006, thanks to Colleen Paige, an animal lover and author. Her goal was more than just cute puppy pictures exploding all across social media. She hoped by establishing this day that it would spotlight the problems around puppy mills and animal homelessness.
In fact, in our town this week, the local animal shelter rescued 50 plus dogs from a terrible situation. The dogs are being treated and cared for and eventually perhaps find good homes.
I’ve taken in a few dogs that were strays in the past. Both Oscar and Frankie were rescued dogs picked up on the side of a road. Not by me, but the dogs eventually found their way to our house. Other dogs, Dub and Marley, I’ve taken in when their owners needed to find them new homes.
I haven’t had many puppies over the years. Once a neighbor dog decided our garage was the perfect place to have puppies and somehow those puppies became ours. I did find homes for them. We kept one, a beagle mix. One day she went off hunting and never came home.
But let’s think of the happier puppy moments. When those puppies did find a home in my yard, the grandkids and other dog lovers in the family had a great time watching them grow. Another time one of my granddaughters adopted a female dog from a shelter and a few weeks later, it was obvious pups were on the way. She did find wonderful homes for all the pups.
I’ve been able to snap some sweet pictures of my kids’ dogs. This one is my daughter’s German Shepherd pup. His ears never did figure out how they were supposed to be, but Riggs was a fun dog.
Then I took some pictures of other people’s dogs. This one is an English bulldog. My granddaughter loved it.
I get a few of my dogs as puppies. One was a cocker spaniel that my husband gave me for my birthday once. A story about that gift was published in a book of dog stories, The Dog Next Door by Callie Smith Grant. Maybe I’ll share the story here someday. A story of love and tears. But Jodie was a great dog. I got him when he would almost fit in my hand and he was the sweetest dog ever. Loved walking with me.
Hope you enjoyed the puppy pictures.
Have you ever had a puppy? If so, I’d love to hear about your puppy in the comments.
Comments 8
We had a puppy many years ago! However, we never had any luck with dogs. I do like dogs, though, just more of a cat person. I don’t have any pets, though, as I don’t want a dog in the house, and I don’t like cleaning litter boxes.
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My daughter who I still think is more of a dog person has three cats now and no dogs. She’s not happy about the litter box problems either. She does love the cats, but I think she misses having a dog for the first time in years. But she and her husband want to travel more and cats are easier to leave behind than dogs.
My first puppy that I remember was one that Santa delivered when I was about five. He was a mix of several big dogs and looked like a shaggy bear when he grew up. We frequently had puppies around. Some just showed up after being dumped on our country road. My mother raised cocker spaniels for a few years and I got one of the pups that looked a lot like your Jodie. I let her have one litter of puppies before having her fixed. We also raised beagles for several years when my kids were young. The most memorable ones were a dozen born the day before my youngest son’s 2nd birthday. We ended up having to bottle feed them when the mom couldn’t. We kept one of them…the Amazing Lucky Dog that lived an incredible life full of adventures. She suffered (and survived) an accident when she ran out into the path of the hay mower. No one thought she’d live. She proved everyone wrong, hence her name. I’ll share her story with you sometime.
I miss having cute beagle pups around. Is there anything cuter than a wrinkly floppy eared puppy?
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Beagles are cute dogs, but they do like to run rabbits. I’ve always been afraid I couldn’t keep one at home. Guess I should have thought about that with Frankie too, but I didn’t think he would be such a wannabe wanderer. That’s why he has to be on leash so much.
I love hearing about your dogs and the Amazing Lucky. Sounds as if your homeplace as a great place for dogs to show up. We had one show up here years ago that I wish I could have kept. She was the sweetest little dog and already on the way to having pups. A neighbor took her in, but I’ve always wished that I had. My husband was not in favor of that.
Thoughts of puppies bring many smiles to my face. My favorite was a cocker spaniel who was my only and best friend through a good stretch of time. We did everything together. The next “set” of dogs was a 3-some, 2 rescues/1 cockapoo that were with us for 13-15 years and oh the miles we walked and the times we had. Our current situation is 2 rescues, 2 years apart. After Scout, we weren’t so sure there would be another dog. He is an Aussie-Border collie mix, and his puppy years were something we hadn’t planned on–so exuberant in every way (torn clothes, shredded drywall, garden barrier paper pulled up with stones scattered everywhere). We tried different trainers, different techniques, with some successes, but the real fix was getting Mattie, a beagle mix who turned out to be the perfect companion for him. They run and he herds her and she jumps on him. It really is funny to watch their little games. There’s always room in my heart for dogs. Thanks for the memories!
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I loved reading about your dogs, Amy. Aussies are known for their energetic behavior, but sound like Scout was a challenge. Something like Frankie can be at time. Not from chewing up anything. Just for never listening when it suits him better not to listen. I named a dog Scout in my Rosey Corner books. The characters first named him Trouble, but Aunt Hattie told them that it wasn’t good to name anything something that they could live up to – like Trouble. Could be your Scout might have fit the name Trouble early on. Glad you found him a friend to keep him out of trouble.
I loved my cocker spaniel too. I had always wanted one and fell in love with a black one when I was a kid. That story turned out not so good. If I share my story about getting Jodie, you’ll see why.
Our first daughter was a poodle schnauzer mix named Puppy and the sweetest dog! We loved her dearly! She was from the litter of some friends’ dog. She caught a peeping Tom one night, warned me of a pan on the stove that needed attention, and set off the barking alarm every time anyone approached the house.
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Sounds like a great dog, Suzanne. I’ve always said with Frankie that he would wag his tail and lick anyone breaking into our house. Now Marley might bark at somebody except he’s lost his hearing and wouldn’t know they were there until they touched him. 🙂 But your Puppy could have made a service dog for sure.
The first dog I remember as a child was named Pup. He was a big coon dog. So, the name didn’t exactly fit by the time I could remember him.