Dog Appreciation Day, also known as International Dog Day or simply as National Dog Day, is a holiday where everyone is encouraged to show appreciation for their canine friends. This unofficial holiday falls on August 26th annually and is celebrated by dog lovers all over the world. If you have a canine friend at home and want to show him or her that you appreciate their companionship and loyalty, then this is a holiday you may want to celebrate.

The History of Dog Appreciation Day

The history of Dog Appreciation Day can be traced back to 2004 when it was created by Colleen Paige. Paige was an animal behaviorist and author who wanted to not only help people show profound appreciation for their dogs but also wanted to highlight the problems facing many dogs today.

Dogs are abused in unimaginable ways, and puppy mills continue to be a serious problem. This holiday also seeks to end breed-specific legislation that is often passed at the state or local level and heavily regulates or bans certain breeds in the misguided attempt to minimize dog attacks from what they consider to be aggressive breeds.

Facts About Dogs You Probably Don’t Know

Whenever we write about a holiday, we do a ton of research so that we have a good grasp of the subject. And during the course of our research, we often come across factoids that we simply can’t resist sharing with our readers.

This is again the case for this holiday, so we decided to list some of the amazing facts that we learned about dogs. Hopefully, the following facts will be as entertaining and surprising to everyone reading about this holiday as they were to us.

• Dogs have unique nose prints—in much the same way as a person’s fingerprints are unique.
• The famous dog actor Rin Tin Tin was nominated for an Academy Award.
• The name “Collie” means “black.” This breed was given that name because they once watched over black-faced sheep.
• Great Pyrenees were used to haul artillery over the Pyrenees Mountains during World War II.
• The Norwegian Lundehund was bred for hunting puffins.
• Although people think dogs are colorblind, that’s not true. Dogs can see two colors: yellow and blue.
• All puppies are born deaf. They don’t gain the ability to hear until they’re 3 weeks old.

Observing Dog Appreciation Day

One of the main ways to celebrate this holiday is by taking the time to show your dog the appreciation he or she deserves. Give them all of the attention they want, buy them a new toy, or give them a treat.

This holiday is also a good time for people to think about the plight of dogs outside their homes as well. They can volunteer at a dog shelter or donate to one of the many dog welfare organizations.

Dog owners who want to spread the word about this holiday should take the time to use the hashtag #DogAppreciationDay on their social media accounts to let everyone know about this holiday.