August 26th is National Dog Day in the UK. Celebrating all things canine, it was founded in 2004 by Pet & Family Lifestyle Expert, Animal Rescue Advocate, Conservationist, Dog Trainer and Author, Colleen Paige. She chose August 26th as this was the day that Colleen's family adopted her first dog "Sheltie" from the local animal shelter, when Colleen was 10 years old.
Now in its 18th year, NDD celebrates all dogs, mixed breed and pure. Colleen's mission is to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year and acknowledge family dogs and dogs that work selflessly each day to save lives, keep us safe and bring comfort. Dogs put their lives on the line every day...for personal protection, for law enforcement, for the disabled, for our freedom and safety by detecting bombs and drugs and pulling victims of tragedy from wreckage, now they're detecting cancer and seizures...things even humans cannot do.
So why not spend the day spoiling your dog? Take her to her favourite spot for a walk, invent a new game to play, or simply give her extra cuddles. After all, she (or he) gives you sooooo much - the joy, the laughs, the unconditional love.
Better still, if you've been considering taking on a rescue dog, why not use today to really look into it seriously?!
Another thing you could do is have a look in the attic or the back of that cupboard to see if you have some excess dog toys, coats or beds that you can donate to your local rescue centre. If you've recently lost your dog (and I am so, so sorry if that is you), consider, if you can bear it, donating some of his things to a rescue centre or even having an online auction to raise money for your local dog charity. I did this with some of Bella's things - old coats, leads and harnesses that I'd collected over the years. It was hard but actually very cathartic and all went to a good cause.
On 26th August, Chow Bella will be donating £1 from every order to Dog's Trust, and if you needed some incentive to buy a new bowl (or even a mug for yourself!), we have a huge 25% off all dog products instore just for National Dog Day (discount automatically applied at checkout).
Now go give your special mutt some love!!!
