Happy National Pet Day!
National Pet Day was founded in 2006 by Pet & Family Lifestyle Expert, Animal Welfare Advocate Colleen Paige, to celebrate the joy pets bring to our lives and to create public awareness about the plight of many different kinds of animals awaiting a forever home in shelters and rescues all around the globe.
Gracie says here are a few ways to Celebrate National Pet Day. . .
🐾 Adopt a pet from your local shelter or pure breed rescue organization.
🐾 Volunteer at your local shelter.
🐾 Donate blankets, food and toys to an animal shelter.
🐾 Assist an elderly or sick neighbor or friend with a dog walk, vet visit or with purchasing food or items for their pets.
🐾 Buy your pet a fun new toy. . .or twelve.
🐾 Make your dog a treat.
Star-Spangled Frozen Berry Dog Treats
Easy and healthy frozen treats for your dog to celebrate the Red, White & Blueberry
Freekibble and Freekibble Kat were launched in 2008, as the vision of then 11 year-old, Mimi Ausland. Mimi wanted to feed the hungry dogs and cats at her local shelter. “There are 10’s of thousands of dogs and cats in animal shelters across the country, all needing to be fed a good meal.” With this goal in mind, Freekibble was created.
{Click on the badge above and help feed shelter dogs and cats for free!}
Today, the Freekibble Network reaches over 500,000 passionate pet-lovers. This loyal community has helped feed over 21 million nutritious meals to homeless dogs and cats in shelters, rescues and food-banks across the country.
Gracie is never very far away and always checking to see where I am or what I’m doing instead of just snoozing in her chair since we lost Chloe.
We’re just starting to think about finding another dog. We would prefer a non shedding dog and prefer a female. I just started a search at Petfinder.
There are 6 pages of female puppies waiting for adoption within 100 miles of us. That doesn’t include male, adult or senior dogs in need of a home.
Gracie says she thinks the search might be daunting and tiresome. ;) We’d love to know about your pet and whether you adopted or rescued.
Follow along on my Must Love Dogs board on Pinterest.
Happy National Pet Day!
Thank you for your visit!
In August we lost our Shepard mix of almost 14 years. I was devastated. At first i didn’t think i could get another dog, but then i knew I had to get one right away. In December we adopted a 6 year old lab mix from a local shelter. We have cats and we were told she was good with cats. I was a little worried that being 6, she might have behavior problems. She has turned out to be the perfect pet all around. She is truly wonderful. Good luck with adopting – Adopt don’t Shop!
Hi Daisy, Bless you for considering an older dog. An older dog has less chances of being adopted. Have a wonderful day!
Mary, Thank you for this beautiful post! WE love our Bichon Chester so much, and we talk about how lucky we are on this National Pet Day!
Beautiful post today. Thank you.
We had to have our rescue dog of 9 years put to sleep about the same time you lost Chloe. She was 5ish when we got her and the greatest dog ever! By some of her responses we knew she had been abused, and could never understand how such a loving dog could ever have that happen. Good luck with your search, we haven’t started yet, but have a great resource here in central New York for finding the perfect rescue. There is nothing like them.
I shared your post on FB….Trying to spread the word!
I lost my first dog after 11 years. I didn’t think I could go through that loss again and so didn’t get another dog for many years. Now I have two wonderful dogs who are ten years old. They have been such a blessing. I know our time together is short but I wish I had not waited so long to adopt again. Happy National Pet Day!
What a great post! We have rescued dogs and adopted dogs. Right now we have a dog a cat and a rabbit. Our fur babies.
Thank you for looking to rescue for your next furry friend. I run a rescue in Southern California and there are so many dogs waiting to find their forever home. People don’t always realize there is a rescue organization for every breed out there. Good luck and I know the next dog you choose to be a part of your family will be one lucky dog! #rescueworks
Hi Mary,
We lost the last of our 3 dogs last November. All three dogs were gone within a year and a half. Two were 13 and one was 11.
It’s so devastating to go through and I swore up and down that I couldn’t go through it again.
It’s so quiet in my house now and I miss the happy face to greet me so———-
I too am searching on petfinder and adopt a dog for a new puppy. It’s eye opening when you see how many there are waiting for homes.
It’s so sad to see their little faces it breaks my heart. We’re hoping to find one by summer. I felt so bad when I read about your Chloe because you see the last dog we lost was our Chloe and I am tearing up as I write this. Good luck to you in your search and thank you!
Melanie
I found my dog Penny on Petfinder. My boss at the time forwarded me the link right after I lost my sheltie and even though I thought it was too quick to think about another dog, my family and I just didn’t feel complete without a four-legged family member. I was immediately drawn to a puppy and made contact with the shelter via email.She was just rescued from a high kill shelter in Georgia (we are in CT) and as fate would have it, she was going to be brought in to the Petsmart where my sister worked at the time in CT!! I didn’t even know where in the country this shelter was located and turns out it was about 15 miles from us! She’s been the best pup ever and we have been blessed with her for almost 12 years (her 12th birthday is April 24th 😃). ❤️
All of our dogs have been strays that wandered up to our house or ‘found’ abandoned somewhere in the wilderness (2 were found on the Appalachian Trail as tiny puppies). Each and every one has been a blessing to our family.
I still love my mini poodle , now deaf, blind, and dementia, even though my floors are now ruined,
I try to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.[http://graphics.hotmail.com/i.p.emsmile.gif]
________________________________
Happy National Pet Day!! You’re wonderful!
Mary, Thank you for a great post. Our rescue Pugasso-Pug and Lhasa- just turned four last Sunday. It’s been two years since he came to live with us. He’s just blossomed and we’re so grateful for that. Pudgy loves us as much as we love him. Today he greets other dogs with a tail wag instead of a growl. But it’s still woe to the chipmunks! CNY has many great rescue services with so many devoted volunteers. We too started with Petfinder. thanks again!
Hi Gracie, you are very photogenic and beautiful. My name is Sophie and my my mom adopted me. I lived with another family for four years but they couldn’t take care of me any longer. I’ve been with my new mom for five years and like your mom she is so very good to me. I have a wonderful life and I’m very, very happy. My mom also loves decorating and I help her as much as I can. We were very sorry to hear about your sister, Chloe, but we know she was also loved very much. Enjoy National Pet Day and I hope to talk with you again soon. 💕🐾
Thank you for this beautiful post. I’ll give my dog Jack a big hello from you. He’s a Standard Poodle — a big one — and even though I bought him, I rescued him from an uncaring breeder 11 years ago. I responded to an ad and when I met him I knew I had to give him a loving home. He was the runt of the litter — and not show quality — so he was treated badly and ignored in a kennel for too many hours at a time. It took a long time to convince him that he was wanted and loved — and he’s a wonderful dog. Grew to be 27 ” at shoulder height and has a delightful sense of humor. I named him after CS Lewis, the author whose nickname was Jack. My grandchildren tried to teach him to read — and I have cute pictures of him sitting on the sofa beside them looking at each page attentively. Pets bring us so much joy and love — thank you for the reminder that this is National Pet Day.
I just spent way too much time on petfinder. So much fuzzy love!
We have rescued all of our pets for 30 years now! From the SPCA, the side of the road and even the Target parking lot :) Thank you for reminding me of Freekibble, I go to the Animal Rescue Site every day and I’ll add Freekibble also. Happy National Pet Day to you all!!
We just lost our precious Cocker Spaniel Sophie on March 6 this year. We found her on PetFinder at East Mississippi Animal Rescue. We were blessed to have her for 9 wonderful years. Sam and Scarlett, my 2 other rescue cockers 14 and 6 and I miss her every day. Rescues are the best. Somehow they know they have been saved.
In September 2010 our toy poodle, Louie, passed suddenly. He had been a rescue that came to us (my husband and I) through out Vet and we had him for nine years. After two months of Louie’s passing I was still grieving so badly I knew I had to do something.so I went online to check if any toy poodles were available at our local shelter. There were no toy poodles listed but there was a link to Petfinder.com at the shelter web page. After putting in my zip code and the type of dog I was looking for (toy poodle)…Soapy appeared on the first page. He was being fostered in a city over an hour away but the foster parent (associated with Animal Placement Bureau – a rescue group) came to our town once a month to show dogs for adoption at our local Petco. So on her next trip she brought Soapy and we were given the afternoon to have him in our home to see what we thought about him. We felt very good about him even though he supposedly was about five years old and had not been house-trained. Soapy had been given back a couple times from other potential adopting people for this reason. This was not an issue for us. Animal Placement Bureau has some strict requirements for adoption and we passed on all accounts so by the end of the day Soapy was ours to keep. What a delight and joy Soapy is to us…and we trained him to go outside for his business!
I wish you all the best in your search for your special new pet member to your loving family and home…the right one is waiting for you! Can’t wait to meet her via your blog!
Hello, Gracie! You are as adorable as ever! Sadie just returned from the groomer, so she is fluffed and buffed for National Pet’s Day. She needs a pretty flower filled setting for some National Pet Day photos. Everything is covered with pollen here, so a flower photo shoot isn’t likely to happen today. Yes, Sadie is a rescue. She and her parents and a sibling were all surrendered to the local Humane Society. Then Wee Rescue came to the rescue, found this family fosters, and offered each for adoption. We were the lucky ones to have Sadie come home with us. We definietly won the lottery!!!. Happy National Pet Day, Gracie. We send you lots of love!
Sweet girl💗🐾💕, how lucky she is to be loved by you.
I lost my little Raleigh, a 13 year old Maltese, on
Easter Sunday from heart failure. I’m having a
Very rough time accepting he is really gone.
Everyone who has a fur babe, please run and
Hug and kiss it because that’s what I would be
Doing now.
So happy that you are considering adopting from a shelter. I walk the pups at our local shelter, there are so many great dogs there just waiting for you to find them! Can’t wait to hear about that happy tail!
I, also, have 2 bichons!…and have loved following Chloe and Gracie and all their antics…both of mine were rescued from puppy mills and adopted through the most wonderful rescue group…http://www.smallpawsrescue.org/…I can not say enough good things about this group…i discovered them fifteen years ago after the loss of a basset…I definitely think that you would enjoy reading about the group, the work that they do and all the wonderful rescue stories.
What a sweet post, Mary, and I loved seeing Gracie, and finding out that you’re thinking about another pup. I don’t have a dog now, but we had a cocker spaniel, named Rocky, when my kids were growing up. My daughter has two dogs (just got a puppy for the kids for Easter), and my youngest son has a dog, which they love. I get to see my fair share! Good luck in your search for a friend for Gracie.
We have 2 rescue dogs one a golden lab Randy and the other a Yorkshire mix.named Scruffy Widget. They are like our children and well worth the extra work. My daughter is involved in a Rescue here in N.C. and last week she brought over a 10 month old puppy for us to foster for a couple of weeks. What fun ,but just like having a a new baby in the house. Little Liam will have no trouble finding a forever home but some of the older rescues need homes too. Anyone looking for a new pet go to the rescues first. You won’t regret it.
We had to put down our little 10 year old Maltese. For two years we said No more dogs (we are both in our early 80s). Then our humane society had a special adoption day for dogs rescued from a puppy mill and we decided to try again. We arrived a little late and the lines were long, but we found a wonderful new friend. At least 100 families had turned this adorable little two year old “schnoodle” down because he was missing his right rear foot. As an old RN, used to imperfections, that did not bother me at all and it was love at first sight. The volunteers thought it was caused by inbreeding, but he did not know he had a problem, and runs and jumps as well as any dog. He brings a huge amount of joy to our lives!
Sweet Gracie, I was wondering how she’s doing. A neighbor couple of ours recently got a teddy bear, dog, have you heard of that breed? A cross between a bichon and shih tzu. Adorable! Can’t wait till Gracie has a forever playmate.
Hello Mary,
We wanted to get in touch with you to talk about doing another collaboration for the spring! We were unable to find contact information from the previous collaboration we did with you. If you are interested, please contact us at corporate@lynchcreekfarm.com. Thanks so much!
Lynch Creek Farm
We had a stray for 13 years, still miss her. My children and now my grandkids have adopted all their dogs, purebreds and mixed breeds. They are so happy with their dogs and it is true,the dogs seem to know how lucky they are to get good homes.
Mary, so happy to see Gracie. I can see she is staying very close to you. Thank you for bringing attention to such an important topic. Hopefully, Gracie will have a new friend soon. I don’t have a dog now. My daughter adopted a dog from Brother Wolf. His name is Bentley and he goes to all the regattas with us. He is a wonderful pet.
I have two beautiful Golden Retrievers. One I bought from a breeder and the other one was two when I got him. They were just giving him away. I had another one that passed away last year. He was two also and they were giving him away too. We had him for four years when he passed away….a very young six year old. I still miss him so much. But these two are loved and make me laugh every day. Such a blessing knowing that one day we will see all of our beloved animal babies again …..yes there will be animals in Heaven.
Aw, very sweet! Enjoy the search for a [four legged] companion for Gracie:@)
Oh Mary, I am tearing up reading this…I was wondering if you were going to get Gracie a new pal…I do my free kibble clicking and donating every day, such an incredible cause. The dog that comes home with you will be one lucky dog indeed!
I was wondering how Gracie was doing without Chloe. Bless her heart.
We had two dogs. We lost D’beaux, 13 years,a German Pincher, September 2017. He had many health issues…diabetic, blind, cancers. Such a sweet baby. Then in January of 2018 we lost Tilly, alos 13 and a jack-rat. Unexpected and very sad to lose our girl. We are dog lovers and hope to get another dog some day.
I enjoyed your Pinterest page, Must Love Dogs. I love the doggie plates from Anthropology. I actually have six of them.
Hello and thank you for this post! I have been thinking about you a lot lately and what you have been going through. We just found out our little Miniature Schnauzer has cancer and not much longer to be with us, so we are doing everything we can to make this time with her as enjoyable as possible and taking each day as it comes. She is 11 and a half and has been a wonderful dog! I can’t imagine our life without her! It is always a great heartache when they pass! Schnauzers do not shed so you might want to consider one and they are similar in size to Gracie. I am 52 and when we loose her it will be the first time I am without a dog since I was 8. All of our dogs have been wonderful blessings and still greatly missed, each one! We’ve had Pekingnese, German Shepherd, Australian Shepherd, and now a Schnauzer. All great dogs! The Australian Shepherd I found living on the streets in bad shape – hungry (you could see her ribs) full of ticks and fleas, infected bite wounds on her neck, and when I took her to the vet, she had heartworms too. I did not plan to keep her, hoped a friend would want to keep her, we already had the German Shepherd, but we fell in love with her! Once she was cleaned up and treated for the heartworms and we gained her trust (it was obvious she had been abused) she turned out to be a wonderful addition to our family! We had her for 14 years. And I agree, they know when they have been rescued and they love you all the more for saving them! I loved the quote you shared from Rev. Billy Graham and that has been giving me comfort as we prepare ourselves for what is to come so thank you so much for sharing that! And I’m sure before too long afterwards, we will want to open our aching hearts up to love another sweet fur baby or two once again. So thank you for sharing those resources.
We rescued our Maltese/? from the local city animal shelter. He was only 4 mos old and had been found in a field. Cannot believe someone had not moved heaven and earth to find him. Sweetest dog in the universe LOL. All of my pets have been rescue animals. They need caring forever homes more than anything else.
What a wonderful post…everytime I see Gracie I can’t help but think of Chole..and how Gracie must miss her..we lost our little poodle of 16 years about 5 years ago!! I still don’t have the urge for another…that little dog was our everything and I’m still comparing her to others..I’m still not ready for another one! Maybe someday…but I love yours…❤️🥀🐩🐕🐾
As I sit here and read your post with a heavy heart because of Chloe, I smile with love for Gracie! So precious. My sophiejane is 18 1/2 and now deaf and blind. Tonite has been a rough one. Her stress levels are off the charts and she can’t get comfy. Which puts my stress level a whole lotta crazy. Don’t know what I’m going to do without her. She is my very best friend. Seriously.
But her tail still wags when I kiss and cuddle her so that makes me happy for now…
Hi JMac, I feel for you, tears…SophieJane knows that you have done your best. Have a good day!
A beautiful post!
Gracie is adorable!
My friend fosters dogs. Her last foster came to her pregnant. She ended up helping the sweet foster birth 3 adorable puppies! I feel that is a special love that she gave to all the precious pups that came into her home!
Happy Pets Day sweet Gracie!
I highly recommend LKN Animal rescue. That is where we found our Emmy. They rescued her from the shelter in CLT.
Both of our puppers are rescues. Bella Mae is a Coton De Tulear- she was a breeders dog. While her breeder was immaculate and loving, Bella Mae lived 5 1/2 years in a cage. She never had a viable litter despite several surgeries. When she came to us she was depressed having lost her last litter- we had her spayed once she was able. She didn’t know what a toy or a cookie was. She didn’t want to eat. She would follow what our deaf 1 year old Persian kitty would do and would eat her food so little by little we were able to wean her off of kitty food onto her own food. 4 years later we adopted our Pug, Rudy through Compassionate Pug Rescues in Florida. He had been found on the streets of Miami during rainy season… starved, limping, every parasite know to man. While with animal control he developed kennel cough and had never been neutered. We don’t know how old he is for sure, but close to Bell’s age. One Rudy came to live with us Bella became a new dog. She learned to play, run and while she is still a little jealous (Rudy is a mommy’s boy) they are a sweet team. Now Bella is 13 and Rudy also shows signs of being similar in age so they have slowed down some. I love being at home curled up with these my babies. P.S. Our Bella looks very much like your Gracie. We keep her trimmed by looked like a 10 pound old English sheepdog when her hair (yes, hair- not fur)is grown out. Like a little girl- her hair mats and knots wasily. Happy Pet’s Day
Mary, what a lovely post! Gracie is not camera shy and I know she is a wonderful companion. We currently don’t have a sweet pet, but I so want one.
We lost our sweet Casper 2 years ago. He was a mix of sheperd and chow. He was one of a litter that a mama dog had that showed up at a friends cabinet shop. All the puppies were adopted out and then the mama dog disappeared. We had our sweet Casper for almost 16 years and we still miss him. We want another dog but not at this time since we are gone from home a lot right now. Someday though and it will be another rescue!
Hi Mary, I adopted a two year old male goldendoodle on May 1, 2011 and I was told I was the six person to have him in just that two years of his life. We went through numerous classes and “Lucky” is now a therapy dog and we visit at a local elementary school once a week. Lucky got his name from a 6 year old grandson of mine who said, “your dog is lucky to have a new home, so you should name him Lucky.” Seemed like a good idea to me!
Hi Mary,
I’ve been wondering about Gracie and I’m happy to see her cute little face. She seems like she is still a bit confused and worried and I’m sure you wish you could explain all to her. Yesterday we said good-bye to my sister’s old dog, the sweetest german shepherd rescue ever. My sis has rescued and fostered dozens of dogs (and cats too!) over the years, and this was one of two who came to stay forever. Both of her own adopted dogs were bred for show, then rejected because they were not up to show standards in one way or another. Very sad.
She is devastated right now so I can’t ask her about shelter adoptions, but from past discussions with her I know that some shelters will do a thorough screening of you and the inhabitants of your house (pets included), others don’t, and be sure to find out the health history of the dog. There are so many with medical and behavioral issues in the shelters and extra heaven points go to the people who are willing and able, but it can be difficult and expensive and many of those end up back in the shelter. I know you are a loving and attentive family with your pets. A troubled dog might be hard on Gracie, or it might help her! We never know!
Well, those are just my thoughts based on watching my sis and her shelter animals. We love them all and they keep her very busy. We gave her almost all of Nellie’s things, beds, crate, dishes, leashes, toys, to help and if we ever decide to find another dog we will definitely go to a shelter or rescue group.
I wish you luck in finding the newest addition to your family and look forward to hearing more!
Linda
Bonjour,
Trop touchant ce post…..J’avais une cahtte toute grise..elle était magnifique et très câline….mais elle n’est plus de ce monde et elle me manque beaucoup. :-( Je sais combine ces petites bêtes comptent pour nous et prennent énormément de place dans nos coeurs.
In June of 2010 I was sitting on our front porch and my neighbor walked down our street with her 2 wonderful German Shepherds and a new beautiful black dog that immediately caught my attention. I called to her and found out that this black beauty with such a sweet face and gorgeous flouncey long fur, was found by another neighbor down the street, an apparent drop off and Lynn rescued him. I called to my husband who was in the garage to come and see him and when he stood by the dog and petted him, the dog leaned into him and whimpered and of course it was love at first site. The bond between these two was instant. Lynn contacted every vet and put a “found” ad in the paper, but no one claimed him. It took about a week for me to agree for him to come to our home as I knew a doggie would be very different than having kitties, but it was apparent my husband was totally in love and I was smitten too. Wherever we go, when he is with us, everyone has to pet him and ask what kind of a dog he is. We finally had his mouth swabbed and tested to discover his DNA says he is Cocker Spaniel, Black Lab mix witha bit of Retriever and the vet felt he was about a year old when we rescued him. Buddy is a joy and the sweetheart of the neighborhood, our fur-baby for sure!
P.s. I love Gracie’s sweet little face and it melts my heart that she follows you. It will probably be good for her to have a friend to ease her grief. Can’t wait to see your new baby!
What a wonderful pos. We lost our beautiful golden lab/viszla mix a couple of years ago due to age. It was the hardest decision we ever had to make. I just clicked on your petfinder link and found a lab/viszla puppy. Now the adoption process begins.
Oh how I love this post Mary…..we are not pet owners as our travel schedule is not conducive to having a pet. However, we have so enjoyed our granddogs. They were so amazing and we loved dog sitting. We have since lost them both..they were such a happy guys and lived a long life. One was from a litter of puppies from a friend and the other was a rescue. The sweetest, sweetest dog with fur like a mink coat…My son struggles in his decision to get another dog. The first time he has not had a fur baby in many years. My granddaughter is campaigning for another dog … a rescue…and so is her grandmother!! Good luck on your search Mary!
Your Gracie is so sweet, I am getting a Golden Retriever from a friend can’t wait will be good company for me. We had our dog put down about 3 years ago, so hard.
I made your fruit salad with the orange dressing for our Easter dinner. Linked back to your blog for the recipe, it was delicious, will be using the dressing a lot this summer with fresh fruit!!
Good luck searching for a new puppy!
Cheryl
So sweet, I still tear up at your loss, the dynamic duo is forever imprinted in my heart, the three of you shared so much joy. Excited for your furry future.
Beautiful post
I am new to your blog but am hooked. In love with your dogs and am confused. At first there was Gracie and Cloe. Then you lost Gracie. Which one … Lola or ?? … came next. In one blog there is three. Did you later lose Cloe? My heart breaks for you. They are all so much a part of your blogs. Love seeing them and your wonderful tables and “how tos”. When did you begin so I can go back and save them all.
Hi Anne and Welcome! We lost Chloe in 2018: https://homeiswheretheboatis.net/2018/02/19/saying-goodbye-to-the-dog-of-my-heart/ and Gracie in 2019: https://homeiswheretheboatis.net/2019/03/27/dogs-lives-are-too-short/. We found Lola in August of 2018 and got Sophie in August of 2019. https://homeiswheretheboatis.net/2019/08/09/meet-lolas-sister-sophie-%f0%9f%90%be/