Is National Puppy Day a public holiday?

No. It is an unofficial awareness day, not a federal or public holiday, so banks, schools, and offices stay open.

Is National Puppy Day the same as National Dog Day?

No. National Puppy Day is March 23 and focuses on puppies and adoption, while National Dog Day is August 26 and celebrates dogs of all ages. The same founder, Colleen Paige, created both.

Who started National Puppy Day?

Animal behaviorist and author Colleen Paige founded it in 2006 to promote shelter adoption and raise awareness about puppy mills.

How do you celebrate National Puppy Day?

People adopt or sponsor shelter puppies, volunteer, donate supplies, and share adoptable dogs online to help them find homes.

What is the point of National Puppy Day?

It encourages adopting puppies from shelters and rescues rather than buying from pet stores supplied by puppy mills, while celebrating puppies themselves.

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National Puppy Day

An appreciation day on March 23 celebrating puppies while promoting shelter adoption and raising awareness about puppy mills and pet overpopulation.

Tuesday

March 2027

Last updated March 23, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar Team

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YEARLY DATEMarch 23

OBSERVED INUnited States

CATEGORYAnimals

SUBCATEGORYDogs

ORIGIN

Individual Initiative

FOUNDING ENTITY

Colleen Paige

FIRST OBSERVED

2006

“Colleen Paige launched the day in 2006, two years after starting National Dog Day, to steer demand away from puppy mills.

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

One advocate's answer to the shelter and the pet-store window.

Pet lifestyle expert, animal behaviorist, and author Colleen Paige founded National Puppy Day in 2006 to promote the adoption of shelter puppies and raise awareness about puppy mills. She had created National Dog Day in 2004 and later founded National Cat Day.

Read the Founder's Lettervia web.archive.org

INTRO

The gap a puppy holiday was built to close

PHOTO

Each year about 2.8 million dogs enter US shelters, and fewer leave adopted than arrive. That gap is the whole reason National Puppy Day exists.

The photos of floppy-eared eight-week-olds are the easy part. The harder part is what happens to the puppies nobody posts.

The day asks a blunt question of anyone about to get a dog. Adopt one that is already waiting, or buy one from a supply chain that keeps the shelters full.

ORIGINS

Puppy Day history

INTRODUCTION

The case for the holiday is easiest to hear in the voice of the woman who built it. In her letter to supporters, founder Colleen Paige writes that every dog she has had, "from childhood to present, has been adopted," and that she will never buy a puppy while millions sit alone in shelters.

She signs that letter beside a photo of her rescue dog, Sailor, whom she adopted as a puppy. The argument is personal before it is statistical.

CHAPTER 01

The advocate behind the calendar

Paige is an animal behaviorist, photographer, and author of "The Good Behavior Book for Dogs." She had already invented the format two years earlier, founding National Dog Day in 2004.

Dog Day celebrated dogs of every age. Puppy Day, which she launched on March 23 in 2006, narrowed the lens to the animals most likely to be bought on impulse and surrendered just as fast.

CHAPTER 02

From a calendar entry to a campaign

The timing was deliberate. Puppies are the product a pet store sells, so a day built to question that purchase was aimed straight at the point of sale.

The message traveled. An official National Puppy Day account appeared on Twitter in 2012, and the hashtag turned a single advocate's idea into an internationally recognized observance. Paige went on to found National Cat Day, National Pet Day, and others, and to start the nonprofit Animal Miracle Foundation and Network.

The cause she named has since reached statute books. New York's law banning retail pet-store sales of dogs grew out of the same fight she put on the calendar in 2006.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Puppy Day

SCALE

10,000 puppy mills, fewer than 3,000 of them regulated.

An estimated 10,000 puppy mills operate in the United States, and fewer than 3,000 of them are regulated by the USDA. The day points its audience at that gap between how many breeders exist and how few are watched.

LAW

It feeds real legislation

New York's Puppy Mill Pipeline Act, signed in 2022, took effect in December 2024 and bars pet stores from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits. The annual attention the day generates is part of how adopt-don't-shop moved from slogan to state law.

TIMING

It hits the buyer at the decision

Puppies are the impulse purchase at the heart of the pet trade, and a day aimed at them lands before a family commits. That is why the founder built it around adoption as the first choice rather than a last resort.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Puppy Day by the Numbers

2.8M: Dogs into shelters
~2M: Dogs adopted
320K: Dogs euthanized in 2025
42.6%: US homes with a dog
87.3M: Dogs in the US

TIMELINE

Timeline

Paige founds National Dog Day

Animal behaviorist Colleen Paige creates her first pet appreciation holiday, National Dog Day, on August 26.

National Puppy Day begins

Paige founds National Puppy Day on March 23 to promote shelter adoption and confront puppy mills.

The day goes social

An official National Puppy Day account launches on Twitter, spreading the observance internationally through its hashtag.

A pet holiday reaches the statehouse

The New York State Legislature formally recognizes Paige's National Dog Day, a sign of how far her pet observances had traveled.

New York signs a pet-sale ban

Governor Kathy Hochul signs the Puppy Mill Pipeline Act, targeting the commercial breeding pipeline the day campaigns against.

New York's ban takes effect

The law banning retail pet-store sales of dogs, cats, and rabbits becomes enforceable across the state in December.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Puppy Day

Adopt a puppy from a shelter or rescue

Search adoptable dogs near you on Petfinder, which lists animals from thousands of shelters and rescue groups. Many shelters run adoption events on March 23.

VOLUNTEER

Volunteer at a local shelter

Shelters depend on people to walk, socialize, and photograph dogs waiting for homes. Call ahead and offer a few hours during the week of the day.

DONATE

Donate supplies a shelter actually needs

Most shelters keep public wish lists for items like blankets, leashes, and puppy food. Check the list before you shop so your gift fills a real gap.

CHOOSE

Choose adoption before a breeder

If you want a specific breed, look first at a breed-specific rescue rather than a pet store. The founder's own guidance is to adopt first and vet any breeder carefully.

Share a shelter puppy, not just yours

Post an adoptable dog with the National Puppy Day hashtag instead of only your own pet. A single share can put an overlooked puppy in front of its future family.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Puppy Day?

1 / 8

Who founded National Puppy Day?

Answer

National Puppy Day is observed every year on March 23 in the United States.

Related holidays

TUE

Jul 2026

Awareness

No Pet Store Puppies Day

It's time to make a difference and say no to pet store puppies. Let's give shelter animals the love and forever homes they deserve on No Pet Store Puppies Day!

National Puppy Mill Survivor Day

Honor the resilience of puppy mill survivors on National Puppy Mill Survivor Day by supporting rescue organizations and spreading awareness to end this cruel industry.

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SAT

Sep 2026