Ways to celebrate Dress Up Your Pet Day, support pet adoption, and help local animal welfare organizations.

Did you know January 14 is Dress Up Your Pet Day? And while it sounds like a whimsical day to have fun with your favorite furry friend, it’s much more than that.

Dress Up Your Pet Day was founded by Colleen Paige, a celebrity pet lifestyle expert and animal advocate. The annual event is meant to be a fun day that not only gives pets special attention, but also helps promote pet adoption.

“The one thing that I feel important to note is that as silly as this day may seem to some, all of my holidays have the underlying goal to help save lives and give homeless animals as much exposure as possible,” says Paige on the official Dress Up Your Pet Day website.

Our team at the Good Dog Hotel & Spa in Broad Ripple loves to have fun, but we take pet adoption and animal advocacy very seriously. That’s why, in the spirit of this special day, we are passing on some of Paige’s suggestions for celebrating. In addition, we’d love for you to share any photos you have of your pet all dressed up, as well as your adoption stories!

Dress Up Your Pet Day Celebration Ideas

1. Adopt a pet from your local shelter or rescue. There are more than just dogs and cats that need homes, pets such as bunnies, guinea pigs, hamsters, birds and farm animals need forever homes too.

2. Dress your pet in a comfortable and safe costume or cute clothing and take photos to share online. You can actually bring happiness to strangers through your beloved pet. Tag #DressUpYourPetDay and post on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

3. Donate blankets, food and toys to animal welfare organizations in honor of your pet.

4. Volunteer at your local shelter and offer to play with some dogs or cats available for adoption, clean cages, litter boxes, large animal stalls or anything else they need help with.

5. Write your Congressman and ask that he/she support the ban of puppy/kitten mills and gas chambers in your state.

6. Hire a professional photographer to do a photo shoot of your pet(s) in a special outfit or costume.

7. Have a Dress Up Your Pet Day party and invite your friends to bring their dogs. Take lots of photos!

8. Film your pet prancing around in fun attire and post it on social media with the tag #DressUpYourPetDay.

9. Paint your face up as your favorite kind of pet, wear kitty ears, bake animal shaped cookies for your kids, or dress in pet-related fashion.

10. Get the kids and pets together and have a neighborhood “Pets on Parade.”

SHARE YOUR PHOTOS AND STORIES

When’s the last time you dressed up your pet? We want to see your photos! And if you have pet adoption stories to share, we’re all ears. Post them here, or hop over to our Facebook page and share them with all our followers. To find out more about Dress Up You Pet Day, click here.