Celebrating National Mutt Day

Amidst the plethora of much-loved purebred pooches is another group we love just as much - mutts! Whether you choose to call them mutts, mixed breeds, or something else entirely, National Mutt Day is a chance to celebrate them all. Learn more about National Mutt Day, including how you can celebrate this special awareness day and the origins of the word 'mutt', right here.

What is National Mutt Day?

We celebrate National Mutt Day twice a year - once on July 31st and once on December 2nd and frankly, we could even go for a third day! Whilst there are countless awareness days that are just for fun, this day has real meaning behind it and it's all about making a difference. In addition to celebrating the unique personalities and appearances of mixed breeds, this day is also a way to raise awareness about the many mixed breed dogs currently in shelters who are waiting for loving homes. 

National Mutt Day is an opportunity to give your Mutt butt extra pats, treats, love, and overall spoil them silly! But even more important, it’s a day to highlight all of those mutt butts out there right now in shelters who don’t have a person of their own to spoil them silly… yet.

Origins of the Word 'Mutt'

Much like the lovable underdogs that we celebrate today, the word 'mutt' wasn’t originally meant to inspire love and care. This word likely originated from the slang insult 'muttonhead', meaning a dull-witted person. Originally the word ‘mutt’ when referring to a dog took on the tone of the word when it was attributed to humans, in a derogatory sense. Nowadays the word is most commonly used to describe a dog of indiscernible or mixed breed.

Despite its original condescending tone, the word 'mutt' has been co-opted by the dog loving community as a term of endearment to just refer to any dog that isn’t a purebred.

Photo: @theerniegram

How to Celebrate National Mutt Day

Awareness days like National Mutt Day serve the dog-loving community by highlighting the countless numbers of mixed breed dogs that are still in shelters waiting to find their forever homes. More often than not, purebred dogs in shelters will be adopted faster either by pet owners looking for a ‘discounted’ purebred, or they’ll be sent to purebred shelters who have established reputations for rehoming dogs of a particular breed.

Here's how you can celebrate National Mutt Day:

Adopt a Mutt

If you're already thinking of adding a new pup to your family, visit your local animal shelter to see which mixed-breed dogs need a loving home.

Volunteer

Offer to spend some time volunteering at a local animal shelter. Your efforts will make a significant difference to the lives of these dogs waiting for their forever home.

Donate

If adopting or volunteering isn't possible at the moment, you could make a donation, whether it's offering financial help or a donation of something the rescue would benefit from, such as dog food, toys, old towels, and so on. Every single contribution is sure to be appreciated.

Share the Love

Share heartwarming stories, pictures, and videos of your mixed breed pup on social media to spread the word about National Mutt Day and the joy of adopting mixed breed dogs.

A mutt can be any mixed breed dog from countless shelter dogs who have found loving homes, to the biggest stars of the silver screen like Benji or Ol’ Yeller. Celebrate your mutt love on National Mutt Day by helping to raise awareness, considering adopting from a rescue, or helping out your local animal shelter. Show off your love for adopting pups with our Rescue/Foster Collection or wear your favorite Mixed Breed Collection design! To all the mutts out there - keep being uniquely pawesome!

Featured photo: @boopitsharper