I started National Newfoundland Dog Day in 2021 as a fun way to have a day dedicated to celebrating our wonderful breed. Little did I know it would catch on as fast as it did and become a holiday celebrated by Newfie lovers around the world in such a short time.
In 2023, I was updating the site as National Newfoundland Day Dog rolled around and wasn’t able to share about the holiday like I wanted to. I did post on my Facebook page, but who is redirected to Facebook after doing a Google search for something like this?
So instead of the original post about declaring the day a holiday, I figured I would make a page giving everyone some more details on the holiday.
Why March 25?
Our very first Newfie, Jenny, was born on March 25, 2000. To me, it seemed very appropriate to use her birthday to celebrate the breed.
About Jenny
Jenny was the start of it all.
She was born on this day 24 years ago and at the time, we didn’t know just how much having her would change our lives.
Jenny was the perfect Newfie in every way. When she was a puppy we lived on a lake in northern Minnesota. She would go on boat rides and swim with us at the sand bar. She would pull us using the rope hanging down on the tire swing. She would go on bike rides with us after school and was mistaken for a black bear at least once as she came barreling out of the woods to keep up with us.
Later when we moved to the river in Mighican she would go with us on hikes through the woods and play with my sister and I down by the river, always keeping a watchful eye over us.
In 2002, Jenny had her first litter and we kept her daughter. It wasn’t long after that a car swerved over the center line in the road to hit her while we were on our nightly walk and sped off. We rushed her to the vet, but the injuries were too severe.
Twenty-four years later, Jenny continues to live on, not only in our hearts and through National Newfoundland Dog Day, but in her descendants. My little girl that will be the foundation girl of my own breeding program is Jenny’s 4x great-granddaughter and I’m happy that a part of her continues to live on.
I’m still looking for some photos of her since the house burned down, most of the photos from back then burned with it. But there are a few places where we have photos stored I’m hoping to find some.
How to Celebrate National Newfoundland Dog Day
There are so many different ways to celebrate the holiday with your Newfie. But my favorite way is to just spend the day with Olaf and give him a few treats.
In reality, he doesn’t know that the day is any different from the previous or next day.
The easiest way to celebrate National Newfoundland Dog Day is to spend time with your Newfie. I promise they will love it just as much as you.
National Newfoundland Dog Day Timeline
2021 – The first year of the holiday
2022 – A few brands and businesses celebrated the holiday, but it was still largely unknown
2023 – A huge amount of Newfie owners heard about the holiday for the first time and started celebrating
2024 – The amount of Newfie lovers celebrating the holiday worldwide was incredible to see. As I scrolled through my social media feeds, almost every single post from the Newfie people had a mention of the holiday whether they used the hashtag #NationalNewfoundlandDogDay or not.
National Newfoundland Dog Day Posts on Love Newfoundlands
March 2024 – 10 Ways to Celebrate National Newfoundland Dog Day
April 2021 – The First National Newfoundland Dog Day