Hug your canine companion, because today is National Dog Day! That's right, today is all about your fluffy, slobbery, bouncy, friendly dogs!
It doesn't matter if they're big or small, young or old, mixed or purebred, all humans are encouraged to treat their dogs to a tasty surprise or a mad dash around the house.
National Dog Day was founded by dog expert Colleen Paige in 2004 to bring awareness to rescue dogs from shelters and honor all great dogs in our lives, whether they're a well-loved part of the family or working dogs who put their lives on the line each day to protect us-- if that's not a good cause, we don't know what is!
We're honoring the real life dogs in our life too, but we also wanted to highlight some of our favorite fictional dogs from YA media! Here's what some of our furry friends might look like off-page.
Bear (The Downstairs Girl):
The loyal family dog of the Bell family, Bear is a proud Sheepdog. The book doesn't specify, but we guessed he'd be an Old English Sheepdog! Fun fact, Bear is a nickname-- his real name is actually Forbearance. What a name, huh?
Kirby (Elatsoe):
Kirby isn't technically a living dog, but he's too much of a sweetheart not to include here. This Springer Spaniel was the main character Ellie's childhood pet, and now stays with her as a ghost dog, playing with and protecting her in equal measure. His favorite new trick is a ghostly howl!
Nellie Nelson (Heartstopper):
Nellie is the oldest dog on this list at 11 years old-- that's around 65 in human years! This energetic Border Collie doesn't let her age stop her though, and is always a ball of joy to those around her. Nellie can usually be found with her toy penguin or younger brother Henry.
Henry Nelson (Heartstopper):
Henry is Nellie's adoptive brother and is a dapper young pug. Like his older sister he also has a toy he adores, "Mr. Carrot" the carrot.
Gather (Gather):
Gather is the prime example of man's best friend and shares a close bond with his teenage owner Ian. When unforeseen circumstances cause the two to go on the run, Gather remains loyal through it all. As a stray, no one knows exactly what Gather is (a running gag throughout the book), but the current guess is an Irish Wolfhound-Mastiff-Great Dane-Airedale mix.
Palm Tree (Charming as a Verb):
Palm Tree is an adorable Border Collie mix with a ton of love and puppy energy to share! This charming rascal is a delight to read about-- but no, her toy balls don't smell like coconuts. We wish!
Since August is almost done, we also wanted to share one of our favorite quotes about August with our readers. This one is from Jean Hersey, a famous garden writer for the magazine Women's Day.
From peaches to Dahlias, there are a lot of things to love about August. As summer draws to a close, we're thinking of our favorite memories of summer: from fireworks and beach days to bonfires and cherry picking, our summer was a great one. We hope yours was too!
Do you have any favorite memories at TADL? What about a family dog you adore? Send an email with the title "Teen Blog!" to teens@tadl.org with your favorite dog selfie and your favorite memory of 2025 by September 8th, and we'll feature any responses in our next teen blog!