Yakima Celebrates National Dog Day! Here’s A Special Pup Story

Well, happy International Dog Day, everyone! A fun and furry holiday that was created in 2004 for us to honor and give a little extra to “Man’s Best Friend”. How will you be celebrating? Read about my pooches below and then use the station app and let me see your pet pal!

Rusty, One Of The Best Dogs Ever!

I’ve had several dogs in my life. Some technically belonged to my grandparents or my father (now that I’m not living with him anymore), but I still love and treat them like they’re my own.

3 Dogs

When it comes to dogs that I can TECHNICALLY claim as my own (or at least co-ownership with my brother or my wife), there have been 5. Sadly, the only one that is still with us is Rusty, and if you’ve read any of my other pet articles, you’ve most likely seen him.

Rusty came into my life while I was DJing a wedding reception up past Naches at Jim Sprick Park. He was running around with a golden retriever, and I was sitting at a picnic table. He came running up and jumped into my arms and started licking my face.

fluffy white dog running in the grass.

His owners came up to me and apologized. I laughed and told them not to worry and that I’d trade 2 cats for him. NOTE: My ex-girlfriend had moved out and left me with her 2 cats. I like cats, but I’m not a cat lover, so the cats stayed with me during the separation. I wasn’t actively looking for a new home for them, but it was a recurring joke.

READ MORE: Yakima Humane Society Could Use Some Walking Buddies!

They laughed at my joke and said no thank you, BUT, they were looking for a good home for my new best friend. I took a picture, told my wife of 4 months (at the time), and boom, we now had a new member of our family.

dog on a bed wearing a purple shirt

Over 13 years later, Rusty is 15, has some health issues (thank you to Summitview Cowiche Veterinary Clinic for keeping him healthy) but still gets the zoomies and runs around like a maniac, and I can’t imagine the past decade without him. Those memories and love are what National Dog Day is all about.

dog in a t-shirt.

How will you celebrate today with your fuzzy friend? Take a walk, give a pet, rub a belly, hop in a pool (like Yakima did last weekend), or just drop some food? Tap the App and let us know, and enjoy this great comedy bit from Kyle Kinane about his love of dogs (NSFW). Happy National Dog Day!