On August 26, 2012 (National Dog Day) we celebrate Social Networking Dogs as Our Pups of the Week

Last night I learned that today was going to be National Dog Day.  I had no idea such a day existed, and I’m a dog.  My reaction was hop skippity about darn time.  I prepared myself for breakfast in bed, a day of presents, a cake, and greeting cards I could put on the mantle in the leopard skin vagina kitty condo.

I got none of that.  In fact I even had to work today.  Pocket and I were put in the Monster Buggy and supervised as the lawn was mowed and the garden was weeded.  But I guess National Dog Day isn’t about presents, cards, breakfast in bed or cake.  (Although it would have been nice and not required much effort.)  It’s about celebrating all of us, and recognizing that we are on this Earth to comfort our chosen parents, to make them laugh, smile, and to feel like they are the most important person in the world.

There have been other excellent blogs today (paws up to Crystal and her young Mom on National Dog Day and I don’t want to repeat them.)  They concentrate on the million of wonderful things we do (in fact a million is just scratching the surface, we have things we can do we haven’t even used yet.  I will give you a hint, if there is ever an alien invasion, follow our lead and you’ll be safe.

Today I would like to write about something you won’t hear many bloggers says about National Dog Day:  Dogs have inspired the best social network sites on the Internet.

So many of us talk fondly of the old days of DS.  It is easy to look back on something and think it was better than it is today.  But for those who started on DS when some little guy in Virginia had a million dollar idea (although it never turned into a big moneymaker) for a social network site for dogs.  I first learned about it when I read a blog.

The blog wrote how silly it was that there was now a social network site for dogs!  Thankfully they provided a link.  We signed up right away.  Even though many geniuses have created thousands of sites it is the people who frequent these sites that make them special.  So take that Zuckerberg!

In those early days of DS no one really knew what the site was about.  Would it be from the parents’ point of view or the dogs?  We quickly learned that everything would be written from our point of view.  And that’s what made it wonderful.  Because people who all those silly stressful problems:  Work, money, kids, love, blah, blah, blah.

But, unless we were sick, our lives are simple and reading about them from our point of view brought as much joy as a puppy smile.  A good walk, a new toy, vermin in the yard, a car ride, these little stories made humans happy when they got home from their hard days work.

Unfortunately human problems kept creeping on to the site and some good dogs left, and off  shoot groups popped up.  Also hundreds of independent blogs appeared all with different perspectives and from all ends of the Earth.  On Facebook groups like  Doggyspace Moms, Doggyspace Group, Baron’s Buddies, and others the tradition and the friendship of the early days of DS carried on.

And us dogs have benefited from these groups.  We all eat better, are healthier, thanks to wonderfully generous pups and parents we have better toys, we are aware of food recalls, are aware of what illnesses to be aware of and how to cope with them.  If one of us is sick there are dozens of opinions to steer parents in the right way.  Since the creation of Doggyspace and the offshoot sites those dogs involved have never had a better life.

And behind all of this is us dogs.  The inspiration for it all.  Dogs so special that their parents want to write about them, post pictures about them, and be inspired by them.  And parents so wonderful that they want to make sure each dog is loved and receive the same care as the dogs they love.

And the poor pup who inspired this day, those that are locked in cages waiting for their forever homes, have benefited too, from all the wonderful adopted parents who have taught others of the joys of adoption.

So this is for us guys and lollipops, line up and take a bow my friends, it is our day.  And to our parents thank you for sharing our lives with so many wonderful people.  Also, on next year’s National Dog Day breakfast in bed would be nice.