With the dog days of summer upon us, what better way to cool off than ice cream! But why leave out the dogs of the dog days? Well, now you don’t have to.
To celebrate National Ice Cream Day on Sunday, July 16, PetSmart will be giving away free ice cream sundaes for dogs all PetSmart PetsHotel locations in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico (while supplies last).
“We at PetSmart believe this is a fun way for pet parents to celebrate National Ice Cream Day with their pets and not leave them out of the fun!” says Mardi Larson, PetSmart’s senior director of public relations.
Don’t worry about your dog getting sick from the treat. The people at PetSmart did their research and developed ice cream for dogs that is healthy, safe, and, of course, yummy.
“The dog-safe ice cream is vanilla flavored and non-dairy, as many dogs have challenges with lactose products. The sundaes are topped with dog biscuit ‘sprinkles’ for a savory-sweet combination and a cool treat to beat the summertime heat in July,” says Larson.
Prior to the big event on Sunday, PetSmart had doggie ice cream socials this week in a number of cities: New York, Dallas, Seattle and Toronto.
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Celeb dogs, including Tinkerbelle The Daily Walter and Chloe Kardoggian were in on the fun.
“We love national ice cream day, because it’s a party day and nothing is better than an ice cream social with your friends,” says Tinkerbelle’s mom, Sam Carrell, who was at the New York City location. “It makes ice cream even more special for us pups, and it tastes delicious.”
Here is Tinkerbelle loving her dessert.
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National Ice Cream Day started back in 1984 as the third Sunday in July (and then expanded to National Ice Cream Month for all of July). Recently, as more and more people consider their pups part of the family, the event now includes special ice cream celebrations for dogs.
All this began when PetSmart launched a doggie-human ice cream truck last year. When it hit the streets of New York City, the company realized they were on to something big. (It served more than 1,000 ice cream treats in one day.) The team decide to expand the program across the country.
For those dogs who do stay at a PetSmart PetsHotel every day is ice cream day, as the company offers its doggie sundae to guests as an add-on treat.
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