Best Products That Sell on International Dog Day (With Shopify Tips)
Every year on August 26, dog owners go looking for something to celebrate with their dogs. Not in a passive “I noticed it’s a holiday” way. In a “let me buy something, share something, and do something” way.
International Dog Day is one of the highest-engagement pet holidays on the calendar, and for Shopify store owners selling dog products, it is one of the most underused revenue opportunities of the summer. Unlike Black Friday, which is saturated with competition from every direction, International Dog Day hits a concentrated audience: dog owners who are actively in a celebratory mindset and looking to spend.
The global pet care market hit $289 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach nearly $500 billion by 2034, according to Fortune Business Insights. Pet ecommerce specifically sits at $102 billion and is growing at 7.8% annually. Average annual spending per dog-owning household reached $2,489 in 2025, according to Fortunly. That is a large, loyal, emotionally invested customer base. And on August 26, they have an occasion.
This guide covers what actually sells on International Dog Day, how to set up your Shopify store to capture that demand, and how to make your product pages perform better than the competition’s.
What Is International Dog Day and Why Does It Matter for Ecommerce?
International Dog Day falls on August 26 every year. It was founded in 2004 by pet lifestyle expert and animal welfare advocate Colleen Paige, with two goals: celebrating dogs of all breeds and backgrounds, and raising awareness for dogs that still need rescue and adoption.
Over time it has become genuinely commercial alongside its advocacy mission. Dog owners share photos, buy gifts, donate to shelters, and treat their dogs to something special. Brands from Casper (mattresses) to BarkBox to major pet retailers run active campaigns around it every year. The hashtag #NationalDogDay generates hundreds of millions of impressions across Instagram and TikTok in the weeks around August 26.
For a Shopify store owner selling dog products, that context matters. You are not forcing an occasion. You are meeting an audience that is already in a celebratory mindset, already searching for products, and already primed to spend. That is the best possible position to be in for a marketing campaign.
August also sits in the softer summer sales period for most ecommerce categories. A well-executed International Dog Day campaign can meaningfully move the needle during a month that would otherwise be flat.
Best-Selling Products for International Dog Day
1. Personalized and Custom Dog Accessories
Personalization is the highest-converting product category in pet ecommerce. Name tags, engraved collars, custom ID plates, monogrammed bandanas, and breed-specific accessories all outperform generic alternatives in both conversion rate and average order value.
Dog owners buy these on emotional occasions. August 26 is exactly the kind of day where “I want to get something with his name on it” becomes an actual purchase. Engraved collars with the dog’s name and contact number sell year-round, but holidays create the purchase urgency that moves browsers into buyers.
On Shopify, personalized products work best with a product configurator. Let customers type in the name, choose the color, and preview the output before adding to cart. Stores that show a visual preview of the customized product convert significantly better than those that collect name details through a text field alone.
2. Premium Dog Treats and Specialty Food
The pet food market is the single largest category in the pet industry, and treats represent around 40% of that spend. On International Dog Day, treat gifting is a natural behavior. The framing is built into the occasion: you are spoiling your dog.
Products that sell particularly well on this day: gourmet treat boxes, single-ingredient chews, dental treat packs, freeze-dried meat treats, and breed-specific or diet-specific treat lines (grain-free, raw, senior formula). The premiumization trend is strong. According to Bloomberg Intelligence data cited by PetfoodIndustry.com, value-tier products are expected to plateau while premium pet food continues growing through 2030.
For Shopify stores, treat bundles and gifting packs work extremely well. A “Dog Day Spoil Pack” combining three or four treat types at a slight bundle discount gives customers something to celebrate with and gives you higher AOV than selling individual units.
3. Lick Mats and Slow Feeder Bowls
These are two of the fastest-growing categories in dog products across Shopify and dropshipping platforms in 2026. Both solve a specific problem: bored, anxious, or fast-eating dogs.
Lick mats hold spreadable treats like peanut butter, yogurt, or bone broth. The repetitive licking action is genuinely calming for dogs, and the product has a near-perfect social content loop: owners post videos of their dogs using them, which creates organic demand. Lick mat content performs consistently on TikTok, which feeds product discovery.
Slow feeder bowls address the same fast-eating problem differently. They extend meal times, reduce bloat risk, and are endorsed by vets. Both product types have strong functional credibility and are visually demonstrable, which means they convert well when paired with video content on product pages.
4. GPS Trackers and Smart Pet Tech
The global pet wearable market was valued at $4.16 billion in 2025 and is growing at a 13.6% CAGR through 2034, according to World Animal Foundation research. GPS dog trackers are the biggest single driver of that growth.
These are higher-ticket items, typically $50 to $150, which makes them strong gifting products for a holiday occasion. The key conversion driver is safety. “Never lose your dog” is one of the most emotionally resonant product promises in the pet category. On International Dog Day, that emotional hook is at its most natural.
For Shopify, GPS trackers need detailed product pages with demonstration video (ideally showing the app and real-time tracking in use), clear explanation of the subscription model if one exists, and strong social proof from existing customers.
5. Dog Beds and Comfort Products
Orthopedic dog beds, elevated cooling beds, and luxury loungers all see strong sales spikes around dog-themed holidays. Casper’s National Dog Day campaign, which combined a 25% discount on dog beds with a 20% charitable donation per sale, is a well-documented example of what works for this category specifically.
The purchase trigger is emotional. “My dog deserves to sleep better” is exactly the kind of thought International Dog Day activates. Memory foam beds, washable covers, and breed-size specific options are the product attributes that close sales.
Bundles work well here too. A bed plus a matching blanket, or a bed plus a calming dog toy, increases AOV while keeping the gifting theme coherent.
6. Bandanas, Apparel, and Seasonal Accessories
Dog apparel has a higher purchase intent on photo-occasion holidays than at any other time. International Dog Day is a photo day. Dog owners want to dress their dogs up, take photos, and post them. Branded bandanas, seasonal bow ties, themed harnesses, and matching “dog mom” or “dog dad” apparel sets for the owner and pet are all strong performers.
The gifting angle also drives sales. Someone might not buy a bandana for their own dog unprompted, but they will buy one as a quirky gift for a dog-owning friend on National Dog Day.
Limited edition seasonal designs, especially “August 26” or dog-themed prints with the holiday date, create urgency through design. Customers understand that the window for that specific product is short.
7. Dog Supplements and Wellness Products
Pet health supplements are growing at 12.8% CAGR according to Mordor Intelligence. Dog owners are increasingly applying the same wellness mindset to their pets that they apply to themselves: probiotics, joint support, omega-3s, calming supplements, dental health chews.
The DTC subscription model works particularly well here. A Shopify store that converts a one-time treat purchase into a monthly supplement subscription on National Dog Day creates long-term revenue from a holiday campaign. The subscription conversion is most effective when you offer a first-box discount tied to the holiday.
Veterinary endorsements or formulations matter for this category. Stores like Native Pet and Alpha Paw have built their entire positioning around vet-backed credibility. It converts.
8. Enrichment Toys and Interactive Products
Interactive toys are a category that sells year-round but spikes on gift occasions. Puzzle feeders, treat-dispensing toys, chew toys with flavoring, tug ropes, and snuffle mats all see strong performance on International Dog Day.
The purchase logic is straightforward: this is a day to do something for your dog. An enrichment toy is a gift that directly benefits the dog’s wellbeing. It also has a demonstration problem — buyers need to understand how it works before they convert. Product pages with video showing dogs engaging with the toy perform significantly better than pages with static photos alone.
Shopify Tips: How to Set Up for International Dog Day Success
Start 3 to 4 Weeks Out
International Dog Day is not an impulse occasion. Dog owners plan for it. If you are emailing about it on August 26, you have already missed most of the revenue. Start teasing the campaign in late July. Send a preview of your holiday collection. Build a waitlist for limited products. Run a pre-day giveaway that generates UGC before the sale launches.
Retailers who launch seasonal marketing campaigns early lift conversions by up to 10%, according to research cited by LitExtension. For a summer holiday with concentrated demand, that lead time is significant.
Create a Dedicated National Dog Day Collection
Do not make shoppers browse your entire catalog. Build a curated “National Dog Day” collection page with your best-selling and most giftable products. This improves SEO for the specific holiday search term, makes your marketing links land on something cohesive, and creates a shopping experience that feels like a curated gift guide rather than a generic store.
In your Shopify admin, go to Products, then Collections, and create a new manual or automated collection. Tag products as “dog-day” and filter the collection to that tag. Link your holiday campaign emails, social posts, and ads directly to this collection URL.
Build a Promo Code With Character
Generic codes like SAVE15 work. But holiday-specific codes convert better because they feel tied to the occasion. Use codes like DOGDAY26, PAWSOME15, TREATDAY, or FETCHIT20. According to Shopify’s own discount strategy research, memorable, theme-relevant codes drive higher redemption rates than generic alphanumeric strings.
In your Shopify admin, go to Discounts, click Create discount, set your parameters (percentage off, free shipping, or minimum spend threshold), and set the expiry to August 27 to create genuine urgency.
Run a Bundle Campaign
Dog Day is a gifting and spoiling occasion. Bundle products around that theme: a “Dog Day Starter Pack” combining treats, a toy, and a bandana at a price that feels like a deal relative to buying separately. Shopify’s native bundle functionality handles this cleanly, and the higher AOV from bundles makes the holiday campaign more profitable even with a discount applied.
The most effective bundle price point for impulse gifting is $25 to $50. Above $75, the purchase becomes more considered and more likely to need a strong product page to close.
Email and SMS Timeline
A simple three-email sequence works consistently for holiday campaigns:
- One week before: “National Dog Day is coming — here’s what we picked for your pup.” Preview the collection and introduce the discount.
- Day of, morning: Campaign launches. Full discount code, full collection link. Lead with an emotional hook (a customer photo or dog story).
- Day of, evening: “A few hours left on our National Dog Day deals.” Urgency close for shoppers who opened the morning email but did not convert.
Pet email open rates run high because the audience is emotionally engaged with the category. This sequence typically outperforms more complex drip structures for a single-day holiday.
Social Content Strategy
International Dog Day is one of the most organic social media days of the year. Dog content always performs, and on August 26 the platform algorithms amplify it further. Use that momentum.
Pre-day: Post a countdown with a teaser of your Dog Day collection. Ask followers to share photos of their dogs in the comments. Collect UGC ahead of the sale.
Day of: Post your campaign announcement with your promo code. Reshare customer photos tagged with your products. Post a video of your own dog (if applicable) or a product demo video. Stories with a countdown timer that links to your collection page perform well.
Hashtags to use: #NationalDogDay, #InternationalDogDay, #DogDay2026, your brand hashtag, and breed-specific tags if your products target a specific audience.
How EmbedAny Improves Your Dog Product Pages Year-Round
Dog products have a conversion challenge that most other categories do not face as sharply: buyers need to see the product used by a real dog before they trust it.
A photo of a lick mat on a white background tells customers almost nothing. A video of a golden retriever using that lick mat, going calm within 30 seconds, and having the treat last 10 minutes tells customers everything they needed to know to buy.
This is the trust gap in pet ecommerce. And it is almost entirely closed by video and social content. The problem is getting that content onto your product pages without a developer, without breaking your theme, and without managing a dozen separate embed codes across your catalog.
That is where EmbedAny solves a real problem.
EmbedAny is a Built for Shopify app that lets you embed content from 800+ platforms onto any Shopify page by pasting a URL and italicizing it. No iframe code. No HTML editor. No developer. Just paste the link where you want the content to appear, italicize it with Ctrl+I or Cmd+I, and save.
Here is what that looks like in practice for a dog product store:
Embed a TikTok of your lick mat in use. Find your best-performing TikTok showing a dog engaged with the product. Copy the TikTok URL. Go to your product description in Shopify, paste the URL, italicize it, and save. That TikTok now renders as a live, interactive video widget directly beneath your product photos. Customers can watch, share, and react without leaving your page.
Embed an Instagram Reel of a customer’s dog in your bandana. When a customer posts a Reel wearing your product, copy the post URL. Paste it and italicize it in your product description. It becomes a live social proof widget. Real dog. Real customer. Real content. No permission forms or screenshot uploads required.
Embed a Google Reviews widget next to your add-to-cart button. Pet buyers check reviews before they buy, especially for health and wellness products. Rather than relying only on Shopify’s native review system, you can embed a live Google Reviews widget showing your overall rating and recent feedback. This works especially well for supplement and wellness products where third-party trust signals matter.
Embed a YouTube unboxing or product demo. A 90-second YouTube video showing what is inside your Dog Day bundle, how the toy works, or how the GPS tracker app looks in real use closes more sales than any product description you could write. Paste the YouTube URL in your product description, italicize it, and it renders as a full video player.
The broader conversion impact is real. According to research cited by EmbedAny, ecommerce sites with product videos see conversion rates jump by up to 85%. Customers who see a product in use are 1.9 times more likely to purchase. For dog products specifically, where “will my dog actually like this?” is the primary objection, that visual demonstration is the most persuasive tool you have.
You can learn more about embedding Instagram content on Shopify in our guide on how to add an Instagram feed to Shopify, and more about using embedded social proof to increase conversions in our guide on why your Shopify store is not making sales.
EmbedAny works across your entire store — product pages, collection pages, blog posts, and homepage sections — from one install, at $8.70 per month. For a dog product store running an International Dog Day campaign, it is the highest-leverage product page upgrade you can make in under an hour.
Planning Your International Dog Day Campaign: A Simple Timeline
| Week | Action |
|---|---|
| 4 weeks before (late July) | Finalize products, build collection page, create promo code, design email banners |
| 3 weeks before | Start teasing campaign on social, run UGC photo contest, begin building email list |
| 2 weeks before | Send preview email, launch early-access offer for subscribers, add EmbedAny content to product pages |
| 1 week before | Ramp up social posting, reshare UGC, send SMS preview if applicable |
| Day of (August 26) | Morning email, social campaign launch, afternoon story countdown, evening last-chance email |
| Day after | Wrap-up post, thank-you to buyers, introduce loyalty/subscription upsell |
Final Thoughts
International Dog Day on August 26 is a genuine commercial opportunity for Shopify dog product stores. The audience is engaged, the occasion is emotionally charged, and the competition from large retailers is lower than Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The stores that win on this day are not the ones running the deepest discount. They are the ones with the most relevant product collection, the most engaging product pages, and the most cohesive campaign from email to social to storefront.
Start building your collection now. Get your Dog Day promo code ready. Add video and social content to your product pages with EmbedAny so first-time visitors actually see what your products do. And put together an email sequence that starts before August 26, not on it.
That is the entire playbook. Simple, focused, and built around the one thing dog owners are already doing on August 26: looking for a reason to celebrate their dog.
FAQs
what is international dog day
International Dog Day is observed annually on August 26. It was founded in 2004 by pet lifestyle expert Colleen Paige to celebrate dogs of all breeds, promote adoption, and raise awareness about dog welfare. The date marks the day Paige’s family adopted her first dog. It is sometimes also called National Dog Day. Both names refer to the same August 26 observance.
what products sell best on national dog day for shopify stores
The best-selling dog products on International Dog Day for Shopify stores are personalized accessories (engraved collars, name tags, custom bandanas), gourmet treat boxes and bundles, lick mats and slow feeders, GPS dog trackers, premium dog beds, enrichment and puzzle toys, and pet wellness supplements. Products with a strong gifting or spoiling angle consistently outperform purely functional items on this occasion.
when should i start promoting international dog day on shopify
Start 3 to 4 weeks before August 26, which means late July. Begin with social teaser posts and a UGC contest to collect customer dog photos. Send a campaign preview email 2 weeks out. The full sale launch should hit inboxes the morning of August 26 with a last-chance email that evening. Brands that start early consistently outperform those who launch on the day itself.
what discount code should i use for national dog day
Use a themed code that connects to the occasion. Examples: DOGDAY26, PAWSOME15, TREATDAY, FETCHIT20, DOGMOM10. According to Shopify’s discount research, memorable codes that reference the specific occasion convert at higher rates than generic alphanumeric codes. Set the code to expire August 27 to create genuine urgency.
how can i use embedany to improve my dog product pages
EmbedAny lets you embed content from 800+ platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Google Reviews, anywhere on your Shopify store by pasting a URL and italicizing it. For dog products specifically, embedding a TikTok of a dog using the product, an Instagram Reel of a customer’s dog, or a YouTube product demo directly on the product page can lift conversion rates significantly. Video and social proof address the core hesitation in pet ecommerce: buyers want to see a real dog using the product before they buy.
how does embedding video help sell dog products on shopify
Dog products have a specific conversion challenge: buyers cannot test or touch the product before buying, and they want to know their dog will actually like it. Video directly addresses that. Research cited by EmbedAny shows ecommerce sites with product videos see conversion rates jump by up to 85%, and customers who watch a product in use are 1.9 times more likely to purchase. For lick mats, puzzle toys, smart feeders, and GPS trackers, a 60 to 90 second video showing a real dog engaging with the product is the most persuasive content you can put on the page.
what is the best shopify strategy for selling pet products on national dog day
The most effective Shopify strategy for National Dog Day is a combination of a dedicated holiday collection page, a themed promo code, a three-email sequence starting the morning of August 26, and social UGC campaigns launched in the preceding two weeks. Pair this with product pages that include video content embedded via EmbedAny, and bundle pricing that increases AOV. The goal is to make every touchpoint — social, email, and storefront — feel like a coherent celebration, not a generic discount.
are personalized dog products profitable on shopify
Yes. Personalized dog products consistently command higher prices and achieve higher conversion rates than generic alternatives. Shopify research and industry data show personalized items carry a premium of 30 to 50% over comparable non-personalized products. For International Dog Day specifically, the emotional occasion amplifies the purchase intent for anything with the dog’s name or a custom element. Engraved collars, name tags, custom portraits, and breed-specific accessories are among the highest-margin and highest-converting categories.
do dog supplements sell well as subscription products on shopify
Yes. Dog supplements are one of the strongest subscription product categories in pet ecommerce. Products like probiotics, joint support, omega-3s, and calming chews have predictable repurchase cycles that align naturally with a subscription model. A first-box discount tied to International Dog Day converts one-time buyers into monthly subscribers. According to Mordor Intelligence, the healthcare and supplements segment of pet ecommerce is growing at 12.8% CAGR, driven by owners applying human wellness trends to their pets.
which dog product niches work best for shopify dropshipping in 2026
The strongest dog product niches for Shopify dropshipping in 2026 are lick mats and slow feeders (viral on TikTok, functional, high reorder rate), GPS dog trackers (high ticket, strong gifting potential), personalized accessories (high margin, difficult for large retailers to replicate at scale), and wellness supplements (strong subscription model). Breed-specific niches, like products designed exclusively for French Bulldogs or Golden Retrievers, also perform well because they command community loyalty and allow highly targeted paid advertising.
how do i create a national dog day collection page in shopify
In your Shopify admin, go to Products, then Collections, and click Create collection. Give it a name like “National Dog Day Sale” and set it to automatic if you tag products with a consistent tag such as “dog-day.” Alternatively, create a manual collection and add products individually. Write a short collection description that includes the holiday date and your promotion. Link your email, social, and ad campaigns directly to this collection URL for a coherent landing experience. Add a countdown timer via a Shopify app or theme section to reinforce urgency.