12 New Year’s Resolutions to Make With Your Pup

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New Year’s resolutions don’t have to be for people only! Consider including some goals for your dog this new year, whether you’d like to focus more on their health or add some more fun into their daily routine.

In this article, we’ll discuss 12 New Year’s resolutions you can make with your pup to give them their best year yet.

Health Resolutions

1. Brush Your Dog’s Teeth

If there’s one thing that can make your dog healthier, it’s maintaining sparkling clean teeth! Dental health has a huge impact on the whole body, with dental disease contributing to kidney, liver, and heart disease.

The ideal is to brush your dog’s teeth every day, just like you brush your own. However, you don’t have to aim for perfection! Try adding brushing your dog’s teeth to your weekly routine or trying alternative teeth-cleaning methods such as rubbery chew toys or water additives.

2. Book a Wellness Visit

Bringing your dog to the vet is a vital part of responsible pet parenting! Young dogs should have a wellness visit every year, while seniors require a checkup every six months.

Wellness visits provide a baseline of your dog’s health so that your veterinarian can better notice and treat health problems when they arise. Routine tests such as blood work can also catch illness early to give your dog the best chance of recovery.

3. Keep Up With Grooming

Maybe you struggle to keep up with your dog’s grooming needs, have missed a few professional grooming appointments, or didn’t even know the importance of a grooming schedule before reading this! Here are some tips:

  • Dog nails shouldn’t touch the floor–if they do, they need to be trimmed shorter–but you’ll need to go slowly and give the quick time to recede, or you’ll cut into it.
  • Long-haired dogs must be brushed regularly to prevent matting, which is painful and can cause health problems such as skin infections. Some long-haired pups need to be brushed every single day!
  • If your dog relies on the groomer for coat trims or nail cuts, their appointments shouldn’t be more than 4-6 weeks apart.

4. Work on Weight Loss

Multiple studies, Purina’s 2014 study, have shown that dogs with lean body conditions live longer, healthier lives. If your dog is overweight, consider resolving to feed them less in the new year. Ditch the table scraps, limit treats, and ask your veterinarian about healthy serving sizes for your pup’s meals.

5. Exercise Daily

Is your dog getting enough movement in their day? Every dog can benefit from daily exercise, whether they’re going for a jog, playing fetch in the backyard, or running around the living room. Dogs who aren’t getting enough exercise may show behavioral problems or even develop health issues.

Training Resolutions

7. Learn Safety Cues

Does your dog know all the cues they should to stay safe? Consider learning something new this year! Here are some examples:

  • “Drop it” and “leave it” cues so they don’t eat what they shouldn’t
  • Recall or “come” so that your dog doesn’t stray too far from you
  • “Wait” cue so that your dog doesn’t run out the front door without permission
  • “Off” cue to tell your dog not to jump on people

8. Learn Better Leash Manners

Dogs don’t need to be perfect on their walks. However, nobody wants to be pulled by a dog for their entire walk either!

Or, maybe you want to teach them not to approach strangers without permission or not to bark at other dogs. The world really opens up once your dog can behave nicely on a leash, and they’ll thank you for the new, exciting places they can venture.

9. Resolve a Behavioral Issue

Does your dog chew things they shouldn’t, or bark excessively at the mail carrier? Choose the behavioral issue that bothers you the most and commit to working on it this next year. Even tiny steps forward will help you both in the long run.

10. Hire a Dog Trainer

Maybe that behavioral issue isn’t something you know how to resolve yourself. Consider hiring a force-free dog trainer to work with your pup. Professionals can often easily spot problems we don’t see in our own training and make solving problems a breeze compared to working alone.

Just-For-Fun Resolutions

10. Learn a New Trick

Maybe your dog knows all of their basic cues but loves the mental enrichment they get from training, or perhaps you’re interested in dog training as a hobby. Whatever the case, consider indulging this year by learning a new trick just for fun!

11. Explore a New Walking Route

Daily walks with our dogs can become routine and boring, but not if we switch up locations. This may be as simple as turning down a different block, or you could explore a new neighborhood, park, or hiking trail.

As always, know your dog and tailor your resolutions to their unique personality. If they get anxiety from new locations, this might be more stressful for them than fun!

12. Spend More Time Outside

It can be easy to get lost in our daily lives and forget the little things. Maybe the new year is a good excuse for you and your dog to get out of the house and soak up some sun. While this can be paired with exercise, you can also lounge in your backyard or local park, go for a picnic, or simply rush less during your dog’s potty breaks.

Final Thoughts

We hope this article has helped you find a New Year’s resolution or two to make with your dog. Remember to consider your own resolutions as well–maybe there’s something you can include them in to make reaching your goals double the fun.

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