Happy dog at dog daycare in Bellevue

New Year’s resolutions are hard. What starts as an exciting new chapter can quickly turn into a disappointingly short story, and the end of January often comes with a wave of “maybe next year.”

New Year’s commitment to change doesn’t have to be just for you, though—why not include your best friend, too? Whether you’re still going strong on your goals or regretting quitting early, your furry friend can be a great partner to help you restart and keep you accountable.

Especially for health and wellness, you and your pup benefit greatly from setting goals and sticking to them. Let’s review the best goals to tackle with your dog to reinvigorate your self-improvement and how dog daycare can help achieve them.

  1. Up Your Pup’s Exercise

Exercising more is one of the most common and practical New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most commonly failed resolutions without proper motivation and accountability.

Lucky for dog owners, our furry friends offer a great way to stay disciplined and continue exercising throughout the year. Setting goals like taking 3 long walks a day or hiking new trails with your dog is an easy way to stay fit and keep your dog fit, too. Set incremental exercise goals with your pup and slowly build your way up so that you both can achieve small, consistent victories throughout the year.

For more data-driven folks, tracking fitness activity using devices like smartwatches or apps is a great way to stay on track and measure improvements over time, and these devices also exist for dogs! For our Dogtopia families, we offer the DASH activity tracker, which can be used both in dog daycare and out to track activity times, calories burned, and more!

No matter what you choose, there are many ways to stay fit and keep your pup in the action, too!

  1. Old Dogs, New Tricks

Learning a new skill is a resolution that is often overlooked. Contrary to popular belief, you can definitely teach an old dog new tricks, and it is never too late for you and your furry friends to learn new tricks together.

Starting a hobby that you can do with your dog can be challenging, but plenty of activities nowadays can include our canine besties. Want to destress? Try puppy yoga. Want to improve your art skills? Join a pet crafts class! The possibilities are endless.

Another option is learning new commands. Not only does this increase a dog’s obedience, but it also helps their brains stay active and strengthens your bond. Learning new skills together is one of the best ways to keep both our own minds and our pups’ minds sharp and active, so give it a try! And make sure to let us know what tricks your dog is learning so we can reinforce them at daycare too!

  1. Socialize, Socialize, Socialize!

Meeting new people and making new friends is increasingly difficult in our constantly moving society. Besides the regular interaction with people in the workplace, getting out and finding people is a challenge many face, even more so for people who work from home. This isolation also applies to our pets. Even though they have you, our dogs need and deserve dog friends, too!

Having a pet is one of the easiest ways to make new friends. Going to a dog park or finding local playgroups is a great way to meet people and find friends for your pup at the same time! Finding people with a similar passion for their dogs makes connecting and creating strong bonds much easier.

For those who already have more active social lives, leaving a dog at home can be a limiting and difficult thing to do. Let them socialize, too! At daycare, pups get the chance to interact with lots of dogs, and with regular attendance, even make best friends. The pure excitement dogs show when they reunite with their besties at daycare is a joy unlike any other.

Whether together or separately, increasing our time around loved ones is a fantastic way to grow!

Conclusion

Just like us, our dogs deserve to grow and discover new joys in life. While our recommendations are simple and effective goals to set with your dog, there is a wide variety of different goals that you can take on with your dog to make sure this year is better than the last!

For help with socializing your dog and giving them a safe and fun place to stay while you reach your goals, check out our daycare and boarding services!