January usually gets people thinking about resolutions and changes for good that they want to make for the new year. So, we thought it would be fun to suggest some pet related New Years resolutions! Here is what we came up with:
Walk your dog more.
Exercise does all of us good, this includes people and dogs. Why not make a commitment to walk your dog more? Start out with a distance or length of time that both of you are comfortable with and make a commitment to do it every day or every other day. You will be amazed at how great you both feel and you will be glad to see what a little walk can do to help your dog relax around the house. If you don't like to walk alone consider meeting up with a friend or neighbor who also has a dog and walk together. This is great because if your dogs become friends you may also to enjoy play dates and allow the dogs time to play together.
Take a training class.
For a little bonding and mental stimulation you won't find a better solution than taking a positive reinforcement dog training class! Dogs love to learn and taking a class can give you a boost of motivation. Keep an eye out for our training class schedule which will be out soon for our March classes.
Improve your pets diet.
Okay, so this is generally a human resolution, but there are many pets out there who would benefit from a healthier diet. If a pet food is high quality the dog will eat less of it and retain more nutrition from it. Take time to look at the labels of the pet food that you feed to ensure that your animal is getting a healthy diet.
Groom your pet!
Grooming can be a task or a relaxing pastime. Usually it is only a horrendous job when the animal doesn't enjoy it or they are in poor condition (usually from lack of grooming). You can get your dog or cat used to grooming by having short, relaxing grooming sessions while you watch TV. Personally, I adore grooming my two long haired dogs. I have taught them to sit on my lap while I brush them out nightly. By keeping them brushed out, it keeps their coats in good condition so that I don't have to worry about mats or knotting.
Up the mental stimulation and enrichment.
These are terms that you might not be familiar with. Mental stimulation and enrichment basically means giving an animal something to do. Animals who live in zoos, for example are given a variety of items or games to do in order to encourage mental stimulation this keeps the animals more happy and less likely to become stressed from boredom. Dogs like to work and have a job to do and there are simple ways to give them that. Interactive toys such as Nina Ottoson toys are a wonderful way to enrichment a dog by encouraging foraging (searching for food) which actually burns energy. They are great all the time but can be particularly helpful during the winter months when it is rainy out and you may be walking or exercising your dog less.
Mental stimulation isn't just for dogs, cats benefit from it greatly as well. If you have ever visited our cattery you will notice that we have nets and shelves that encourage climbing and problem solving. We also offer toys that encourage problem solving such as this one.
Undivided Attention
Here is a quick and easy one that will mean the world to your dog (or cat). Set aside time to give your animal some play time that is dedicated to them. Mix up the time but offer your dog some time, even 15 minutes to just play ball, just tug of war, just hide food or run and around and play, whatever your game of choice is, commit to giving them daily.
More car rides.
Most dogs love going for car rides. If your dog is one of them, take him on more car rides. If your dog doesn't particularly like car rides it could be because he only gets one when he goes to the vet! Try taking him when you are running to Starbucks or to the bank (make sure it's not too hot out!) and let him just tag along. Many dogs really enjoy that and it is such a simple and easy thing to do.
So try finding a New Years resolution that will enhance the relationship you have with your dog or cat and improve the quality of their life! Little changes can be simple but mean so much!
Adoptables
We have several dogs, puppies and kittens looking for forever homes. All of our animals our spayed/neutered and vaccinated prior to being adopted out. If you or anyone you know is looking for a new companion, please encourage them to come and meet some our adoptables.
Bake Sales
Thank you so much to everyone who purchased our baked goods. We are so grateful to all of you who contributed and happy that this fundraiser was such a success.
Many people don't know the costs involved in rescuing unwanted animals. The majority of our rescues come from animal shelters, not owner surrenders. This means that generally they come to us intact (unspayed or unneutered), without vaccinations and sometimes with other health issues including internal parasites, skin problems, respiratory infections, kennel cough and other health issues that while not life threatening can be costly to treat. When we accept an animal, we accept that financial responsibility and we have to make that animal healthy before we place them out. On top of that we also pay for all the animals food, toys, beds, etc. So, donations mean the world to us and to the animals we are rescuing.
We are happy to share some of our success stories. These animals were adopted in the last month:
