Tag Archives for petsolutions

New Year’s Petsolutions 2014

The Weekly Walk

Happy Woof Year! How was your 2013? Did you have your fill of barks and meows and chirps? Are you hoping for more in 2014? Are you unsure about what you want more of in 2014 but know that it involves animal noises? Then keep reading to get inspiration for some New Year’s Petsolutions!

ASPCA

Make Friends With the Vet: “This year, give your veterinarian the chance to notice any developing illnesses and the opportunity to take care of them right away. If it’s been a year or more since your pet has seen a vet, make that appointment today!”

petMD

Prepare for Pet Adoption: “Try fostering. Many animal shelters and rescues need loving homes to provide safe and temporary living arrangements for pets. It’s the perfect way to test the waters of pet ownership without the lifelong commitment, since you are simply hosting a pet while they wait for their forever home.”

Marc Lee Abraham, The Huffington Post UK

Adopt: “Rescue dogs, cats, and rabbits, are usually already toilet-trained with years of experience under their belt. When you adopt a senior animal, chances are you’re saving their life.”

Kim Campbell Thornton & Marty Becker, Philly.com

Show Your Love: “Make time for him. When your pet nudges your hand or bumps you with his head, don’t just automatically hand him a treat. Instead, reward him with a scratch between the ears or a few minutes of play. You’ll both be better for it.”

Chicago Dog Walkers Reader

Be a Student: “Follow your pet’s lead this year. When you see her relaxing on the floor or the couch, learn to take a break and curl up alongside of her.”

Treat Your Pet: “Curious about what’s really in the treats you buy for your pet? Make homemade treats and wonder no more! Your pet will taste the love you put into each recipe.”

Alyssa Landau, The Friday Flyer

Spend Your Free Time Wisely: “You can volunteer at a shelter or, if shelters sound too scary or heartbreaking to you, you can volunteer at a rescue. There are so many rescues around our area (not just for cats and dogs either)!”

Tyler Stover, News-JournalOnline.com

Exercise Together: “Instead of dreading a daily workout, you can view it as additional time to bond with your best friend. A daily walk with your dog helps her learn proper manners, and helps both of you get in better shape.”

Marc Morrone, Newsday

Keep Your Eyes Open: “This is the most important one: Do your best to look at the world from your pet’s point of view.”

Maria DeFillipo, TheDailyJournal.com

Click here to read a few resolutions from animals, such as this one from Rockwell, a pit-bull mix: “I resolve to get adopted this year. I overheard people saying that no one would adopt a black pit bull like me, but I resolve to prove them wrong.”

leash

Thank you for taking a walk through another post with us. Share your New Year’s Petsolutions with us in the comments, on Twitter, or Facebook. Woof!

Advertisement

The Weekly Walk: Petsolutions

The Weekly WalkHappy New Year! For our first Weekly Walk of 2013, we’re taking an alternate route. We found fitting pet and pet owner resolutions to share and provide links to more! Woof Woof Woof!

Animal Planet

Stay Fit: “This is the year that dogs resolve to go for more walks. Cats, on the other hand, dream of chasing mice, the only exercise they cherish.”

Kristen Toland, Examiner

Local Support: “Encourage people to support their local pet supply stores and know about as many as I can to recommend.”

Virginia Chavez, SheKnows

Drop the Devices: “Make it a point to incorporate some cuddle time for your furry friend, no television, no cellphones, no emails.”

Shelly Brouwer, The Daily Camera

Adventures: “Traveling with your pet is often possible and fun with research, preparation and training.”

Steve Dale, Chicago Tribune

Vet Visits: “Veterinary visits are on the decline, especially when it comes to preventive care. As a result, pets and their owners are paying a significant price. My resolution for 2013 will be to play whatever role I can in reversing this alarming trend.”

Dr. James C. Zgoda, Times Herald-Record

H2O so Good: “I will provide fresh water daily and keep it from freezing if outdoors.”

Ann Hohenhaus, WebMD

Preparations: “Prepare for your pet’s future like you prepare for your family’s future. Assemble a ‘go bag’ for your pet.”

Chicago Dog Walkers Reader

Dreaming (like last year and every year before): “A dog walker for every doggie!”

Stacy Fox, KHOU

Helping Hands: “Volunteering at a local animal shelter is a great way for animal lovers to feel better about themselves in 2013.”

Lucy the Dog’s Resolution as faxed in by Robb Lightfoot, aNewsCafe.com

Dig More: “My owners have undone much of my year’s hard work by filling in my cool resting spots. This tells me I need to make them deeper and more numerous.”

Not!

Thank you for taking the first of many Weekly Walks this year — 52 we hope! Join us on Twitter and Facebook for more woofs and meows and other such animal noises.

Walker Bios Update and Other Doggy Goodies

We have been updating walker bios on our website. Possessing an assortment of hobbies (bowling, biking, drumming, and more), they’re a diverse and interesting pack. Take a peek if you’re curious about who’s walking those pups around Chicago.

Remember when we posted our New Year’s Resolutions and Petsolutions? One of our resolutions for Chicago was to make it a No #2s Left On the Ground City. Shortly after that post, we found an episode of This American Life, which talks about people hiring companies that test the DNA of dog leavings to catch owners not picking up after their pets. Click here to listen to the episode. What are your thoughts on this type of procedure? Agree? Disagree? Already use it?

Keeping with the topic of New Year’s Resolutions, if you made a commitment to get in shape and need help tracking your progress, we found an app for you and your pup: MapMyDOGWALK. As the name suggests, you can map and save your routes to see how fast, far, and long you walked or ran. This way you can decide how much difficulty you want to put into your dog walks each day. We’d love to know your thoughts on this app or a similar one you have used. We enjoy technology that we can share with our pets and eagerly await the translating collar, as seen in the movie Up.

Comment here or @Chicdogwalkers on Twitter.