Should dogs (or their owners) make New Year’s Resolutions? Although dogs note the passage of time differently than we do, mostly by seasons, and when we are home more on the weekends, do they note the year?
When Cassie was an award winning agility dog, I had goals to try to reach certain titles. But those days are long gone. At the age of eleven, and having Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia for the past three years plus arthritis, my goal for Cassie is to keep enjoying life for another year. Thanks to daily intake of anti- inflammatory drugs (Gabapentin), her arthritis has not severely restricted her daily walks. Instead of walking 6 ½ miles to work and back, we now walk about 2 miles, enough to keep her happy without overtaxing her.
Chipper is 9 years old and at a good weight after having lost eight pounds the previous year when my mom owned him. He injured his ACL or meniscus back in September and still walks with a limp. He can easily walk 1 – 2 miles, so just maintenance and helping his leg improve more are my goals for him this year.
Buffy at almost six is the youngest of the group. Last year she developed salivary gland disease and had very costly surgery to remove two necrotic salivary glands. She has kept off the twelve pounds that she lost when Mom owned her, but could still lose another pound or two. Both Buffy and Chipper received their Canine Good Citizen titles last year, but I have failed to keep up their training. Buffy especially could use more training since she got into a fight with Cassie the other day and refused to stop fighting.
My goals for Buffy this year are:
- Do daily training exercises to remind her that she is not the alpha dog.
- Take her for more long walks, both for her health and mine.
I don’t know about you, but my daily tasks, especially regarding exercise, always involve the dogs. Have you thought about New Year’s resolutions for your dogs?
