Skip New Year's resolutions, try dog goals instead (Part 1)
5 of 10 initial ideas to build a better dog-and-dog-owner relationship in 2024 and beyond
If someone who knew me were asked to describe my personality in a few words, I would not be surprised if “impulsive” was one of them. If there is something I want to do, I’m going to leap right into the deep end of the pool and do it. (In fact, that’s how I learned how to swim.) I love a good challenge. I thrive on learning something new.
And the 34 CliftonStrengths test got it right when they said my top two traits are Achiever and Command, followed by Executor and Influencer. If you put me in a room long enough, I’m either going to become a leader (out of habit since elementary school) or create my own independent goal and go off to execute it.
Knowing this about myself made my new hobby of creating goals exciting. Over the past two months, I have sat down to write a list of 11 goals that I insist on accomplishing on a daily basis. Once one goal becomes too easy, I change it to something else. (For example, “stay vegan” was painfully hard when I tried it a few years ago. I didn’t last a full month. But I know how to cook and season a number of vegan foods far better than I did before, so being a vegan now is like blinking. I do it without thinking and have somehow gotten my mother into checking nutrition and ingredient labels too.)
While chatting about my 11 goals, my mother was intrigued enough to write out her own. I was especially interested in one of her goals: “Walk Jackie three times per day.” For me, that wouldn’t be a suitable goal. I walk my own dog Junee three times per day no matter the weather and have been doing so for two straight years. But for my mother, it was a conscious effort to not just let Jackie run loose in the backyard while she sat on the steps, waiting for Jackie to do her business.
Narrowing down goals instead of New Year’s resolutions
For pet owners who, like my mother, are trying to talk themselves into making a wish into a habit (or a regular routine), goal setting may be a much more productive way to kick off the new year than generic resolutions.
Are there things you have had on your bucket list to do with your dog? Do you not know where to start? Let’s brainstorm on some ways to create 10 dog goals for 2024. This post will have the first five. The second post will suggest five more options.
1. Train my dog to stop a bad habit.
Junee doesn’t play about her food. But she started getting into a habit of growling whenever anyone came near her dog dish or picked up a treat, even if it was to do something fun like smear peanut butter on top. I knew she’d like the end goal, but in her mind, I was taking her food away permanently. And allowing a dog to growl, snap or jerk their head in a biting matter is a dangerously aggressive trait that could lead to an actual bite. Through repetitious “stay” and “leave it” commands, I helped Junee understand that me touching her dog dish or treat after it was presented to her was no more of a threat than presenting it to her before she was ready to eat.
Is there a bad habit your dog has that you may want to focus on fixing in 2024?
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage for every purchase with my referral link.
2. Officially make my dog paper-trained or crate-trained to go outside.
During her puppy year, it took quite a bit of repetition and countless four-hour trips outside to get Junee to stop urinating on the hallway floor. In fact, she started thinking those bathroom breaks were big fun and tried to rush outside solely to neighborhood watch. I misunderstood and panicked, thinking she had a urinary tract infection from needing to go outside so much (almost every hour).
Recommended Read: “Regurgitation, urination, other rocky moments in puppyhood ~ Is your dog really sick or does she just want to play?”
That revolving door game was short-lived and nonexistent after the veterinarian snitched on her and proved she not only didn’t have a UTI but went several hours without peeing at all. All Junee did was play with the vet staff until the veterinarian told me it was OK to pick her up. I started crating her for a few minutes during these false alarms when she’d stand outside for up to five minutes and do nothing but people watch and howl at ambulances. Once she realized the false alarms led to being involuntarily in a crate, she stopped the revolving door game.
Within a couple of months, she was fully crate-trained. Nowadays, I know that when she stares at me and walks toward my entertainment center, or (more dramatically) jumps one time in the air like a kangaroo, it’s time to scurry outside during off-hours.
Would you say your dog is effectively crate-trained or paper-trained?
3. Get my dog to stop humping other dogs.
This was never a problem for me and Junee. It was, however, a big issue for a neighborhood Black Labrador Retriever who absolutely loves to try to get a little piece of my heart-breaker Hound mix.