Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CheckYourPetFood #CollectiveBias
We consider ourselves an active family. We like to be outdoors as much as possible, especially if it involves camping and hiking. This quality time together is part of how we focus on our mental and physical well-being. I’ve recently shared my own fitness and well-being goals for 2018, but there’s one family member whom I also include in our wellness aspirations: our dog Capone. If you’re new around here, Capone has been with us since 2011, when my husband found him abandoned in the Phoenix heat. He had no owner and he was scared, hungry and thirsty. Since my husband fed him that first day, he never left his side, and since then he has accompanied us on many of our camping and travel adventures. (Now, he’s also our toddler’s trusted companion!) We need to keep Capone happy and healthy so he can tag along with us for a long time to come. This is why I offer this reminder: Include your dog in the health goals you set this year!
How to include your pup in your health goals:
1. Take your dog(s) along on your workouts. Besides walks, consider having your dog join any hikes, runs or beach/swimming trips you might have planned. You can also find fitness classes that include your dogs. In Chicago, for example, where we live, you can find stand-up paddleboard with your pup classes in the summer.
2. Make sure all family members have their regular checkups and get their preventive care done. Capone started this year by visiting the vet for his vaccinations and a checkup. He’s doing great!
3. In addition to tracking your own habits and progress, keep an eye on your dog’s moods, changes, symptoms, exercise, etc. A bullet journal is a great place for this. That way you can notice any patterns or behaviors that need to be addressed and keep everyone in good shape!
4. While reassessing what your diet looks like, take a look at what your pup is eating, too. Check your dog’s food label to make sure he or she is getting quality ingredients. Does your dog’s food contain real meat? Is it grain free? We like Purina® Beneful® Originals With Real Chicken Dog Food (12.5 or 31.1 lb) and Purina® Beneful® Grain Free With Real Farm-Raised Chicken Adult Dry Dog Food (12.5 lb) because both options help us feed Capone real meat and quality ingredients for the right price. You can find these two options, plus all the dog toys and items you need, at Meijer.
Bonus: You can save time by using Meijer’s Shipt or Curbside services. Shipt lets you order your groceries online and have them delivered to your home, while Curbside allows you to add items to your cart and select when you want to pick them up at the store in the curbside lane. Both are super convenient! Just be sure to verify whether your Meijer location offers these services by typing in your ZIP code when you check out Shipt and Curbside online.
5. In addition to watching what you put inside your dog’s body, keep the outside healthy as well with regular grooming, washing and looking for any abnormalities.
When’s the last time you checked your dog food ingredients? Do you like to exercise with your pup?
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Marette Flora is the founder of Floradise blog and personalized gift shop. Marette is a passionate storyteller and creator. She attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication.
She is passionate about creating helpful and meaningful things.
You have such a cute dog! It’s so important to be mindful of what we’re feeding them!
Thank you for these tips. My schnauzer mix gained a little weight recently, even I’ve been trying to find good ways to get both of us fit. I live in apartment and work from home so we both have pretty sedentary lives. Sometimes I’ll let her stay a week or two with my mom, because she’ll have access to a backyard and other dogs to keep her fit and social (especially on busy work weeks where I can’t afford alot of time away the desk). But I need to do better in keep us both active when she’s home with me. I’m starting to at least several laps of fast walking around the apartment complex. Since it’s starting warm, I’m gonna start scheduling frequent park visits with her as well.
Also great tip about the bullet journal tracking. I tend to be very aware of my dogs different moods, but sometimes I will be lost on the patterns or events that may have led to a drastic mood change. This journal tracking idea should help with that.
Once again, thank you and great post!
– Tia | http://www.filtercrave.co
aww this is the best- i def would do this if i have a dog ha but including my pets ( we have cats ha ) in health goals is important too! great post!
Awe! Love your pup. I’m very very mindful of what I feed my pup as she is very teensy and her kidneys are a bit delicate. She can’t eat corn or animal by-products so it costs me a big dollar. She loves the Purina stuff though! This was her first food!
Love this! Our pups are totally spoiled! I always say I work hard so my dogs can have expensive dog food and live their best life lol!
I would love to exercise with my pup. Sadly, Boston Terriers are blessed with energy but have respiratory problems that prevent them from strenuous activities. We love walks though! They have dog yoga near me as a class… doesn’t that sound funny?
That sounds so fun!
Love this! I love taking my dogs on a run in the mornings, but it’s so hard in the winter because of their paw pads and the ice and salt! Once spring hits, we’ll be back out there!
I like to take my parent’s doggo on a run, whenever I’m home. The funny thing is that I’m the one dragging him, haha. He has to sniff every single thing.
Aww haha. My dog is so fast that he pulls me almost too quickly! haha He has a lot of energy.
I love this! I’m so obsessed with my dog’s health and how she’s doing. I swear I check her food labels more than I check mine. I just know what types of things are good for me and what aren’t, but I want to be sure she’s getting good food. I also want to check out a dog yoga sometime. I think that would be so much fun!