Habit Stacking Tips for You and Your Dog
The New Year often brings a renewed desire to improve our habits. Why not include better habits for your dog as well? A good way to begin new habits for you and your dog is through “habit stacking.” This is where you pair new desired behaviors and actions with current habits to help them stick. Overall, you add a new habit at a specific time to form a stack; hence, the term habit stacking.
When paired with existing routines, these new habits become easier to implement. Ultimately, habit stacking can be a great way to address desired pet wellness habits.
So, let’s take a look at how you can use habit stacking to kick off the New Year with improved pet wellness!
Exercise for Better Pet Wellness Care
One of the best ways to boost pet wellness for the year is to ensure your dog gets plenty of exercise. Plus, it helps you, too! A great way to work this in is by tying exercise to your routine in the evening. When you get home and change into casual clothes, follow this up by taking the dog for a walk.
If you continue to pair these two habits, eventually, it will become second nature. Even better, once your dog has gotten used to it, they will be sure to remind you as well. Making this a regular habit will have various benefits for you and your dog, including a stronger heart, lower blood pressure, and more.
As the walk becomes a habit, you can then pair it with your evening routine, such as meals or bedtime.
Stay in the Habit of Vet Visits with Pet Wellness Plans
Another important habit to develop in the New Year is staying on top of regular vet visits for your dog. Some people only call the vet when they notice problems with their dog; however, prevention is essential for your dog’s health. Overall, regular vet visits can help to discover potential issues and address them before they get any worse.
You can help to remind yourself of this in the New Year by trying pet wellness plans. Wellness plans for dogs can help to cover a lot of general care, including routine exams, vaccinations, dental cleanings, fecal exams, and more.
The type and cost of the plan can vary, as they can be standalone or added to existing pet insurance policies. Get Joy also offers fantastic, on-demand virtual vet services that can help make preventative wellness checkups fun and easy.
Stack Your Dental Health Habits
Taking care of your teeth is important, and the same goes for your dog. Unfortunately, dental disease in dogs can be quite common. In fact, according to PetMD, over 80% of dogs have some form of dental disease by age three. However, this can be prevented or improved by practicing good doggy dental care.
A perfect way to incorporate this is to pair it with your dental care. First, brush your teeth and then your dogs, or vice versa – whichever aligns best for you. This will help to associate the habits together to become a regular practice.
Get Joy Wants Your Dog to Be the Healthiest They Can Be
If you are looking into improving nutrition habits in the New Year, don’t forget about this for your dog as well. A great place to start is with your dog’s diet. In fact, most standard dog kibbles are packed with grains and artificial ingredients that don’t give your dog all the proper nutrients they need.
This is why Get Joy has made it our mission to improve pets' lives and health through food. Our fresh meals, on the other hand, are made to ensure that your dog has everything they need to live a happy and healthy life. Get started today!
