The 10th of January is (apparently) the date on which most New Year’s Resolutions will be broken. Some of us here at mypetbadge.com don’t make resolutions (we don’t like to fail at them!) whilst some do as they use the arrival of the New Year to inspire them in a particular area of their life.

Which got us wondering, what does your pet inspire you to do?

Exercise
Thoughts at New Year often turn towards a ‘new you’ with adverts for weight loss programmes, exercise classes, gym membership and ‘healthy’ foods being bombarded at us from every angle.

For those of you with dogs, did you chose to get a dog because you wanted to exercise more or has it just been an added benefit? Or, when it’s wet, cold and windy do you resent not being able to snuggle up on the sofa and then coming home with a wet and muddy dog that will need drying off and cleaning up?

Educate
Did you choose your pet to help educate your children in the importance of how to care for an animal well or to help a family member overcome a fear of a particular animal? Do you get the family involved in making sure your pets have the correct amount of food and exercise or were they interested at the beginning and it’s now your job? Do you take your pet anywhere to share your knowledge with others?

Be Happy
From a bleary eyed hamster wriggling out the bedding to come and see if you’ve got any food, to an enthusiastically wagging tail when you get home from work ,or a curled up cat purring on your lap, pets can make us happy and relaxed. They can help reduce your blood pressure, provide companionship and generally make us feel good – the presence of ‘pat’ dogs in so many hospitals and nursing homes is a great testament to this. Tell us why your pet (or pets!) make you happy – and if you’ve got a ‘pat’ dog do let us know what you’re up to, we’d love to know!

There you are; Exercise, Educate and Be Happy – those sound like pretty good resolutions for 2014 to us – and ones that could see us well past the 10th of January.