How a Pet Can Help You Reach Your Overall Wellness Goals for 2023

When setting goals, it can help to have someone hold you accountable. The good news for pet parents is that our four-legged friends can be the perfect match, especially when it comes to wellness goals. Let’s see how pets can improve your well-being and help you reach your goals for 2023.

Wellness goal #1: Adopt a regular fitness routine

If one of your goals for 2023 is to get into a regular fitness routine, you’ll be happy to know that this is one of the best examples of how pets can improve your well-being. . Parenting dogs means taking them out two to three times a day, for a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes per walk. Having your pup hold you accountable ensures that even if the weather is bad or you just don’t feel like taking your steps, you have to. Of course, there are also the health benefits that come with regular exercise, like

• Improved cardiovascular fitness
• Lower blood pressure
• Stronger muscles and bones

But you’re not the only one who benefits from a regular exercise program – your pet benefits too! Dogs that exercise regularly benefit from:

• Lower blood pressure
• Stronger muscles and bones
• Stress reduction
• Less destructive behaviors

Well-being objective #2: Reduce stress

A second way pets can improve your well-being is through their natural ability to reduce stress. Extensive studies have been done to see the impact of pets on stress and research shows that the social interaction between people and their dogs causes an increase in oxytocin. Additionally, after just three months of being pet parents, there was a significant decrease in blood pressure and stress reactivity.

Well-being goal #3: Make new friends

Physical well-being isn’t the only type of well-being goal to consider – mental well-being is just as important. The social connections you have in your life can play an important role in your overall happiness, and your dog can help with that. If one of your goals for 2023 is to make new friends, the dog park is a great place to start:

• Try to visit the park at the same time each day because you’ll start to see some familiar faces.
• If you’re nervous about talking to new people, let your dogs initiate the interaction – it’s easier to start talking to the parent of the dog your pup is already playing with.

If your dog doesn’t like the park, you can also try signing up for agility or training classes that will give you the chance to see the same faces week after week.

Well-being objective #4: Reduce your impact on the environment

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that the environment can play an important role in your overall well-being. If you live in an environmentally polluted area, you are at increased risk of developing health problems such as:

• Respiratory diseases
• heart disease
• Certain types of cancer

Knowing this, reducing the impact you personally have on the environment can help your overall well-being. What many pet owners don’t realize, however, is that this is another way your pet can help improve your well-being.

By switching to Freshpet, you’re choosing foods whose packaging is designed to keep each recipe healthy and nutritious while using as little material as possible.

• Freshpet: 2-10g pack per 30lb dog
• Average Wet Food Competitor: 80-120g packing per 30lb dog

As you can see, we use approximately 20 times less packaging than the average wet food competitor. But reducing packaging isn’t the only impact you’ll have – the packaging we use is also BPA-free and 100% recyclable thanks to our partnership with Terracycle. Find out more ways to switch to Freshpet to reduce your impact on the environment.

Wellness Goal #5: Get involved in your local community

Getting involved in your local community is another great example of how pets improve well-being. Seeking out opportunities to volunteer with your pet in organizations in your community will not only benefit others, but will also have a big impact on your own well-being. People who regularly volunteer experience:

• Less stress
• Decreased feelings of isolation and loneliness
• Increased confidence
• Increased sense of purpose and meaning

Here are some ways to get involved in your community with your pet:

• Train to become Good Canine Citizenwho is often forced to volunteer in places like hospitals and nursing homes
• Raise money for your local shelter or rescue and participate in any charity events they may have – most of which will be pet friendly!
• Register your puppy as a canine blood donor to save the lives of other dogs

From our Freshpet family to yours, we wish you a Happy New Year and hope you’ve been inspired to find a 2023 wellness goal that you and your pet can work towards together!