I'm a little crazy (a tyrant?) about New Year's resolutions. I always bite off more than I can chew and, because I'm a little compulsive, I end up chewing on my overly-tough resolution all year long. Much wiser people make manageable resolutions or cry uncle in mid-January, retooling as necessary.
Petfinder itself may be a byproduct of this dogged (woof woof) obsession with resolution-setting and -keeping. It was in the spirit of the new year (1996) and making a difference that we decided the perfect website -- channeling all the powerful features the web had to offer -- would serve to help homeless pets.
As we enter our 16th year and somewhere around 20 million lives saved, my obsessive resolution-keeping has forever been reinforced.
My favorite personal resolution resulted in a permanent habit that has, more than any other, improved my quality of life. The idea came from Petfinder co-founder Jared Saul. We resolved that our dogs would get three good walks a day -- even though we had a fenced yard -- every single day of the year, regardless of the weather.
The benefits of walking at least three miles a day with your dog are obvious, but for me it has been the gratification of never, ever feeling guilty about them being bored or under-stimulated or under-exercised, which is something that really plagues me.
I also experienced the world, with all its seasonality, with my best friends in a way I would have never done otherwise. I was the eccentric walking around the neighborhood no matter the time of day or the weather -- donning my toasty (and puffy) Carhartt overalls when we lived in New Jersey or my zesty chili-pepper "sunbrella" in Tucson. (By the way, in my version of this resolution, other people walking my dogs counts.) Sixteen years later, my dogs can still count on three walks a day, although Jake, the fence climber, doesn't always wait for us. And old Jim usually opts out if the sky threatens rain.
After the jump: Betsy's resolutions that didn't work out so well.
Petfinder itself may be a byproduct of this dogged (woof woof) obsession with resolution-setting and -keeping. It was in the spirit of the new year (1996) and making a difference that we decided the perfect website -- channeling all the powerful features the web had to offer -- would serve to help homeless pets. As we enter our 16th year and somewhere around 20 million lives saved, my obsessive resolution-keeping has forever been reinforced.
My favorite personal resolution resulted in a permanent habit that has, more than any other, improved my quality of life. The idea came from Petfinder co-founder Jared Saul. We resolved that our dogs would get three good walks a day -- even though we had a fenced yard -- every single day of the year, regardless of the weather.
The benefits of walking at least three miles a day with your dog are obvious, but for me it has been the gratification of never, ever feeling guilty about them being bored or under-stimulated or under-exercised, which is something that really plagues me.
I also experienced the world, with all its seasonality, with my best friends in a way I would have never done otherwise. I was the eccentric walking around the neighborhood no matter the time of day or the weather -- donning my toasty (and puffy) Carhartt overalls when we lived in New Jersey or my zesty chili-pepper "sunbrella" in Tucson. (By the way, in my version of this resolution, other people walking my dogs counts.) Sixteen years later, my dogs can still count on three walks a day, although Jake, the fence climber, doesn't always wait for us. And old Jim usually opts out if the sky threatens rain.
After the jump: Betsy's resolutions that didn't work out so well.
Continue reading Petfinder's founder's pet-friendly New Year's resolutions.
