2019: The Year of Fenrir

By Lauren Rubin, KPA CTP, CPDT-KA

New Year, New You is trending across the states right now as we welcome in 2019 and a symbolic chance to start fresh. From where I’m sitting, it feels more like “New Year, Not This Resolution Thing Again.” I’m tired of promising to lose weight, get healthy, exercise more…it never sticks! This year, I’m picking just one thing to change: my dog’s life.

Ok, that sounds crazy, and I’m not really changing her whole life. Just one aspect, which is her fun level. I’m sure many of you can empathize: after a long week at work, it can be tough to motivate myself to get my dog out for more than just our routine walks. This has been especially tough as winter drags on…our weekend hikes and camping adventures have dropped to zero, and Fenrir (our five year old pit bull) seems depressed. She’s sleeping more than normal, and her usual zest when we ask “Do you want to go for a walk?” is flagging.

On a particularly sad night, with lots of deep, tragic pit bull sighs, my husband turned to me and said, “I think we should give Fenrir more adventures.” And thus, our 2019 resolution was born.

We took a look at our weekly routine. Where could we intervene to make this habit stick? What could we use as a cue to remind ourselves to get an adventure in? And how could we make sure we did it? We figured out that Sunday was the best day for us to have or schedule an adventure, as we’re both usually home in the morning relaxing. But how do we make sure we do it?

This also got me thinking – if I can’t keep a resolution for my wellbeing (especially on a lazy Sunday), how do I keep one for someone else’s? I turned to dog training for the answer.

The goal in training is for your dog’s good behavior to become a habit. Habits are essentially automatic actions that your dog does once they perceive a known cue. For example, if I say, “Sit!” then Fenrir’s butt quickly hits the ground. She’s known the behavior for five years – she doesn’t seem to think about it, she just does it. (Unlike new tricks, where I say the cue and you can see her thinking ‘hmmm…is that this one?’) I need that level of behavior in myself to keep the adventure resolution.

When we train for good dog habits, we give the cue (sit!), the dog does the behavior (butt to ground), and then gets a reward (praise, petting, treats, toys, a walk….). Well, why not the same with us? Here’s what we came up with as our human training.

The Current Habit

Cue: The credits come up on Netflix at the end of our current episode (after I’ve finished my pancakes and coffee…mmm!).

Behavior: I reach for the remote and hit “next episode.”

Reward: We enjoy another riveting episode of “Lost in Space.” (While Fen sighs.)

The New Habit

Cue: The credits come up on Netflix at the end of our current episode (after I’ve finished my pancakes and coffee…mmm!).

Behavior: I reach for my calendar and we look at our week, then arrange an outing for Fenrir. Then I hit “next episode.”

Reward: We enjoy another riveting episode of “Lost in Space.” (While Fen rests up for her next round of fun!)

So, that’s our plan. This year is the year of Fenrir adventures! You can check out our Instagram and Facebook pages to see how we do each week!