How to add your pet to your daily routine: 8 tips for better health together

Having a daily routine is important, but it’s especially important when you have an animal companion that needs your care. With everything else going on in your life, it may feel like a lot to add taking care of your pet to your routine. However, it’s possible to find and incorporate actions into your daily routine that support your health and your pet’s health, too.

Taking small steps toward change is the key to success for any routine. Making too many changes at once can feel overwhelming. Small steps will help you maintain a consistent routine over time. For example, you can set an alarm or a timer to walk, play with, or spend time with your pet.

Taking care of your pet’s health doesn’t have to be a big change to your routine. This is especially vital when mental health conditions or symptoms make it difficult to maintain consistency. There are many small actions that you can add to your existing routine.

For example, you can:

• Plan your pet’s meal time around your own.
• Incorporate walking or playing with your pet into your own exercise or physical activity.
• Add your pet’s needs, like food, medicine, toys, etc., to your grocery list.
• Practice training and obedience tasks during ad/commercial breaks of your favorite show.
• Add maintaining your pet’s hygiene routine to your chore day.

Adding to what you already do is a good way to make a habit stick. You will begin to naturally incorporate your pet’s care into your routine.

Substituting and swapping out old habits with new ones is a good way to support both the health of you and your pet. For example, maybe instead of looking at your phone, you take walks with your dog or play with your bird. Or spend time observing your hamster, fish, turtle, or lizard. Making a swap such as this one can help you feel more connected, healthy, or energized.

If you take time to plan out your day, then you can add your pet to your plans. You can add spending time with your pet or their vet visits to your personal calendar. You can set alarms to remind you to feed your pet or give them medicine. Planning with your pet in mind is one way to ensure that you are taking care of them and yourself.

Both you and your pet need a treat from time to time, so don’t forget to celebrate those small wins. Did you keep your routine going a few days in a row? Did you remember to care for your pet on a particularly difficult day? Did your pet learn a new trick or show signs they are getting used to their new home? All of these things and more are worth celebrating. Taking care of your pet and yourself requires a lot of time, energy, and effort, and you deserve to reward yourself for all that you’re doing.

There will be tough moments in life and situations that make it difficult to care for your pet and yourself. That’s okay. It’s important that on these days, you don’t beat yourself up. You can always start anew tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, and try again. You are more than your bad days, and as long as you continue to give your pet the love and care it needs, then you can keep going.

In making space for your pet, don’t forget to make space for you! It’s easy to forget about yourself when you care for other living beings — that being humans, plants, or pets, but your self-care is important too. Make sure you are drinking water, eating nutritious meals, getting enough sleep, etc. All of this is important for both your mental and physical well-being. When you take good care of yourself, you can take better care of those around you, including your animal companions.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to maintain a routine on our own. It’s okay to reach out for support or find a buddy to help you through. For example, is there a friend who also has a dog, and you both can walk your dogs together? Are there groups or forums online where you can find advice and learn more about caring for your pet? Can you talk to an expert, trainer, vet, etc., who can help you plan out a good routine? While you do have to establish a routine for the health of you and your pet, remember that you don’t have to do it alone.

If you or a friend are struggling with your mental health, take an anonymous, free, and private mental health test. It only takes a few minutes, and after you are finished, you will be given information about the next steps you can take based on the results.

Take a screen