“My dog is too crazy cray to take them anywhere!”

If we had a dollar for every time we heard this statement.

After experiencing both, I believe this next statement has some truth in it:

Parenting a dog is very similar to parenting a kid when out in public. Together you are both winging it and absolutely crapping your pants they will at any second chuck a tantrum or do something to embarrass the heck out of you.

Now because of this, would you just leave your kid at home or stay home 24/7 in fear of your child chucking a tantrum? No. In fact staying within the same four walls day in day out would actually make the situation a heck of lot worse on the tantrum front.

Its a very similar story for your dog. Just because you may have had a few ‘bad’ past experiences where your dog barked loudly at everything that moved, got way too excited or snappy at another dog passing by, or peed on everything in sight doesn’t mean you should or have to give up or make the excuse that it’s easier or better for them to stay home.

Just like our children, we want the very best for our fur kids. We want to see them happy, thriving and full of life.

This is why it saddened me recently to see our 5 year old Aussie Bulldog Ava a little sad. She was spending more time away from us on her own, sleeping more and constantly licking herself (a sign of a sad dog). It dawned on my partner Jake and I that maybe we hadn’t been paying her enough attention as we should have and maybe lacked a little on keeping her the happiest she could.

Since then we’ve been making a conscious effort to give her more love, affection and attention by tweaking a few things in her day and already we’ve noticed a vast difference in her happiness and energy levels.

Sometimes life’s hectic schedules mean we can sometimes overlook the small things that make the biggest difference in our dogs lives. What may be minuscule to us can mean the world to our fur kids.

Ive complied a little list of 5 ways you can ensure your dog is leading a happy, thriving life.

It’s no secret that the mornings is where its at to kick start your day on the best possible foot/paw.

Getting up earlier opens up endless possibilities to do the things you would usually blow off for more sleep. Ever go to bed at night telling yourself ‘ok Im totally getting up earlier in the morning to do a,b and c’ but all of those intentions go to out the window the second that alarm sounds in the morning? And all of the sudden you’ve pressed snooze 9 times too many and now you’re running late, feeling guilty yet again you didn’t get up and your dog looks at you yet again because they missed their morning walk/exercise class?

I get it. I used to be this person (and on the odd occasion yes I still find myself reaching for that snooze button). But I too would be left feeling disappointed, deflated and even more tired after having a very broken ‘extra’ sleep by the snooze button sounding every 10 minutes. Those extra minutes never actual help do they?

Ever looked at your dog and get inspired by how healthy, happy and strong they are?. Just looking at some dogs its obvious they are in good health, physically and emotionally. Thats because we love our dogs soo much and take the best care of them to ensure they live an optimum life. Its also because dogs instinctively adopt a few habits that help keep them in tip top shape, always.

I have come up with the below list of eight ways we can all learn from our dogs so we too can be healthier and happier. Here we go:

I take my health very seriously. I know when I invest the time and energy into feeling good, life just flows more freely. When I get a bit lazy and blow off things I know I should be doing I feel flat, tired and grumpy. It’s all too easy to blame being busy on why we don’t look after ourselves. I too used to tell myself ‘when life slows down a bit I’ll do that’, or ‘when I get that new job, go on annual leave, or find more motivation I’ll start focusing on my health more’. The truth is there’ll always be another excuse and something else to fill your time.

I am always finding new ways to hack my own health, things I can do on a daily/weekly that doesn’t take too much time, but packs a punch on overall wellness. And now I am sharing them with you. 5 ways to hack your wellness, so you too can feel healthy, fresh and vibrant at the drop of a hat.

We get it. There’s soo much pressure to eat better, exercise more and get into shape now we are approaching the warmer months. This is the time of year we see the terms ‘bikini body’, ‘detox teas’, ‘weight loss program’, ‘body transformation’, ‘eating plan’ blah blah blah.

You have all the best intentions in the world to become a better you this season. You are ready to give this thing a crack and start making healthier choices…. you want results yesterday so you start clutching at straws and find yourself drawn into these fads and promises to make you slimmer and more toned in no time flat. But does it actually work?