The new year is upon us, and that has many people thinking of how they can prepare for a happy, healthy and successful 2013. While there are plenty of resolutions that fall to the wayside by February, you can beat the odds by taking a slightly different approach: share your resolutions with your best four-legged friend.

We all want to give our pets the best lives possible, so tying them into your resolutions can help bolster your resolve to turn goals into accomplishments. When you succeed, your dog will benefit as much as you do.

Another thing to keep in mind is the importance of setting incremental objectives. Don’t pressure yourself by starting off with a huge, hard-to-reach goal. Set your sights on small successes and changes that will add up in the long run.

Here are three great ideas for resolutions that both you and your dog will enjoy and benefit from:

* Be more active. The appeal to lose weight and have a sculpted, muscular body can feel strong, but expecting fast results on either of those goals can be the undoing of your resolution. Instead, work on being more active – and with that, you’ll likely see increased fitness and decreased weight. If you take your dog on one walk per day, try increasing it to two, even if the second one is a quick nightly spin around the block. As winter melts into spring, you’ll have extra opportunities – and impulses – to continue your new streak of activity.

* Eat more whole foods. Counting calories and cutting out favorite foods might begin to feel tedious and frustrating. Instead of depriving yourself, shift your perspective to new ways to enjoy more kinds of fresh, whole foods. Both you and your dog can benefit from this. Transitioning your pet to Sojos raw dog food – which includes whole food ingredients like apples, carrots, pumpkin, beef, turkey and more – gives him additional, easily digestible nutrients for better health, in much the same way as whole foods will do for you. So skip the chips and kibble and opt for fresh, healthy foods that your prepare yourself (or with a little help from us).

* Focus more on free time. Granted, your dog’s schedule isn’t full of business meetings and take-home work projects, but he probably notices when your schedule is. While it can be difficult to disconnect from the hustle-bustle of work and the minutiae of daily life, make the effort – and share the resulting free time with your dog. Carve out an extra half-hour or hour of time here and there and use it to do something that you’ll both enjoy, like a trip to the off-leash park or a game of fetch in the yard. In the colder months, look for indoor play dates for dogs so that you can enjoy some down time without getting cold.