Resolved

If there's one thing I like about New Year's Resolutions, it's their testament to the simple fact that none of us is perfect.  Within all of us is the potential to do better, whether it's regarding our health, or family life, or our professional life.  I have a tendency, perhaps, to oscillate on resolutions.  Some years I come up with dozens of them.  Other years, zero.  Never an in between.

This year coming up is a "dozens" kind of year.

On the first New Year's Eve when I started the blog, I wrote a list of work-related resolutions, part of my continuing effort to be a better keeper.

The thing is, though, only a tiny fraction of the animals under human care in this country are zoo or aquarium animals.  There are also lots of lots of pets out there, millions of them.  They benefit just as much from training, enrichment, husbandry improvements, and good old fashioned attention as any lion or polar bear.  I know that I'm not alone in zookeepers who lavish a lot of attention on their work charges, then come home and do sort of a "good enough" job on their own pets.  I'm going to try to change that in 2019.

So my advice this year is that, if you are making resolutions - to lose weight, to quit smoking, to finish a project - try to squeeze at least one more in, this one focused on your pet.  Resolve to take your dog for a walk once a day, or get your new cat a new toy every other month, or change your snake's furniture around once in a while.  Their happiness and health are in your hands.  A little extra attention couldn't hurt.