So you’ve made it through most of the holiday season (hopefully) unscathed.

You avoided giving your pets human foods. You kept them out  of the decorations.

Hopefully you even avoided dressing them up as elves. Sadly, my dog did not avoid that holiday risk. Thus, her holiday pictures show a look of impending doom on her face.

And as the new year looms and you are of the resolution ilk, then you are probably looking for a vow to make.

Many humans resolve to lose weight, eat right, exercise or all three. Some of us aspire to give up bad habits. We want to stop  smoking. We want to stop putting work ahead of family. We want to resist the urge to take a quarterback in the first round of the fantasy football draft.

Luckily, few pets share our bad habits. Unluckily, most pets’ bad habits are the owner’s fault.

So if you love your pet, consider a resolution for your furry pal.

Everyone (even dogs and cats) is an individual, so recommending a resolution for your pet is difficult without knowing him or her. But the following are common changes beneficial to many pets:

* Eat pet food, not people food. Use my rule of thumb: if you have thumbs, you can eat human food. If not, none for you.

* Eat a reasonable amount. Too much of a healthy diet can still cause obesity.

* Exercise regularly. This does not mean walking to the food bowl and back to the couch. You can handle as much exercise as your humans give you.

* See your veterinarian regularly. I hear you “seemed healthy” so your owner did not bring you to the vet. That is a common excuse for newly diagnosed, but sadly, progressed chronic diseases.

* Follow the veterinarian’s recommendations for you.

* Use parasite prevention regularly. It protects you and your owners.

* Lose weight, because you probably need to.

* And keep your resolutions beyond January.

Matthew Sisk is a practicing veterinarian from Habersham County. Have questions about your pet? He can be reached at mattsisk2003@yahoo.com.