The pandemic has been a mixed bag for pets, with adoption rates souring during the lock-down periods. Conversely, shelters are reporting unprecedented numbers of abandoned pets, presumably when people go back to work.
Owning a pet is rewarding for your entire family. To celebrate National Responsible Pet Owners Month this February, consider the tips.
Encourage Shelter Adoption
Every year, millions of pets are placed in shelters. Instead of buying a pet from a mill or breeder, visit your local shelter and encourage your family and friends to adopt their next pet from a shelter.
Spay or Neuter
Prevent overpopulation and improve your pet’s health and behavior when you spay or neuter it.
See the Veterinarian
Regular veterinary check-ups help your pet stay healthy. You can also use these visits to gather important information about your pet’s health. Additionally, keep your vet’s phone number on speed dial for easy access during a pet emergency.
Update Identification
A microchip assists you in finding lost or stolen pets, so consider getting one this month. You can also give your pet a collar ID tag with your name and phone number.
Feed a Nutritional Diet
Quality food, treats and supplements give your pet the nourishment it needs for health, wellness and weight management. Discuss your pet’s specific dietary needs with your veterinarian, and follow his or her recommendations.
Groom
Every pet needs grooming. Clean or bathe your pet, trim its nails, brush its teeth, and wipe out its ears as you help your pet looks and feel its best.
Train your Dog
Teach your dog basic obedience to reduce behavior problems and strengthen your bond.
Provide Exercise
Many pets need exercise and movement throughout the day to reduce behavior problems and stay healthy and happy.
Clean Up
Carry bags so you can clean up after your pet if it goes to the bathroom outdoors. This responsible action prevents the spread of disease and maintains a clean environment.
Pet Proof your Home
Most pets are naturally curious and like to explore, so take steps to ensure your pet remains safe. Use pet-friendly cleaning products, remove choking hazards, research houseplants for toxicity to pets, and purchase pet-safe toys.
Teach Kids to Respect Animals
Children can be rough with pets, so supervise young children as they play with pets. Also, train kids to show respect to animals, and remind your children to ask for permission before touching a strange dog.
Purchase Pet Insurance
Afford expensive yet necessary medical care for your pet when you purchase pet insurance.
Travel Safely
Provide a crate, harness or other safety gear when you travel in the car with your beloved pet. Remember to pack its favorite food, a water dish and toys, too.
These tips help you care for your pet properly. They also help you celebrate National Responsible Pet Owners Month.
Read more
Whether you’re a hugger by nature or prefer not to be touched, your physical and mental health benefit when you celebrate National Hug Day, held annually on January 21. Give a few hugs this day and every day as you improve your overall health and wellbeing.
Increase Oxygen Flow
Touch increases your body’s hemoglobin, and it carries oxygen to all your body’s organs. With oxygen, your body’s able to fight diseases as it recovers from illness.
Reduce Physical Pain
UCLA Pain Control unit’s Dr. David Bresler see the need for physical touch. He prescribes bear hugs four times a day as part of his patients’ pain management treatment plan. To give and receive a bear hug and reduce your physical pain, he suggests you face your partner and use both of your arms to fully embrace him or her.
Improve Mental Health
Hugging releases oxytocin, an important hormone that affects your mental health and wellbeing. With it, you feel happier and less anxious.
Reduce Stress
A study performed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researched the responses of 50 people after a stressful event. Part of the group held hands and hugged for 20 seconds while the rest of the participants sat quietly and did not touch. When asked to recall a recent stressful event, the cuddlers experienced lower heart rates and blood pressure readings then the non-cuddlers. You, too, will enjoy reduced stress when you hug.
Sleep Better
Instead of fighting insomnia or relying on sleeping pills, participate in a few hugs every day. They relax your body and your emotions so that you can enjoy a better night’s sleep.
Live Longer
Hugging stimulates your skin’s nerve endings, which allows them to signal your brain to slow cortisol release. It’s a hormone that fights stress, builds your immune system, reduces inflammation and assists you in living longer.
Hugs do more than show affection. They also improve your physical and mental health. Implement them into your daily routine on National Hug Day, and talk to your doctor about additional ways you can be healthy and whole.
Read more
From all of us here at Scurich, we thank you for your support and wish you and your loved ones a wonderful 2022!
With the launch of a new year, you may resolve to improve your career and expand your skills, mentor someone or climb the corporate ladder. Have you considered workplace resolutions that improve your health? 
Stay strong, fit and active and succeed on the job with several resolutions.
Learn Something New
Stimulate your brain function, improve memory and stay young when you learn something new. Study a new language, take a college or professional development class or engage in a new hobby during your work breaks as you expand your mind and improve your health.
Change Your Eating Habits
Skipping breakfast, chowing on donuts in the break room and eating fast food for lunch cause you to gain weight, feel sluggish and struggle to focus at work. Resolve to make dietary changes as you improve your health. Prepare portable burritos or egg muffins for breakfast, bring nuts and fruit for snack time and pack a balanced lunch. These simple eating habit changes assist you in staying healthy at work this year.
Move More
Your body and your brain need movement to function properly. Adequate movement improves your physical health, focus and sleep, so plan to walk at least 10,000 steps per day with these tips.
- Hold walking meetings.
- Pace your office as you talk on the phone.
- Stretch every 30 minutes.
- Walk during breaks.
- Join an intramural sports league with your coworkers.
Reduce Stress
Stress affects your motivation, productivity and morale, and it can cause health problems like headaches, obesity and depression. While you can’t remove all stress from your work day, resolve to identify unhealthy stressors and reduce those challenges. That may mean transferring to a different department, addressing problems with your boss or rethinking expectations and saying no to extra projects as you lower stress and improve your health.
Achieve Better Work-Life Balance
Productivity, creativity and problem-solving skills actually decrease as your work hours increase because your brain and body need downtime to relax and recharge. Instead of working over your lunch hour, take a walk, read a book or call a friend, and turn off your phone at home. With work-life balance, you actually relax, improve your health and perform better at work.
Get Social
Strong relationships reduce health problems, improve sleep and increase longevity, so resolve to cultivate beneficial relationships with your coworkers. As you get social and chat more, improve collaboration and spend time together during breaks, you build relationships that help you live longer.
With these work resolutions, you can get healthy this year. You may also talk to your doctor or health insurance agent to discover additional resolutions that improve your health.
Read more
Christmas isn’t the same without lights. Strands of sparkling lights can be hazardous, though, if you forget to follow safety tips as you hang, plug in, store and enjoy these holiday essentials.
Buy lights that are safety tested. Lights without an Underwriters Laboratory (UL) tag may be unsafe to plug in and use.
Inspect lights and plug them in before hanging them. This visual assessment exposes fire hazards like cracked, loose or broken bulbs and frayed, chewed or broken cords. It also lets you replace burnt out bulbs and ensure all the bulbs are the same wattage. After repairing any problems, plug in the lights to ensure the bulbs work and the strands work properly.
Separate indoor and outdoor lights. Strands designed for indoor use should not be hung outdoors because their thin insulation is easily damaged when exposed to cold, wet outdoor conditions.
Hang lights with insulated hooks. Staples, tacks or nails can pierce the strands and cause dangerous electrical shorts and increase the fire risk.
Use extension cords properly. Plug no more than three strands of lights into each extension cord, lay rather than coil extension cords and use only outdoor certified extension cords for your outdoor lights. If the cords feel hot, unplug the lights for a while to reduce fire risk.
Turn off lights before you go to bed or leave the house. Otherwise, the hot lights could start a fire, and you will be asleep or away from home and unable to intervene.
Water the tree regularly. A dry tree and hot lights are an unsafe combination.
Store lights properly to prevent damage and simplify decorating next year. Instead of stuffing them in a box, carefully wind the light strands, secure them with twist ties and store them in plastic bags. Alternatively, wrap the strands around a paper towel tube and thread the ends through the tube’s hollow center.
Hanging lights is a fun and festive holiday tradition. With these safety tips, you have peace of mind as you enjoy your sparkling home all season.
Read more
December holiday celebrations often include an obligatory office party. Before you automatically throw a holiday party for your employees, though, consider the pros and cons.
Pros of a Holiday Office Party
- Reinforce the company culture – A fun party reminds employees that your organization prioritizes teamwork and is a fun place to work.
- Improve employee engagement – Help employees feel included and engaged with co-workers, two factors that contribute to higher job performance and company loyalty.
- Demonstrate the company’s health – A holiday party is one way to show employees that your company is stable, prosperous and committed to ongoing job security.
- Thank employees – Use a holiday party to thank employees for their hard work over the last year.
Cons of a Holiday Office Party
- Diversity could suffer – Most employees hang out with the colleagues they know during social events. That means your holiday office party probably won’t help employees mingle or build stronger relationships with colleagues they don’t know well.
- Employees could engage in unprofessional behavior – A holiday office party is considered a workplace event, but employees may act in an unprofessional manner. They could let down their guard and drink too much, make unwanted sexual comments or advances, and otherwise act in inappropriate ways.
- You could face liability challenges – Forcing employees to attend the holiday office party, excluding employees of a certain religion, gender or other protected status, or allowing employees to drink too much could result in a lawsuit. Even though you have commercial liability insurance, this or a similar legal challenge could affect your company into the future.
- Productive work time decreases – The holiday party may only last a few hours, but carefully consider if your company can afford the downtime.
How to Decide if you Should Host a Party
While you can use this list of pros and cons to help you decide if you should host a holiday office party, you can also consider several additional factors.
Do employees really want a party? Despite the benefits, your employees may prefer not to attend an obligatory holiday office party.
Should you serve alcohol? To reduce liability and promote a safer party, consider giving each employee a drink ticket and hire a bartender who can monitor alcohol consumption. Or nix the alcohol and serve an interesting non-alcoholic beverage instead.
What’s the best way to show appreciation to your employees? An afternoon off, sporting event tickets or cash bonus might be a more appreciated way of demonstrating your gratitude to employees.
A holiday office party has several advantages and disadvantages. Weigh the pros and cons as you decide whether or not to host one this year.
Read more
If you’re lucky enough to have time off this Thanksgiving, make a conscious effort to get away and leave work behind. Turn off your email, let calls go to voicemail and leave projects for Monday. You deserve time away, and your family, body and work will thank you.
1. Enjoy Your Family and Friends
Whether you spend time with friends down the street or fly across the country to see your family, appreciate the time away with your loved ones. Bake cookies with your kids, go shopping with your mom or play football with your friends. Be completely present as you make memories and strengthen your relationships this holiday.
2. Relax Your Body
As your doctor will tell you, constant pressure, tension and stress from work can create long-term health consequences. Relax your body and improve your health when you take a complete break from work. Nap, exercise or just sit around and pet your dog as you reduce stress and relax your body.
3. Focus on Your Hobbies
If you can’t remember the last time you picked up your paintbrushes, tennis racket or gardening tools, now’s the time to reengage with your hobbies. You feel mentally relaxed, rested and energized after focusing your brain on fun and fulfilling hobbies and interests that aren’t related to work.
4. Set Healthy Boundaries
Feeling guilty about taking time off work is a sign that you need better work-life balance. Establish healthier boundaries and start this holiday season.
5. Refresh Your Brain
Creativity and problem solving, two essential job skills, require tons of mental energy. On vacation, give your brain a rest, recharge your energy and prep yourself for greater success once you return to work.
6. Find Your Smile
A cheerful mental attitude keeps you motivated at work, but when was the last time you smiled? Find your smile when you get away from work and enjoy a restful vacation.
7. Take Care of Business
Are you putting off a dental cleaning, car repair or garage clean up? That list clutters your mind and distracts you from doing your best at work. Spend a few hours this holiday taking care of business at home, and relieve the clutter in your mind.
This Thanksgiving, you owe it to yourself to take a break from work. Your break will help you enjoy your holiday and work smarter.
Read more
