Happy new year, amigos! 

Well, a new decade is upon us, and we hope you had the most marvellous of festive breaks. Sam spent December in New Zealand, meeting lots of (very good) dogs and learning about their own philosophical inclinations. We thought it would be mighty remiss of us not to introduce you to some of the canine comrades he met on his travels, and to their personal fur-losophies. There's a lot of good canine wisdom here that ought to inspire your own New Year resolutions! 

Sophie the black labrador

Sophie is a heckin' good girl who works at a white water rafting company. We got into a very good natured chat about eduaimonia and chew toys (the two are linked). Sophie's philosophy is based on the core concept of perpetual belly rubs being the route to happiness. Perhaps yours should be, too. 

Rascal the West Highland Terrier

This is Rascal. He is an extremely self-aware Westie from the Bay of Islands who runs his own leisure cruise company. He's a good-looking boi and he knows it - he's even on a postcard! He's recently been reading the works of Nietzsche's dog, and - when we asked what his New Year resolution advice would be - he quoted the (canine) philosopher directly: 

"Become who you are! And eat lots of treats." 

- Nietzsche's dog

Sunny the German Shepherd 

Sunny knows a thing or two about what's what - most notably, how to really pull of shades. After discussing the state of the world, and what the future might hold in the supposedly roaring twenties, Sunny was sanguine, quoting one of the all-time great philosophical canines, Søren Kierkegrrrrr: 

“Above all, do not lose your desire for walkies. Everyday, I walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. But by sitting still, & the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. Thus if one just keeps on going for walkies, everything will be all right."

-  Søren Kierkegrrrrr

Hopefully this has given you all some food for thought as you consider your own new year resolutions! If you know any good dogs yourselves who have some wise words of wisdom, please do share them with us (along with photos, of course) - you can reach out to us over Twitter (we're @PhilosophyDogs) or on Facebook (Philosophers' Dogs).