Pet-Kiddo Relationships with CheckOut Veterinary

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Height thirty eight thirteen ten Wiba and ask the experts.
Brought you by Checkout Veterinary online. Check out vet dot com.
That's check out vet dot com. Fantastic website. He's been
curious about Checkout Veterinary, wondering how exactly do those drive
in bays, drive through bays, drive up drive in bays work,

(00:20):
and how exactly does checkout Veterinary work? Really cool website,
doctor you got. I know you put a lot of
work into it and it shows. It's a really, really
convenient website. Doctor Grear, how you doing this morning.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
I'm doing great.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Thank you, It's good to talk to you. And of
course doctor Greer recognized by the UH Westminster Kennel Club
as Veterinarian of the Year mentioned to the website. You
can learn more about doctor Greer and learn more about
the clinic all at the website checkout vet dot com.
Let's check out vet dot com. Great day to start
that relationship at Checkout Veterinary. Really convenience. If you can

(00:54):
hear my voice right now, you are near the Checkout
Vet clinic. They are right in sun Pray, right off
the highway, right near the interstate at twenty seven ten
Prairie Lakes drive again there right in sun Prairie. Very
convenient that first visit. Also, it's free, that exam is free.
Another great thing about the website checkout vet dot com
is everything's kind of spelled out black and white as
far as tests, costs and those type of things. Makes

(01:16):
it very very convenient for you as a pet owner
to get good care. When I was a kid, I
used to watch a show called Where in the World
Is Carmen San Diego? And I used to play a
game as well called Where in the World? Where in
the world is Doctor Greer? This morning, where are you
calling us from this week?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Doc Austin Texas?

Speaker 1 (01:33):
Austin, Texas, What do you have going on down there?

Speaker 2 (01:37):
We're having one of our veterinary meetings, so I'm in
a sentance for that. I'm posting this meeting, so I
needed to be here a little early. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Well, it's great to have you join us. And we
talked last week about what life is like as a
vet and what all goes into continuing education and other things.
And I know something that's very important to you is
not just learning but also sharing your knowledge, and it'll
be a great opportunity for folks that are attending this

(02:04):
conference to hear from you as well. And doctor, I
want to talk this week about about the kiddos and pets,
and it's a you know, as a parent and as
a person, I've got a dog and two cats. It
is an amazing relationship that forms between kids and pets,
and it can be beneficial for everyone, can't it It is.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
I mean, it's a really wonderful thing. You know, kids
tend to beg their parents for a puppy, a kit,
and you know, whatever the pet may happen to be.
And I think it's really important that children have the
ability to own pets. I think there's a lot of
important things that they learned from pet ownership. So I
am a big fan. We had a pile of dogs

(02:45):
when our kids were little. Then as they got older,
we had cats, we had chickens, we had rabbits, we
had cows, we had horses, we had sheep. So they
learned a lot of responsibility in those relationships because they
were with responsible for taking care of a lot of
those animals. Certainly not one hundred percent responsible, but responsible
enough that they learned a lot of important life skills. That.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
I think that you talk about that word responsibility as well,
and I think sometimes we forget part of that. That
bond is and with a with a pet is and
and as as adults, we may not always realize this,
but they are reliant on us entirely. I mean, their
their wellness, their happiness there, they're literally everything. And you know,

(03:31):
anybody with with a dog, for example, knows dogs very
much appreciate everything that you provide for them. But it's
really an important lesson for kids to learn. And it's
also important that that parents simply and I know there's
kind of that graduate. I think a lot of kids
first pet is and maybe a goldfish or a you know,
a lizard or something in an aquarium. But uh, to

(03:52):
really understand as parents as well, that to make sure
that kids are understanding not just the responsibility, but making
sure they're following through on those responsibilities, I've got a guess,
oh right.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
I mean, if the kids run off to school and
forget to see the dog, then it's your responsibility to
finish that up. But I think that that's a really
important piece of how that relationship develops, is that the
kids understand that that's their responsibility. My daughter had a
Bernie's Mountain Dog puppy when she was in junior high
and the puppy had fair number of accidents in her

(04:26):
create she had diarrhea. So one day she said to me,
because she had to bath here every morning before she
went to school, because she was a mess. And she
looked at me and she said, so, how many baths
can I give her before all of her hair falls out? Like?
I think one more, so we better get this under control. So,
you know, those are the things that kids need to learn,
is that it's not just all about them. And when
kids are in grade school and junior high, they have

(04:47):
a tendency to have that really internal focus. They don't
see the rest of it as clearly as the rest
of us do. So I think that it's a good
opportunity for them to start to see those relationships, to
see that they're just and on them. You know, it
shouldn't just be about responsibility. It should be about love
and having a great time and building that bond. I

(05:09):
was talking to somebody yesterday who said that when he
was a kid, one of the dogs in his family
bid him, but they kept the dog because it was
his brother's most important possession and thing and love the
one thing that he loved most. So clearly they weren't
going to get rid of the dog. So I think
there's a lot of give and take that happens in
those relationships, and kids need to be you need to

(05:31):
model the behavior. You need to teach them. You know
how to get the dog out in the morning, and
what to do after school, and you know when to
feed and what not to feed, and what's appropriate and
what kind of a schedule they should be on. I mean,
those are all really important things for kids to learn,
but it should be a really wonderful, loving and fun
relationship for them as well. So I think if we

(05:53):
can foster those relationships, kids learn a lot, and they
they will oftentimes if they've had a bad day at school,
if somebody's you know, give them a hassle, or their
teacher or their their classmates, or their homework isn't going well,
they have somebody to rely on. They can go in
the room, they can hug that dog, they can squeeze
that cat, and they can have, you know, a conversation

(06:15):
with them about a tough day, and and they'll listen.
They listen if you read to them. If you want
to read your homework, your turn paper to them, they'll
listen to you. I mean, there's some really wonderful things
that happen in those relationships that don't happen with a person,
don't happen with you know, somebody else's dog. It's your dog,
your cat, your rat, your goldfish or whatever. So I

(06:37):
think those are really important.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
And you talk about that, that unconditional love to doctor
is you know, I think we tend to tend to
forget some time. School can be a rough place. I
mean it's it's you know, even the greatest day, it's
a grind for a for a lot of kiddo's And
having having that that companion there that's there to as
you point out, listen and and and just be there
for for you know, for the comfort and the hugs

(07:00):
and the and the all that good stuff. They are.
It's amazing. Get do you get kiddos that come to
the appointments with their with their pets that come to
the clinic to see to see what goes on at
at a vet visit.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, And I love that for a couple of reasons.
For one, I think it's really important that they see
the commitment that their parent makes in that pet's care,
and they understand that it's a pet is sick, that
there has to be host visit care, medications, diet changes,
all the things that have to happen. I think they
need to be engaged and involved, and I think if
they are, they're more likely to follow the recommendations because

(07:35):
it came from someone that isn't their mom or dad.
It's outside that family relationship where you know a lot
of kids don't listen especially well to their parents, but
they may listen to another authority. I think they it's
a good opportunity for kids to see if that's a
career they want to go into. A lot of kids
when they're in grade school and junior high make a
decision that veterinary medicine or some part of veterinary medicine

(07:58):
is an important career for them, and we used to
see a lot of it. I talked to a woman
this week several times who's done, who's sixteen is really
interested in becoming a veterinarian, and people were discouraging him
from doing that, and that broke my heart because I
think this is the best job in the world. I mean,
it's just absolutely an amazing opportunity, whether you're a veterinarian
or a vettech, or you know, whatever role you played

(08:20):
a veterinary clinics, the manager, the receptionist, the CSR, you know,
whatever you happen to be. I think it's really important
that kids, if that's something that they're interested in, that
they have that opportunity to see if that's a career
choice for them. And honestly and hard as this is,
sometimes the loss of a pet is the first loss
of someone that's really close to them that happens. So

(08:43):
before a grandparent, before a parent, before a friend or
a family member is lost, sometimes it's that pet that's
lost and they learn a lot from that experience. We
talked about this the other day that there's some really
good books out there. There's some really good learning skills
that happen from this. When kids come in, like little
kids for euthanasia, parents would say to me, well, just

(09:04):
tell him that he fell asleep, or just tell him
that that he died at the veterinary clinic. And I'm no, no, no, no.
If this is what we have to do, if euth
in asia is what has to happen, or the loss
of a pet has to happen. We need to have
that conversation. So I'm very willing to spend time with
the kids and explain to them what's happening, why it's happening,
how it's going to happen. I mean, I really think

(09:26):
it's important that children are involved in those things and
not sheltered from it because they learn and they understand
a lot more than we think they will. And if
you don't tell them the truth, they're going to know.
They're going to know you didn't, you know, honestly share
with him what was going on. So to me, it's
really important that we have a very transparent relationship with
those children. And if the parents aren't comfortable, then we

(09:47):
as veterinary professionals can step into that role and help
them so that they understand a lot more about what's happening.
So I just think that there's so many layers to
this relationship. It's really important.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
You know, one of the and when you talk about death,
bereavement and kind of experiencing that is obviously pets for
for most of it is just about everybody I know
are very important family members. They are they are part
of that family structure and having that experience of love
and loss and and and the bereavement that follows. Also,

(10:23):
because pets lifespans are shorter, they go through different life phases.
They the puppies to dogs to to seniors, those type
of things. What a great tool for for young folks
to understand on a very personal, very intimate level, what
the life cycle is all about. Is you know, he's
a little puppy. It's all energetic and you know kind

(10:44):
of the teenager and adult maybe a mischievous one and
then as they get older, slowing down and and you know,
need a little bit more assistance. What a great lesson
that is as well for the kiddos.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Oh yeah, and then there's some wonderful activities that kids
can participate in. Forage has a lot of great things.
Whether you have a horse or a cow, or a sheep,
or a dog or a cat, there's forage activities in
four each. There are things like horseless horse projects, So
if the kids don't have a horse, but they love horses,
then there are paths for that that Some of the
for each organizations locally will have someone who owns horses

(11:18):
that the kids can have access to showing them doing agility,
doing physical activities like fastcat in obedience with the dogs.
Wonderful experience for children to be able to train with
the dog, to spend time with them, to have, you know,
a competitive kind of opportunity, because not how kids are
athletic enough to I was really not athletic at all,

(11:40):
Like I was a wreck as an athlete. So to
have something that you could be in the team sport
still with a dog and it didn't highlight your worgan
abilities but rather your abilities. You know, there's some really
interesting things that kids can do. So you should look
into four Each or FFA. Even if you don't live
in an ag cultural area, there are still opportunities for

(12:02):
those to happen. Obedience classes you just need to look
around and find Like Badger Kennel Club has some really
great opportunities. They're right into for us, So you don't
have to live in the country, you don't have to
have a sheep or a horse to be a participant
for it. There's a lot of really cool things you
can do by working with the dogs in those activities.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
Talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinary,
talking about the relationship between pets and people, and of
course the family, the kiddos, and of course the great
value of children and things that they learn from pets.
Also things that the family can benefit from having a
pet in the house as well. It's a great day
if you've got a new pet, maybe you're looking to
see a new vet. It's a great day to start

(12:43):
that relationship. Talk with the doctors, get to know the doctors.
Have your pet in to check out Veterinary. You can
learn more online. Checkout vets dot com. That's checkout vet
dot com. Felfhe number to make an appointment six h
eight three one eight sixty seven hundred. That's six h
eight three one eight sixty seven hundred. That telephone available
to you at checkout vet dot com. Don't forget that
first visit. It's free. That exam is free for your

(13:06):
pet again. The telephone number six eight three one eight
sixty seven hundred. Open Monday through Wednesday. Wednesday's nine until
five Friday, ins through Sunday from nine to five thursdays.
Of course, check in vet is open and available to you.
So check out Veterinary open seven check out and check
in open seven days week Soon to be at Checkout
Vet open seven days a week. That's some really exciting stuff.

(13:27):
If you've missed any of that news, great stuff at
Checkout Veterinary. New vets coming on board. It's a great
day to start that relationship again. The website checkout vet
dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. We'll talk more
about what kids can learn from having a pet, also
your pet learning with your kiddo as well. We'll get
those details from Marty Greer, Doctor Mardy Greer. Next as
Ask the Experts with Checkout Veterinary continues here on thirteen

(13:49):
ten Wui b A eight fifty three thirteen ten Wui
b A and Ask the Experts with check Out Veterinary,
talking with doctor Mardy Greer of Checkout Veterinary. The website
checkout vet dot com. That's check out vet dot com.
One of the cool things with the modern technology and
your smartphone. I use Google Photos, but I know there's
an equivalent for Apple as well. And just during the break,

(14:11):
I typed in my son's name and our dog's name
and it brings up all the photos that they are
both featured in and there's just thousands.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
So it's cool.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, So it's such a great relationship. And doctor you
had mentioned before the break about different organizations and different groups,
and you also mentioned obedience classes, and that's an important
one obviously for pets, but if you've got a kiddo
in the house, it's an important one that they attend
those as well, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
Oh yeah, I used to take my kids to obedience
class with my dog because of course, the kids will
listen to the instructor much better than listen to me,
So it was very useful for me to take them
and have them be in that experience. But I think
that we need to kind of go back to where
kids are really young, and we really haven't discussed what
happened if you bring a dog into a household with

(15:01):
a child, or a child into a household with a dog,
that we make sure that that relationship is a safe one.
When you have little kids, toddlers and younger, you really
should never leave the room, regardless of the circumstances with
leaving the dog and the child unattended together, because you
just never know. Sometimes things happen, like the kid kids
will you know, grab an ear or you know, they

(15:23):
don't mean to do any harm, but they're very young.
They're very small. They don't really understand. So it's important
that you make sure that the children understand what's safe
and what's not. But it's important that if you're bringing
a baby into a household, in particular, that you introduce
that dog appropriately to the baby. Get am used to
the smells, get am use to the sounds, do all
the things, and you know, you can really have some

(15:44):
wonderful relationships, but you have to make sure that the
baby is always safe. The other thing, of course, is
you know, you throw the factors in the garbage bin,
and sometimes you always find those stuff. There's a lot,
there's a lot of moving parts. As soon as you
put the child in the highchair, when they get about
six months old, they start sitting up and eating solid food.
Food starts flinging off the high chair pretty quickly. That

(16:05):
relationship changes completely. The dog goes from I'm not sure
if I like the way that that baby cries and.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Smells, but.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Like they hang their hand over the side of that
highchair with hunting out cheerios stuck to their hand. Boom.
You know, the dog is like whoa freak machines. There's
less of how relationships change and if you're aware of
it and you're careful with it, you can have just
incredible relationships. When you feed the dog, we used to
have the children take the cup of food over and

(16:34):
dump it into the food dish. That the dog saw
the child approaching the food dish as a positive and said, oh,
I love this kid, because every time I love the kids,
I see the kid. Then food goes into my dishes
or the are you know, bugging the dog at the
food bowl. So really, some very subtle things can happen
that can make sure that the relationships thing instead of

(16:56):
worrying that you're going to have something that happens. There's
some dogs that are really good with kids. There's some
dogs that aren't really good with kids. So again, you know,
think that through. If you have a couple of kids
and you're thinking about a dog, think about the dogs
that are going to get along really well with the children.
Don't pick a dog that might be a problem. And
there's some good books out there there. You can talk

(17:16):
to your veterinary professionals. You know, we're happy to consult
with people and ask, you know, what kind of dog
they think they're going to want, and make sure we
pick something like a Golden Retriever that's going to be
a wonderful dog. Maybe not a carrier. You know, maybe
there's some things that are some breeds that are better choices,
some lines of dogs that are better choices, some breeders
that are better choices. So again, with some really thoughtful planning,

(17:39):
you can have just incredibly wonderful relationships that are really
really fun and really really safe. But they need to
be thought true, just like anything else. You know, when
you pick a car seat, you're really careful. So you
want to pick a dog that's you're going to live
with this dog in your house for fifteen years. You
want this to be a really wonderful, carefully thought out relationship.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
One final thing before we wrap, when you mentioned diapers
as treats are are is that is? Are those toxic?
I mean, have you had any are our diapers? Is
that a toxic or is that? Is that something that they've.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
No But it's really gross. Yeah, oh yeah, you know
that's a technical term that that's a veterinary technical term.
It's really gross. There's a lot of gel and material
and things in the diapers sent helps to be absorbent,
so we don't want those going down into the dog.
But seriously, you need to have locking handles on your
garbage can or make sure that they all get carried
out because I'll tell you, if a dog can find it.

(18:32):
You know, you think you put it someplace that the
dog can't get, but.

Speaker 1 (18:34):
You are wrong.

Speaker 2 (18:35):
The dog is very clever, very creative, and very willing
to find things that you have no expectation that they will. So,
you know, setting the diaper bag with the cheerios in it,
or the bottles of milk in it, whatever. You just
have to really think about everything that you are moving
through the house with because as babies develop and change
the they go from the crib to the playpen, to

(18:57):
the floor, to the tie chair to the you know
all stuff. You have to just kind of think through
everything because the dog is The dog is watching you
twenty four hours a day and taking good notes of
where you are. You have mitches in your armor where
you have weeks points, and they're going to take advantage
of that.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
Really great information is always great perspective as well. What
a great relationship that develops with pets, peoples and the
kiddos and everything. Speaking of starting a relationship, great day
to get on indo. Check out vet. You can learn
more on checkout Veterinary. You can learn more online the
website check out vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com,
doctor Greer. It's always insightful, always great chatting with you.

(19:36):
Enjoy your time in Texas and we'll talk real soon.
Thank you, and again that website, check out vet dot com.
Mitch Hank joins Vicky McKenna next right here on thirteen
ten wib A