Sit, Stay, Socialize! with Dr. Greer of CheckOut Veterinary

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thirteen ten WIBA and ask the experts. Of course, brought
to you this morning by Checkout Veterinary onlinethwebsite checkout vet
dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. Hope you've had
a chance recently to stop by the website. If you
haven't done that, it's a great website to learn more about.
Checkout veterinarya learn about what makes their clinics so unique.
Of course I drive through service. Don't forget also that

(00:22):
first apployment at Checkout Veterinary. That visit is free, that exam,
it is free. It's a fantastic day to start the relationship.
Open seven days a week, nine am until five pm.
And again, what a great thing that first visit, that
first exam is free to you and your pet. Great
day to get on. And of course I'll write at
twenty seven to ten Prairie Leags drive in Sun Prairie
tell phone number six eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.

(00:43):
That's six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
And joining us this morning is doctor Marty Greer, who
is recognized by the Westminster Kennel Club as the Veterinarian
of the Year. Doctor. How you doing today.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
I'm doing great. We have such beautiful weather in Wisconsin today.
Oh my goodness, it's it is.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
It's been per It's been just so great. And I
know are both both dogs and cats are just I
know they love this time a year as well. We're
gonna be talking about speaking of this time a year
is pet behavior and dog and cat behavior, and of
course next week is take your Pets to work Weeks,
so also talk behaviors but also socialization as well. But

(01:22):
before we get rolling on this week's conversation, I was
funny just yesterday I was having a conversation with one
of our radio engineers. They are always fun people to
talk to. And one of the things we're discussing was
sun Prairie and that area just off Highway one fifty
one where Checkout vet is and what a great spot
that is. And he had commented and I'd seen this

(01:42):
as well, like twenty years ago. It was kind of
just field and somebody discovered said, hey, you know what,
this is a great place to if you want something
that that's convenient, this is a great place to put that.
And you and the team at Checkout VETDOC, you guys
really did a lot of research and there's a good
reason why you're located where you are, isn't it?

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Sure is. As soon as Target went up, I started
watching that area because I knew it was an area
of great growth. And when we applied for our building permit,
our our parent company name is in UH Innovative Veterinary
Practices and some purry the board. The city board was like, oh,
we love that because we want to be innovative. So
immediately they grasped onto the concept of innovation and cool

(02:25):
and new and you know, that whole approach. So it's
it's delightful being there because it puts in the middle
of everything, Like I can walk to Criminal Cookies and
I can walk and get a burger. You know, I
think I can do everything I need to right from there.
It is.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
It is amazing. You mentioned too about being innovative. Let's
talk real quick about the clinic itself, and we talk
about that drive through service. It is. This is this
is a creation, This is an invention. You put a
lot of work into and and really making this UH
this clinic very very conducive for really good pet care
and really really convenient for pets and their owners.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Is well I hope. So that was the goal, was
to make it really work well for everybody. Most veterinary
clinics are really based on what the staff and the
doctors want. It's really client not client centric. It's not
patient centric, it's veterinaryan centric, which you know, it's okay,
but we can do better. We can do a lot
better by putting the patients at the center of everything

(03:23):
we do. So there's there's a whole movement toward fear
free and those stress and all these things. And you know,
we were doing this stuff long before that became a thing.
My daughter used to bake liver brownies for the dogs
to come in for the appointments, and so for you know,
for thirty five plus years, we've been addressing the needs
of giving them the peanut butter and the sicken baby

(03:43):
food and all this stuff so that they can have
a much more pleasant appointment. And in fact, last week
I spent a five day course for seven in the
morning until o'clock at night every day learning about animal behavior,
dog and cat behavior. And one day we went out
and did some horse stuff too, So not that I
do horses, but it was a really interesting look at

(04:04):
how you can train horses with positive reinforcement instead of
with the usual techniques that people have always historically done
or historically done in our lives tame anyway, So it
was great opportunity to sit in the room with like
minded people. There were about thirty people in the course
and they buy Design Keep It Small. It's top by
one of the premier behaviors in the country. That's Karen Overall.

(04:26):
And if you aren't familiar with Karen Overall, I would
suggest you google her because she has the coolest videos
of things like how to teach your dog relaxation techniques
and how to teach your dog to hold his breath.
So you're saying, well, why do I need to teach
him to hold his breath? Well, if you're going to
have your vet take an X ray and your dog
will hold his breath, then they're not going to need
to as much restrainer, as much sedation, or as much

(04:48):
of these other things that they might have to if
the pet isn't trained for those things. So teach your dog.
This is a really good opportunity when you get a
young dog or a new dog to go to the vet,
do some happy vet visits, not necessarily going and have
some thing done where they get blood drawn or vaccinations given,
or you know, even maybe an exam. But literally, that's
one of the reasons we've set it up at checkout

(05:08):
so that and check in now is doing the same,
so that you can come in and do that happy visit.
Just come in, hop on the scale, walk around, see everybody,
take a few threats, go back in the car, and leave,
and nothing bad happens to you, so that you now
have the experience of thinking that that's a restaurant, that's
not a bad clinic. And that's really the approach that

(05:28):
we want for all of our patients because it's so
much better for the patient if they can be happy
and relaxed and learn some of these techniques. Karen Overall's
got videos out there if you want to go take
a look. You don't have to be a veterinarian to
do it. You can just pop right down. I was
googling her this morning just to see what was out there,
and there's some really cool stuff that's available for the
general public to read.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
You know, doctor one of the things that's interesting is
you mentioned you mentioned doctor Overall and and and you know,
the approach that she takes. One of the things that
you get the opportunity to do is is speak and
and also get a chance to listen to speakers. You
mentioned these small groups. I know you were recently out
actually out by doctor Overalling at Prince Edward Island area.

(06:09):
There's a reason why you're you're doing this stuff is
is I think you know the old adage, old dog
new tricks. Uh, we can all benefit from learning something
new and learning learning new ways of approaching that. And
I think we talk about the clinic itself, it's a
very revolutionary approach and and and and that's not an
understatement either and that or excuse me, that's not hyperbole.

(06:29):
It is it is really very much a progression of
for the better of veterinary care. Let's talk a little
bit about about the as we talk about the clinic,
about how that's easier for pets overall. And going back
to that old dog new tricks, do you guys get
older dogs that you're kind of reinitiating into into into
pet care veterinary care and really working hard to kind

(06:52):
of take some of those past experiences that they may
have had at other clinics and kind of give them
a new fresh start, and on how you guys approach
things that at check out veterinary.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yeah, and I love that question. I thought for a
minute you were trying to tell me I was oh.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Far forward about that at all.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, what do you mean, old agnitrix? So, in fact,
I just saw a cat in the last half hour
that was diagnosis being diabetic. He's previously not had good
veterinary experiences, so he came in today for his blood
recheck on his medication, which, by the way, he's on
one of the oral medications for cats with diabetes. So
if you have a diabet cat, that's something to be

(07:28):
aware of, is that there's something new on the market.
And he was on GABA Pet's day and it was
a world of difference from his first visit when we
had never met him before and he came in for
his initial diagnosis and today when he came back two
weeks later for a recheck, was to say, let's give
him some medication and help him feel more comfortable during
this handling. Because he's twelve years old, he's never had
a good veterinary experience, and it was pretty easy for

(07:51):
him to get agitated because we were to let us
draw the blood and do his exam, and you know
all the things that are required at a veterinary visit.
And as hard as veterinarians try to be nice and
fear free in all those there's still a certain amount
of hands on work that has to happen or else
we really can't effectively provide care for your pet. So
needles still come with needles, but you can put on

(08:13):
ice packs and light it came before you inject them,
and you can give them treats to keep them distracted,
and you can give them medications. And we actually just
had our doctors meeting to have all my doctors on
a zoom call today, and there's about fourteen of us,
so that's no small task to get everybody in the
same room at the same time, or at least on
the same zoom call at the same time. And we
were discussing which doctors at the practice are comfortable with behavior,

(08:35):
and all kinds of hands went up. So they're all
comfortable talking about my older doctor, Doctor Dave loves it,
Doctor Johnson loves it, Doctor Nyaki, doctor Denny. They all
love behavior, and so I think it's important that you
go to a place that that's a priority for the
practice that behavior is addressed and behavior is managed. So

(08:55):
if the food treats, if a ginger snap or peanut
butter isn't enough, that we can pull the appropriate drugs.
Because things like benadru that's an ana histamine, not an
anti anxiety drug. People of use day's promising for many years.
Well it's a sedative, but it's not anti anxiety. It
just paralyzes them so they're still terrified, but they can't
do anything. So it's important that you go to a
place that embraces the importance of behavior and importance and

(09:17):
behavior modification and medications to make everything go better. And
just to say in two weeks is the fourth of July,
and so if we're tension, we're going to have fireworks
going off in the neighborhood. And not the cats as
much because they typically are indoors, but the drugs can
be absolutely terrified. And it is the number one day
for dogs to run away from home is the fourth

(09:38):
of July, So people need to be aware of that,
they need to have safety measures in place. If they're
dog does have anxiety, gets your medications in advance, because
there's some really good meds to help your pets with that.
Get a collar on with your ID, you know, your
cell phone number on it. Put something fun on the
collar like have your people call my people, or my
mom's shrinking. You know things that tell people when they

(09:59):
read the tag that you really do want this pet.
It's an accident that it ran away. It wasn't because
you were careless. Get your phone number on there. Get
your microchip done. We're doing microchip specials in Sun Prairie
this week because we want to make sure everybody is microchiped.
And once you get your microchip, make sure it's registered,
because an unregistered microchip traces it back to your vet clinic,
but it doesn't get the pets back home. So those

(10:21):
are some really important things. So this is the time
to be your vet clinic and saying I need help.
My dog is got anxiety with the fireworks, with thunderstorms
and whatever it happens to be. Can I get some
medication Because A you need it in advance, your vet
can't give it too on the force of July, they're
likely to be closed. B you need drugs are going
to help your pet, and C you need to know
which drugs at which dose are going to help your pet,

(10:43):
because not every pet responds the same to every drug.
So I think it's really important that people aren't doing
this self medicating stuff with things that they can buy
over the counter, or that they're putting it to the
last minute and then not being prepared for the eventuality,
which is the fourth of July is coming, it's going
to be here.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
I live in an area that's got a lot of
resort type folks who come from a state south of ours,
and they really like to start. Yeah, they as soon
as as soon as as soon as June rolls around,
they start they start igniting things. And that is something
that that I think a lot of pet owners are
often surprised by is how not only the effect that

(11:21):
the fireworks have on their on their dogs, but how
strong and how fast a dog can be when they're scared.
Is they're going to get out of there? Is we
talk about about behavior and our expectation. I think sometimes
we and correct me if it wrong that we kind of,
you know, we have like these known behaviors of how
our pets are gonna gonna react, and we don't always

(11:42):
anticipate something that terrifies them. Just how quickly they can.
They can get out of there if they feel if
they feel in danger.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
Right and people people say, well, why are they so
afraid of it, Well, they don't understand it. There's splashing
life in the sky, there's all these loud noises. They
probably hear noises that you and I can't hear because
of their specialized hearing it. So there's all these things
that are happening and there's not a good way to
exclim it to them. It's like taking a two year
old to fires and not having the children understanding is

(12:10):
you can't really explain to them what's happening. The same
with the thunderstorm, and they start to when they have
thunderstorm anxiety, they start to react similarly, but they back
they it's called back chaining. So first they'll hear the
storm when it's happening and there's rain and thunder and
all this stuff, and then they realize, okay, before that happens,
there's lightning. And then they realize before that happens, there's
a barometric pressure drop, and then they start to get

(12:32):
nervous about that. So dogs will learn very quickly, and
you're right, they can bolt. You know, you have the
door open a crack just just far enough to reach
out and you know, hand something and the dog is
out the door, gone down the street and it's usually
dark and it's gone. It's just and it's heartbreaking when
it happens. I've seen it happen too many times. So
we just have to be very protective of our pets.

(12:55):
So there's there's great drugs on the market. You can
talk to you about about Cilio, which is actually a
drug that able specifically for noise anxiety. It's given as
a gel and it's put inside the dog's mouth but
they don't have to swallow the drug for us to work.
It's a really unique drug delivery system that's developed over
in Sweden, and so if you put this drug on
the dog's gums, it absorbs through the gum and goes
directly to the brain through the pathways. It doesn't have

(13:16):
to go through the stomach into the circulation and then
to the brain. It immediately goes through the brain. So
it's very cool. There's other drugs that we have that
are really quite good. There's benzodiazepine, and there are gabinoids,
gabapentan and the like. Pregablin that can be really helpful
for these dogs. And sometimes it takes the cocktail to
not have them so sedate that they're sleeping, but relaxed

(13:37):
enough that they aren't panicking. And you know, it's hard
to understand, but I have a phobia. I have a
phobia pipe And you can tell me all day long,
you're not going to fall, you'll be fine, but I
have this very guttural response that that's how I react.
And it's the same with our dogs. So it's not
like you can reason with them and talk them out
of it. It's not like playing soft sounds of fireworks

(13:58):
and thunderstorms are going to decent them. Sometimes it just
flat out take anti anxiety medication and there's nothing to
be ashamed of or embarrassed about. If that's what your
pet needs, get your the help they need, and find
a vet clinic that is willing to work with you.
And if you're going to a clinic that seems reluctant
or unsure about what drug therapy they should be using,
please contact us because we have a whole array of

(14:21):
great veterinarians that are young and old and smart and
are accustomed to managing these dogs. They may have dogs
themselves like this. They've had experiences in school and they've
been in rotations that you know, have different vet clinics,
so they've learned all this stuff. So please take advantage
of it and don't wait until the fifth of July
to realize you should.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
Have done some talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer
of Checkout Veterinary. Don't forget Checkout Vet Veterinary open seven
days week, nine am until five pm. Great data, start
that relationship. New patients are being accepted right now. Get
your pet in. Don't forget that first visit, that first exam.
It is free. Their telephone number six oh eight three
one eight sixty seven hundred. That's six oh eight three
one eight sixty seven of one hundred. And doctor has

(15:01):
kind of come up the last couple of weeks, and
I I don't know that I've I hope other folks
have picked up on this, But one of the things
that that I've noticed in the past couple of weeks
is really the importance of expressing and talking with your vet,
not just about your pet care, but kind of your
values and where things are, what's important to you, and
making sure that that that those things align. For example,

(15:23):
as you mentioned, some vets maybe hesitant to do things
like prescribe medication. If you're somebody who you know who
feels as though that's the right route, it's important to
have that conversation with the VET and make sure that
that your that your ideas and your feelings match up
on that right.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, And I think that's a very important point, and
it is one that you have options for. There's veterinary
clinics all over Madison, and if you feel like the
clinics that you're going to doesn't align with what's important
to you, check out other places because, as you've said,
we have first exam free, so you can come and
get to know us and see if we're going to
fit yourself for the style of your pet, because it's

(16:02):
a really important relationship. We're the other family doctor. We're
not just you're you know, like you've got a pediatrician,
you've got a physician, you've got a dentist. But we're
part of your family too. And I love it when
my clients have long standing relationships with us. I have
clients that have been clients of us for forty four years,
So to me, that's a really important relationship, and I
know how they think what they want. You know, we're

(16:25):
friends outside the clinic, and it's just really important that
people feel comfortable with their vet, that they can get
the kind of a care address that they need. And
it's it's not the same for everybody, but we guarantee
a one size fits all is not what we're going
to provide to you. We're going to give you the
options for how your pet care needs to go, whether
it's regarding an illness or you know, a serious injury,

(16:48):
or just regular old routine care. We do instead of
if you don't want to do a vaccination every year,
we do tighters instead every two or three years. So
we have a lot of tools in our toolbox and
we're happy to pull them all out and help you
because my doctors are very willing to be young and
flexible and smart and thoughtful about what fits your needs,

(17:10):
your lifestyle, your pets needs and lifestyle. So don't hesitate
to let us know you want to come in and
get some help.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Really good data to start that conversation, start that relationship.
I got to do this morning. Pick a phone, give
them a call sixh eight three one eight sixty seven
hundred for checkout vet again. That's six oh eight three
one eight sixty seven hundred, where I saw all the
information right online checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet
dot com. Of course, at first first visit that exam,
it is free at checkout vet again, all the details

(17:37):
online check out vet dot com. Or to continue our
conversation with doctor Marty Grere, we will do that next
as ask the experts with Checkout Veterinary continues right here
on thirteen ten wu ib A thirteen ten wi b
A and ask the experts talking this morning with doctor
Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinary. The website checkout vet dot com.

(17:59):
That's checkout vet dot com. I didn't mention before the break,
and I feel terrible about it because this is big news.
Open seven days week, nine am until five pm at
Checkout Veterinarian. Don't forget. Of course, at first visit at
exam that is free. I get to pick a phone,
get to call six eight three six sixty seven hundred,
that's six eight three one eight sixty seven hundred, and
of course online checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet

(18:22):
dot com. Speaking of pet behavior, and I saw on
the calendar next week is uh, take your pet to
work week, And for certain pets it is a great treat,
it's a great opportunity. Other pets maybe not the not
the best thing, but a lot of it comes back
to as we were talking about behavior behavior for cats
and dogs in that last segment, really the importance of

(18:43):
socialization and really getting your your pets started early around
other people, other pets, other situations to kind of make
that and also we talked about it at the clinic
as well, making them very comfortable in those environments, and
that stuff starts earlier the better, right.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
Doctor, Absolutely, we try to work really hard with the
puppies when they come in. As you already know, we
do work with some breeders at the Lamira practice and
so we have the opportunity to see lots of cool puppies,
and we work really hard even at that very first
visit to get you in and make it a positive
experience that we're not just going to you know, make

(19:20):
you tough it out, that we can do some really
fun stuff. So it's very important and certainly if you're
thinking of taking your pet to work, that's another opportunity
for you to get some socialization. Make sure that they're
comfortable around it. So if your dog is good with
other dogs, that's a great opportunity. If your dog's not
great with other dogs, maybe this isn't the year to
take your dog to work. Maybe you work on it

(19:42):
before and now between now and next year, at that
time it's appropriate for you to do it. You want
to be careful when you're doing things like going to
the dog park and you know, going to the gurmur
or going to the bed and people are like, oh,
my dog's great with other dogs. Well maybe yours is,
but not all of them are. So you want to
be careful that you're attentive to what's happening with the

(20:05):
other dogs that are there, because sometimes your dog may
be super friendly and the dog that it's running up
to is not so comfortable. So you know, just think
about those things. But your opportunities to socialize don't end
when the puppy is young. It starts when they're young.
Puppies critical social period starts when they're seven weeks old. Kittens, interestingly,
are from three to seven weeks, and by seven weeks

(20:26):
their social period is the door has slammed shut, which
I think is kind of interesting. But dogs just start
at seven weeks, So even if you did get an
older dog or a dog that has some behavioral issues,
doesn't mean that you can't help them and you can't
teach them new things. So get some help, you know,
get some drugs if you need to. It's okay, there's
nothing to be embarrassed about. Your veterinary is not going

(20:48):
to tell you don't need them, but they're going to
help you to guide to the right drugs because not
every drug works for every dog at the same post,
so it takes a little bit of finesse to figure
out which cock sale to use, which combination of things
to make.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
Work and doctor. Before we wrapped this week, as we're
talking about really important stuff for your for your pet,
I also mentioned, of course, and it's important to point
out at checkout Vet, that first visit, that exam, that
first visit that's free. Let's talk about about the clinic
itself and a little bit about that experience for folks
that haven't been into check out Vet yet, Let's talk

(21:22):
a little bit about what goes on, how that first
visit works, and what folks and their pets can expect.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
Sure, so check in is just like every other vet
clinic you've been to. You park your car in the
parking lot. We try to keep you in the parking lot.
We had one person ran a car into the building
last year. That's another conversation. So you parked a car,
come in at check out, you pull up to the
garage door. We put the door up. You pull into
a garage bay and it's your own garage bay. When
you're there, you're the only vehicle in there. Your pets

(21:49):
are the only pets in there, so you can come in.
If your dog is comfortable being cared for in the vehicle,
in the backseat or in the hatch of the minivan
or the hatch of the suv, that's great. They can
stay in there. If their mobility isn't good, this is great.
If your mobility isn't good, it's great because you don't
have to get out. If your pet is comfortable out
of the car, they can walk around in the garage.

(22:11):
We have a step up exam table in the garage
so that they can get onto the table themselves and
then they can sit on that if we need to
do something like draw blood. And then if they're a
little dog or a cat then won't take them into
the examiner, and that's next to it, so you never
lose track of where your vehicle is. If you've got
your two year old sleeping in the car, or a
grandma that's in the vehicle with you and you're a

(22:32):
little worried that she might grab the keys and take
off because she forgot she wasn't supposed to drive. You're
right next to the vehicle, so you've got all the
advantages of being at a drive through. So it's just
like the drive through oil changes or the places that
they do other work. You can just pull in, sit
in your car, we can do your stuff, you can
come in if you want. You can see in your vehicle,
you can see through the window into the examiner. So

(22:52):
it works out really quite well for almost situation. Kids,
both people, little dogs, big dogs, hat many dogs. If
you want to bring six dogs at the same appointment, hey,
we do that a lot, so it's all fine. I
don't recommend that you bring six cats.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
Yeah you'll, you'll, you'll make a you'll, you'll find a way.
But I know I got the doctors. I guarantee everybody
gets giddy when you pull up. If you got a
car full of puppies. I think everybody you'll yeah. The
other the other thing that's important to mention too, is
for folks that are curious, I know you love, for
folks that just want to stop on in, take a
look at it. Very welcoming, very great environment. It's really

(23:33):
a good day again. I would say, start that relationship.
Make that call today. If you want to learn more
about check out bet The website's fantastic. If you want
to stop on in a great day to visit twenty
seven to ten Prairie Lakes, drive in sun Prairie even better,
pick up the phone, make that appointment today. Don't forget
that first visit. They're so welcoming that first visit. It's free.
That exam is free. I'll get just pickup phone, give
a call. Six o' eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.

(23:54):
That's six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred,
doctor Gear. Thank you so much time for taking time
with us this morning. Have safe travels and we'll talk
real soon.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
News is next here on thirteen ten. Wiba