July 18, 2024 • 27 mins
Dr. Josie Horchak is Amy's guest today and they talk about everything from relationships (what couples fight about on vacation) to acupuncture (for humans & dogs!) to setting boundaries around 'work talk' to Josie knowing after just one month of dating that she was going to marry her boyfriend (now husband) & so much more!
Check out Dr. Josie's new podcast: In the Vet's Office with Dr. Josie Horchak. She helps listeners navigate pet ownership and shares interesting cases that she's seen in her 18+ year career as a veterinarian.
HOST: Amy Brown // RadioAmy.com // @RadioAmy
GUEST: Dr. Josie Horchak // @drjosievet
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Okay, cats up little food for yourself life.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Oh it's pretty bad.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hey, it's pretty beautiful, man, beautiful. That for a little
more exciting, said he can't. You're kicking with four with
Amy Brown, Happy Thursday, Four Things.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Amy here and Josie Horschak is my guest today and
I was just asking her, for sure how to pronounce
horchack because I was going to say horn chick, yes,
but you're like chack chack emphasis on the track.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
It's my married name. So it really took me while.
I was like, Cody is my husband. I was like,
how do I say this? And he's like horror chack
emphasis on the chrack, not the whore.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
When I was in high school, I broke up with
a boyfriend and he responded in an unhealthy, toxic.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Way and keep my car.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh great, Yeah, he keyed horror into it, okay, and
he spelled it wrong.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I think that you made the right choice by breaking
up with him. H O r E. If you could
have spelled it right.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Then maybe come on, we're gonna sell me at least
do it right right. So how long have you been married.
We've been married for almost three years. We've been together
for eight you seem because you're a veterinarian and you
perform surgeries on animals, to me so much older. Not
even looks wise at all, is what I'm saying to clarify.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
But just maturity and what you do.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I just feel like you have all this life under
your belt, which you do. But I've surprised to hear
three years because I'm thinking, Oh, she's a.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Magication's been married forever, and.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
That's like a big life change. You're still like in
the beginning of it.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yes, definitely, it doesn't feel that different. We moved in
together right away, like after a month of knowing each other.
I called my mom and I was like, I'm moving
in with this guy, and she was like, are you
out of your mind? So we've been together for eight years,
so it feels like a lot longer, but no, married
for only three.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
What were the indicators that made you think it'd be
good to move in with someone after you've only known
them a month?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
A month the saying of when you know you know?
I was always kind of like, yeah, I don't know
about that, but I knew, like the first night I
met him, I just knew that, like we were going
to be together forever. I was telling Morgan, one of
our producers, earlier, that the night I met him, this
will be the only red flag I had. He was like,
I'm allergic to all animals. Before he knew I was
(02:29):
in veterinary school, so before he even knew what I did.
And I was like, oh gosh, well I'm in veginary school, like,
I don't know if this is going to work out.
And then two weeks later, maybe three weeks later, he
started getting allergy shots. I was like, whoa, this is
a big commitment. But yeah, I mean, we just like
knew right away.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So I get if a guy's allergic to animals, that's
one thing, But what if a guy just straight up
doesn't like dogs. Would you, as a vet consider that
a red flag? That's like the biggest red flag in
the world for me. I know it sounds silly, like,
I know some people haven't grown up with pets, but
they are like our purest of creatures, and if someone
doesn't like them, like, to me, it's a huge red flag.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I think it is something to pay attention to, for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
But I mean everybody has some different life experiences, like
maybe they had a horrible encounter with a dog when
they were younger.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yes, I think that's fair.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
I mean, as long as they're not like treating the
animal poorly, that is a huge red flag. But I
guess if it's just not their cup of tea, okay
for me and my lifestyle, it would never work.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Never.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Josie definitely knows a lot about dogs, pets, all the
things you can tell. We're talking about how she is
a veterinarian. We mentioned that, but she's also the host
of her own podcast, which is called In the Vet's
Office with Josie or check yeah, hork check yeah, emphasis
on the tech. So how are you liking podcasting because
that's something that's new to your lane now. And I
(03:46):
know you sat down with Abby Smeiers recently. Gosh, she's
involved in an amazing organization called Wags and Walks, as
are you. But Pern her husband Dan, who's some Dan
and Shay started getting involved in that and dog rescue
probably well eleven years ago or so.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And she's how many dogs they have now? Like four?
They have four dogs?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yes, And so you just had a really good episode
with her which made People magazine, so congrets on that. Yeah,
thank you, so, how are you liking it? It kind
of just fell into my lap.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I was actually I was getting acupuncture, and everywhere I go,
whether it's the hair dresser or I'm getting my nails
done or acupuncture, they find out I'm a vet and
they're like, oh, let me show you my cat coughing,
or what do you think about this? And so people
are always asking me questions and it was just like
any other day, I'm getting my acupunctures is putting the
needles in and she was like, you know, you should
(04:35):
start a podcast. And I was like, you know, I
should start a podcast. Like that's not a bad idea. So,
needless to say, it was like the least relaxing acupuncture
experience of my life. I'm sitting there with the needles
on and I'm like, oh my god, I've got to
buy a microphone. I've got to like do all these things.
And I got out of my session and I texted
Bobby Bobby Bones, who I'd met at a fundraising event,
(04:56):
and I was like, Hey, I have a work question
for you, and he said, well, I actually have a
work question for you. And I was thinking it has
to be about Stanley or Eller because I take care
of his dogs. So we get on the phone and
he's like, I think we're going to ask each other
the same thing, and I was like, I highly doubt that.
I'm assuming it's about Stanley's knee because he had just
had knee surgery. And he was like no, He's like,
(05:17):
you go first, and I was like, well, I'm thinking
about doing a podcast, Like what do you think about that?
Like is this something I need to like start in
my basement? Like how does this work? And he was like,
I am not kidding you. That is exactly what I
was going to ask you. So it all just kind
of came to fruition and it's been really fun. It
seems like it started at true acupuncture and then you
sort of knew. And it makes me curious about professions
such as like a vet, a doctor, a therapist, a nurse,
(05:40):
a dentist, anytime where there's questions where you were kind
of that go to in a friend group or at
a party or at a dinner.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, and how do you draw it? Like what's the
fine line of like the text? Because my good friend Kat,
she's a therapist. She has a podcast too called You
Need Therapy and of course she's not offering like you're
in her office and she's giving you legit advice, But
it's just another tool for your toolbox. Yes, and so
she's very passionate about it and enjoys the podcasting element.
(06:08):
But even with her as a friend, sometimes there's this
line of like when you've got this problem, you've got
this thing, and you just need to ask a quick
question for other people listening that are in a similar
profession whatever it may be, or a teacher and your
student needs help learning this type of thing, Like how
do y'all draw the line of the questions you can
quite literally get every day from the grocery store to
(06:29):
your bff to your aunt and uncle. It's very challenging,
I will say, people that are in these fields, healthcare fields,
we want to help others, like we're people pleasers. It's
really hard to set boundaries and draw lines, but we
have to. I mean, I will get DMed I will
get Facebook messaged, I will get texted probably like five
times a day with people just having questions about their pets.
(06:53):
And so I don't know the answer to it, to
be totally honest, I think it's personal and up to
each individual. But what I would say is on the
flip side, if you are the person asking the questions,
I probably would think like, hey, is it during work hours?
Is this a realistic question where they're actually going to
be able to help me? So just kind of thinking
through it before asking those questions. And if it's a
Sunday at ten o'clock at night, like maybe saving it
(07:14):
for Monday morning kind of thing. So unless it's like
life for death, unless it's like for death, of course,
like we want to help more than anything, but I
think just being mindful that on the other line, like
there is a person who's also trying to have work
life balance as well. I know there was the time
I texted you to get a second opinion. Yeah, just
a quick thing because I was about to spend I
think fifteen hundred dollars or something on a surgery on
(07:36):
the ear. And it's like, gosh, that seems a lot
a lot for that. But I mean you confirmed like, hey,
this is what was it a haematoma? And depending on
what it is or how much they have to drain
and how much they have to sew up and there
were so many stitches in her ear, I think it
was far worse than I thought.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
But when you were talking, I was like, oh shoot,
I texted no not at all. No, no, no, And that's
not like it quick.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
That's not the point, you know, of course, And I'm
more than happy to answer them. I think it's just
like thinking like, okay, well, people will text me like
my dog's profusely vomiting.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
What do you think?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And they live in California, Like I can't do anything
about that.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
It's like me just saying like, hey, go to your
vat kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
But like, questions like that are perfectly they make sense,
and it's easy for.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Me to give a second opinion. So you can just say, yes,
that's what it looks like. Yeah, yeah, that's an appropriate amount.
It can range anywhere.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, exactly. It's good.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
I mean it's good too for us common folk that
may have questions for professions such as yours, because I
mean I get emails from time to time.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah, like running radio advice or something.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
But you know, it's got to be difficult at times
to set those boundaries because, like you said, you want
to help always. Then it's like you're not a Sometimes
I can't twenty four hour shop. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and
I don't have my magic eight ball. It's hard for me,
like I said, when I've never met the animal. I
haven't spoken to the owner since kindergarten. It's so hard
for me to diagnose over Instagram. Well, since I've got
(08:57):
you here, Yeah, my dog is a little bit crazy.
This is a quick one because back to Abby Smeiers
who were talking about a minute ago, Wags and Walks
rescued three wat milers and I used to have one.
(09:21):
Wags and Walks rescued three wat milers and I used
to have one, Josie. I had her for over ten years.
She was the sweetest, I loved her. She had cancers,
so we ended up having to put her down my
shoes older and uh. I moved recently and I found
her pallprint that they did right before they you know.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
That was like, oh, what am I going to do
with this? But I'm glad I have it.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yeah, and Abby sent me the link to the dogs
and I thought, oh, I would love one of these
puppies like they're at their foster homes right now, and
said they're doing well. It's three females. The third one
of the three in this photo slide looked just like Joe,
and I've been so tempted. But my dog Kara is
(10:03):
already just so cuckoo at times. She has a lot
of anxiety. And our coworker, the other Morgan on the
Bobby Bone Show, web Girl Morgan, she was like, maybe
Kara needs a buddy, And so I know you don't
know the exact answer to that without knowing Kara and
every dog is so different, but sometimes has that help
having a dog buddy.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
I'm a huge proponent of having two dogs. I think
that especially when they're nervous and they're kind of in
their own head, it can be helpful for them to
have another pet in the house where they're like, oh,
like you're you're okay, Oh I'm okay too, someone to
kind of just help balance them out a little bit.
So you definitely have my vote. You never have to
ask me about getting another dog, but I do think
(10:45):
it can be really helpful.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Speaking of you getting another dog, he told a story
on The Bobby Bone Show of like taking a trip
to Mexico with your husband and coming back with a dog. Yes,
And I thought of you, And I saw this article
of the fights that couples always have vacation and you know,
taking a trip with your partner. I mean, obviously you
knew a month in you were gonna, yeah, be with
(11:08):
your guy forever. Which I feel like that's another episode
in itself, like I need to probably know. I feel
like you are a unicorn in that area. I think
there's probably a lot of people that made a decision
to move in with someone after a month and it
was like.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Did not go well, I'm sure what Yeah, I feel
like I got lucky. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So back to y'all's vacation and you're bringing the dog home.
Was that a fight between y'all or was it like
He's like, Okay, here's Josie, and this is just how
it is. I mean, obviously he knew who he was marrying,
so he knows. I'm at like I'm going to have animals.
But there definitely were a few tense moments on vacation,
and specifically.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
When we were in Mexico.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
We were supposed to be out enjoying the day and
this little stray dog had been following us the whole
vacation and I fell in love with her, and I
was like, we have to bring her home with us,
Like I can't leave her here. I will stay in
Mexico before I leave without this dog. And so in
order to get her home, we had to get her
a Rabi's vaccine, And so I ended up finding a
vet clinic down there and getting her in and getting
(12:09):
her rabies vaccinated. And the only time they could do
it was when we were supposed to be out on
the boat, so we had to cancel our fun day.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And I do have a video of him or sitting
in the clinic.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
I'm like happy as can be holding her, she's getting vaccinated,
and he's in his like little vacation Fedora, just like
rubbing his temples, just like, how the heck have I
ended up here on vacation.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Well, this is one of the number one things that
couples fight about when on vacation, is because one of
them is like really trying to relax and maybe even
going out and getting some adventure, doing something sight seeing,
like taking in culture all the things, and another one
their partner maybe just wants to still work.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I'm telling you, like, I had no intention of bringing
her home, but when she looked into my eyes, I
was like, we have to. And the craziest thing is
He's like, oh, if we bring her home, we don't
need three dogs, Like, we'll give her to your mom
because my mom really wanted a dog. And I'm like, okay, fine,
that's totally fine. We can do that. In my head,
I'm like, yeah, right, So we get her home, my
mom comes down to Nashville to pick her up, and
(13:12):
the second she comes into the kitchen, I start like crying.
And I'm not a big crier, like it takes a
lot for me to cry. I'm like, I don't think
I can like let her go, like I love her
so much, and Cody was like, okay, we'll keep her.
Like the second I started crying, those were real tears,
they weren't faked tears. And so all that to say
that now he is obsessed with this dog. She loves
him more than me. I'm pretty sure at some points
(13:33):
he loves her more than he loves me, Like they
are just like two little buddies now.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
So it all ended up working out. Other things that
couples fight about on vacation. Is there the person that
just wants to plan everything out and then the other
person wants to be spontaneous. Yes, I feel like I
tend to be more of the planner typically unless there's
a dog. Unless there's a dog, and then it's spontaneity wins.
So yeah, absolutely, I can see that for sure. Another fight,
(13:58):
one typically wants to make time for romance and the
other well isn't having it, so they just want to sleep,
if you know what I mean. And then the last thing,
this is all from the Huffington posts, by the way,
the fight is about too much spending versus being frugal
on the trip, I mean experiences. That's the number one
(14:22):
gift right now. I saw a whole write up on that,
just that that's what people want. And so if you're
going to invest money into something and you're on vacation,
I feel like that's the time to spend. Yeah, but
that's gonna be hard to be with someone that's frugal,
or to maybe even be with someone if you are
an animal lover too. Just tying that into it. Of
like in my marriage, which I feel like my ex
(14:44):
husband was always joking, but with Josie anytimes she would
get so he'd be like, well, she's a five.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Hunde dollar dog, Like that's the limit.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
If it came down to it, I really feel like
he would do something, but I remember as the partner
always being so nervous of like I'd go to the
bed and I'd be like, whatever it is, can we
just keep it under five hundred this visit and then
if you need me to come back, let me know,
because I would have done anything. He loved dogs, but
he's also like, it's.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
A dog, right, It's yeah, yep, So everyone it's different.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I feel like that is like such an important thing
prior to marriage or even in your marriage, like just
talking about because it's such a huge aspect of it.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It's almost like the kid conversation.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
It is like the kid conversation or any value like
major value system. So there's no price tag on our pets.
We would do anything for them, both of us.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
No, that is it's an important reminder of things to
talk about that you don't think of that could pop
up and just so that you know and you're on
the same page, or like are you a cat person
or not? Because I love cats. It probably got the
cat towards the end of our marriage. And the cat's
not why it didn't break out, but it's because my
daughter really wanted to get a cat and I'm like, oh,
I've always wanted a cat, so we finally got one.
(15:52):
But it probably would have been really difficult if he
had to say it's not happening, and we just never
we never even talked about that. Yeah, we talked about
what kind of pets. Like my sister had a bearded
dragon and it died recently and she was so sad
and she wants to get another one.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
And I'm her sister. I'm like, I never really.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Knew this about you, that you like this. She's like, well,
I don't even know. We just kind of got it
for the kids, but she really bonded with it. So
there are things that are going to come up and
you may evolve and decide you like something, right, But
if my partner came home and wanted a beard, a dragon,
or a snake, I would say.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
This is that's a deal breaker. Deal breaker.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Like I'm dating right now, and now this is reminding
me that maybe I need to have a rundown of
animals that area.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Yeah, I mean just like no, no, go yeah exactly, chickens,
maybe goats.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
So do you have any farm animals like that? I don't.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
I have a horse. A twenty four year old horse.
He's retired now he just hangs and do you ride?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Or I do? Yeah. I grew up on horses. My
grandparents had a farm.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
I grew up in Indiana, so I spent a lot
of time around horses and cows and chickens, and they
had deers at one point, so around all those animals
or I just moved. There are a lot of deer
in my neighborhood and they're very used to people. You
can tell because they do not They're not skittish, like
if I'm on a walk, they will be right there,
just in someone's front yard, not scared at all. And
(17:15):
I would like to lure them to mine. I keep
seeing them in my neighbor's yard and I don't know
what's the rule on that. Can I just put some
I mean to feed, now, we're not supposed to feed
wildlife're already there? Okay, Well then, I mean I have
fed raccoons before. I mean, I'm the crazy person, so
I support you. So there's some viral TikTok and it
(17:47):
was this raccoon video and it looks like the same
raccoon that's being awesome in all these different ways. But
then I started to look in the comments and they said,
don't be fooled by this. This is a bunch of
different raccoon shots that have been made into one to
make it look like this really raccoon is like the
coolest pet ever. Yeah, and it made me kind of
(18:08):
want a raccoon pet. So what do you think of
domesticated raccoon that is hilarious? I have also seen it,
and I think they're so cute. I love their little
hands and they just look adorable. I will say the
veterinarian in me like, raccoons are like one of the
biggest carriers of rabies and if humans contract rabies, we die.
Like there is no cure for rabies, So it definitely
(18:29):
gives me some pause. I would not tell the general
public to go out and try and domesticate raccoons.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Does it give you pause or pause? And it gives
me pause? Pause? Good one? Yeah. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
You know, we were talking about vacation and it made
me think of just what your life must be like
as a vet in taking that time off, Like do
you feel like you've got a pretty good clinic, or
like when you are on call, or if you do
get a surgery in the middle of the night, Like
my accession was in the military and he had a
pager and it would go off.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Like are vets like that?
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Do you like a doctor where you could just be
called in at any time and then how can you
ever really disconnect? There are a lot of veterinarians that
are on call or like work emergency shifts. I've been
lucky enough to be in practices where I'm not on
call per se. I did own two clinics for a while,
and I was never off.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
I was getting called twenty four to seven, not because
of medical cases so much as like managing an entire
team of individuals. So that was a whole thing in itself.
Not to speak for all vets out there, but I
think that for the most part, like we take work
home a lot with us. We're always thinking about our patients.
We're thinking about cases, We're thinking about postop, like I
(19:41):
wonder how the surgery's doing. So it's a work of
the heart, for sure, And it's not like you clock
out at five o'clock and don't think about it anymore.
I mean it's it's a huge part of our life,
and so it can be hard to relax and decompress.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
I know, speaking from experience.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Myself, Millennials and gen zers are trying to seek out sleepcations. Oh,
like they're taking time off from work and instead of
going on vacation and maybe even potentially fighting with their partner,
they just try to book something really relaxing, or they
don't even go anywhere and they just do a staycation.
But they try to just rest as much as possible
in that moment.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
What do you do to shut it off?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Because I mean you have to probably, I guess, be
intentional about taking care of your mental health because I
would imagine if you've had a hard day. I get
anyone in healthcare when you've had a success story or
maybe even a loss that's hard, Like, what do you
do for yourself to take care of you.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I am in therapy. I love therapy. I think it's
super important. I get acupuncture every two weeks on the dot.
This is not a plug for acupuncture, but I had
never gotten it and then someone recommended it to me,
and it's been life changing. I swear by it. So acupuncture.
And then I love to be outside. I really feel
my most calm when I'm like barefoot in my yard
(20:57):
planting stuff or playing with my dogs grounding, grounding exactly.
So I try to get outside every morning and just
start my day that way. I think it like sets
my whole day up for success.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
It's what about acupuncture for pets.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
It's actually one of my goals is to get certified
and acupuncture there.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
So what kind of things would that do for a dog?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I guess if they're having any like joint pain, maybe
it's similar to humans, or even it could be an
actual physical ailment or an emotional mental ailment, because dogs
have My dog has anxiety, right, absolutely, yes, it can
be really helpful for anxiety.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
We have a lot of dogs with like back and
neck pain. They can have even like kidney disease, like
any sort of like underlying metabolic disease.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It can be extremely helpful.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
I know you have so many fascinating stories on your
podcast and you answer so many questions, and you're doing
interviews with a lot of people in their pets too.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yeah, which, maybe I could.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Bring Kara on and you could see I would love
that for anxiety, maybe we can give our acupuncture. You know,
like when someone's getting certified from age and they have
to collect all these hours to.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Be my little guinea pig. Yeah, we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I shall volunteer her for you. And then I feel like,
if you learn how to do it on dogs, do
you think you could do it on humans?
Speaker 3 (22:12):
My license is like really strict about that. Practicing any
of my medicine on humans is technically illegal, right, But
but I mean, I mean you need I could stick
a little needle in you somewhere.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Yeah, I think you could die.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
I just feel like out if someone needed a quick,
little surgery situation. Maybe that was just because my uncle
was from a small town in South Texas. Yea that
he was the town mayor, the large and small animal
vet and like the resident doctor for the humans to
surely did things on humans.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Well, yeah, I feel like in a lot of like
rural settings that's all the time, are like suturing people up,
and it's just it's the exact same.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
People are always shocked.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
The medicine, the materials, everything we use is exactly what
human physicians you, So it's kind of the same.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
I would trust with my body, just letting you know
I would gladly suture you up. So four things. Gratitude
will wrap with that.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
If you had four things that you are thankful for today,
and just I'm excited for people to get to know
you a little bit, so it's like a peek into
your life. It could be small things, big things, whatever,
and then they can get to learn more about you
and your vet life on your podcast.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Okay, four things I'm grateful for today. I'm grateful for
when people always ask like, do you like the beach?
Do you like the mountains? And I have decided that
I like Rolling Green Hills. I'm thankful for Nashville. I
think it is so beautiful every time I travel and
I come home and I'm driving home and there's longhorn
deers out one side, and then you've got the National
(23:42):
Skyline in your rear view and it's just like the
most beautiful place. So I'm thankful for where I live
and all the nature here. I am thankful for my mom.
She was a huge reason I became a veterinarian. She
encouraged me to get my first job when I was fifteen,
and that was out of vet clinic and I've only
ever worked in vet med since.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
So very thankful for.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Her, which just shows the impact too of just encouragement
as a mom that's good for me to hear and
knowing what I want to encourage my daughter to do
and how a simple nudge in one direction.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Could change her whole life.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Help projectory, Yeah, achieve something and get to where she's
meant to be.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Yeah, my mom is really good about like motivating me
and nudging me to be successful, but also doing it
in like a very loving way. I feel like she
did a really good job of balancing that. So very
thankful for her. I am thankful for my little family
squad at home, my three dogs and my husband.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
What are the names that we've got.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Biggie, he's like this little chunky Chihuahua. He had an
elderly mom before me that let him out in the
backyard and then went inside and she passed away in
her chair, and Biggie got locked out in the backyard
for I think like four or five days before anybody
noticed that, you know, she had passed. And so the
neighbors saw him and he was It was July and
(25:05):
Nashville's He was out there just like basically dying if
he exhaustion, and they called the authorities. They came in,
they found his mom had passed away. And then they
rescued him. Oh my gosh, I now he's the love
of my life.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Every time you say his name though in your head,
are you like Biggie Biggie, Biggie.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Biggie Biggie totally?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And he's like, got so much like swag, like it
fits him perfectly. He actually came home with a name
baby Bear, and he only responded to baby and Cody's like,
I'm sorry, I'm not calling this dog baby.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
I draw the line.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
He's like, this is where I draw the line. So
we call him Biggie. It sounds like baby and he
loved it. Okay, so you got Biggie, You've got Biggie Saya,
who's from Sylee to Mexico, and then we've got Oakley.
Oakley is a big white German shepherd that was dropped
at a shelter in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
He was eating the.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Cat food in his old owner's house and then having
like blowout diarrhea all over the house and they like
couldn't control him, so so they just dropped him out
the shelter. The shelter called Wags and Walks and said, hey,
we have too many dogs here. If you can't come
get him, we're going to have to euthanize, and they
went and got him and he's the best. No diarrhea,
no eating cat food in our house. It's going great.
(26:14):
And then Cody my husband, my wonderful husband who lets
me smuggle dogs across borders and supports me luckily, a
few grumbles here and there, of overall very supportive, yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Which is awesome, especially with a career that is so
demanding on either side, whether you're male or female.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
We've evolved to that state.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
But when one has such a demanding job and I
don't know exactly what he does, I'm sure it is.
But when you can find a partner that wants to
support or can support and can be a part of
all that you have going on and even expanding your business.
I don't know if you're talking about your next chapter,
are you yet?
Speaker 3 (26:51):
It's still kind of under wraps. Stay tuned, everyone, Yeah,
stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah, she's Josie's working on something cool here in Nashville.
And what's the fourth thing that you're thankful for?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
The fourth thing that I'm thankful for would be I
guess I would say my health. I feel like so
often we take it for granted, like just being able
to get up and move our bodies. And I'm thankful
for my health. I'm thankful for like my brain, to
be able to do my job. My job is very
physically demanding, Like I'm on the floor with these animals
and they're slabbering on me and jumping on me and
(27:21):
all these things, and I just feel like lucky that
I'm healthy and able.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
To do my job and live a healthy life. Okay,
y'all check Josie out. Her podcast is called in the
Vets Office. I'll link everything in the show notes, Instagram, podcast,
all the things. Josie's number. Call me anytime if you
have any questions about your dog. At ten pm on
a Sunday.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Don't do it. Just kidding me. Thanks Josie, thank you,
Okay, cats up little food for yourself life.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Oh it's pretty bad.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hey, it's pretty beautiful, man, beautiful. That for a little
more exciting, said he can't. You're kicking with four with
Amy Brown, Happy Thursday, Four Things.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Amy here and Josie Horschak is my guest today and
I was just asking her, for sure how to pronounce
horchack because I was going to say horn chick, yes,
but you're like chack chack emphasis on the track.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
It's my married name. So it really took me while.
I was like, Cody is my husband. I was like,
how do I say this? And he's like horror chack
emphasis on the chrack, not the whore.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
When I was in high school, I broke up with
a boyfriend and he responded in an unhealthy, toxic.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Way and keep my car.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh great, Yeah, he keyed horror into it, okay, and
he spelled it wrong.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I think that you made the right choice by breaking
up with him. H O r E. If you could
have spelled it right.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Then maybe come on, we're gonna sell me at least
do it right right. So how long have you been married.
We've been married for almost three years. We've been together
for eight you seem because you're a veterinarian and you
perform surgeries on animals, to me so much older. Not
even looks wise at all, is what I'm saying to clarify.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
But just maturity and what you do.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I just feel like you have all this life under
your belt, which you do. But I've surprised to hear
three years because I'm thinking, Oh, she's a.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Magication's been married forever, and.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
That's like a big life change. You're still like in
the beginning of it.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yes, definitely, it doesn't feel that different. We moved in
together right away, like after a month of knowing each other.
I called my mom and I was like, I'm moving
in with this guy, and she was like, are you
out of your mind? So we've been together for eight years,
so it feels like a lot longer, but no, married
for only three.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
What were the indicators that made you think it'd be
good to move in with someone after you've only known
them a month?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
A month the saying of when you know you know?
I was always kind of like, yeah, I don't know
about that, but I knew, like the first night I
met him, I just knew that, like we were going
to be together forever. I was telling Morgan, one of
our producers, earlier, that the night I met him, this
will be the only red flag I had. He was like,
I'm allergic to all animals. Before he knew I was
(02:29):
in veterinary school, so before he even knew what I did.
And I was like, oh gosh, well I'm in veginary school, like,
I don't know if this is going to work out.
And then two weeks later, maybe three weeks later, he
started getting allergy shots. I was like, whoa, this is
a big commitment. But yeah, I mean, we just like
knew right away.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So I get if a guy's allergic to animals, that's
one thing, But what if a guy just straight up
doesn't like dogs. Would you, as a vet consider that
a red flag? That's like the biggest red flag in
the world for me. I know it sounds silly, like,
I know some people haven't grown up with pets, but
they are like our purest of creatures, and if someone
doesn't like them, like, to me, it's a huge red flag.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I think it is something to pay attention to, for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
But I mean everybody has some different life experiences, like
maybe they had a horrible encounter with a dog when
they were younger.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yes, I think that's fair.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
I mean, as long as they're not like treating the
animal poorly, that is a huge red flag. But I
guess if it's just not their cup of tea, okay
for me and my lifestyle, it would never work.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Never.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Josie definitely knows a lot about dogs, pets, all the
things you can tell. We're talking about how she is
a veterinarian. We mentioned that, but she's also the host
of her own podcast, which is called In the Vet's
Office with Josie or check yeah, hork check yeah, emphasis
on the tech. So how are you liking podcasting because
that's something that's new to your lane now. And I
(03:46):
know you sat down with Abby Smeiers recently. Gosh, she's
involved in an amazing organization called Wags and Walks, as
are you. But Pern her husband Dan, who's some Dan
and Shay started getting involved in that and dog rescue
probably well eleven years ago or so.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And she's how many dogs they have now? Like four?
They have four dogs?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yes, And so you just had a really good episode
with her which made People magazine, so congrets on that. Yeah,
thank you, so, how are you liking it? It kind
of just fell into my lap.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I was actually I was getting acupuncture, and everywhere I go,
whether it's the hair dresser or I'm getting my nails
done or acupuncture, they find out I'm a vet and
they're like, oh, let me show you my cat coughing,
or what do you think about this? And so people
are always asking me questions and it was just like
any other day, I'm getting my acupunctures is putting the
needles in and she was like, you know, you should
(04:35):
start a podcast. And I was like, you know, I
should start a podcast. Like that's not a bad idea. So,
needless to say, it was like the least relaxing acupuncture
experience of my life. I'm sitting there with the needles
on and I'm like, oh my god, I've got to
buy a microphone. I've got to like do all these things.
And I got out of my session and I texted
Bobby Bobby Bones, who I'd met at a fundraising event,
(04:56):
and I was like, Hey, I have a work question
for you, and he said, well, I actually have a
work question for you. And I was thinking it has
to be about Stanley or Eller because I take care
of his dogs. So we get on the phone and
he's like, I think we're going to ask each other
the same thing, and I was like, I highly doubt that.
I'm assuming it's about Stanley's knee because he had just
had knee surgery. And he was like no, He's like,
(05:17):
you go first, and I was like, well, I'm thinking
about doing a podcast, Like what do you think about that?
Like is this something I need to like start in
my basement? Like how does this work? And he was like,
I am not kidding you. That is exactly what I
was going to ask you. So it all just kind
of came to fruition and it's been really fun. It
seems like it started at true acupuncture and then you
sort of knew. And it makes me curious about professions
such as like a vet, a doctor, a therapist, a nurse,
(05:40):
a dentist, anytime where there's questions where you were kind
of that go to in a friend group or at
a party or at a dinner.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, and how do you draw it? Like what's the
fine line of like the text? Because my good friend Kat,
she's a therapist. She has a podcast too called You
Need Therapy and of course she's not offering like you're
in her office and she's giving you legit advice, But
it's just another tool for your toolbox. Yes, and so
she's very passionate about it and enjoys the podcasting element.
(06:08):
But even with her as a friend, sometimes there's this
line of like when you've got this problem, you've got
this thing, and you just need to ask a quick
question for other people listening that are in a similar
profession whatever it may be, or a teacher and your
student needs help learning this type of thing, Like how
do y'all draw the line of the questions you can
quite literally get every day from the grocery store to
(06:29):
your bff to your aunt and uncle. It's very challenging,
I will say, people that are in these fields, healthcare fields,
we want to help others, like we're people pleasers. It's
really hard to set boundaries and draw lines, but we
have to. I mean, I will get DMed I will
get Facebook messaged, I will get texted probably like five
times a day with people just having questions about their pets.
(06:53):
And so I don't know the answer to it, to
be totally honest, I think it's personal and up to
each individual. But what I would say is on the
flip side, if you are the person asking the questions,
I probably would think like, hey, is it during work hours?
Is this a realistic question where they're actually going to
be able to help me? So just kind of thinking
through it before asking those questions. And if it's a
Sunday at ten o'clock at night, like maybe saving it
(07:14):
for Monday morning kind of thing. So unless it's like
life for death, unless it's like for death, of course,
like we want to help more than anything, but I
think just being mindful that on the other line, like
there is a person who's also trying to have work
life balance as well. I know there was the time
I texted you to get a second opinion. Yeah, just
a quick thing because I was about to spend I
think fifteen hundred dollars or something on a surgery on
(07:36):
the ear. And it's like, gosh, that seems a lot
a lot for that. But I mean you confirmed like, hey,
this is what was it a haematoma? And depending on
what it is or how much they have to drain
and how much they have to sew up and there
were so many stitches in her ear, I think it
was far worse than I thought.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
But when you were talking, I was like, oh shoot,
I texted no not at all. No, no, no, And that's
not like it quick.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
That's not the point, you know, of course, And I'm
more than happy to answer them. I think it's just
like thinking like, okay, well, people will text me like
my dog's profusely vomiting.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
What do you think?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And they live in California, Like I can't do anything
about that.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
It's like me just saying like, hey, go to your
vat kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
But like, questions like that are perfectly they make sense,
and it's easy for.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Me to give a second opinion. So you can just say, yes,
that's what it looks like. Yeah, yeah, that's an appropriate amount.
It can range anywhere.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, exactly. It's good.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
I mean it's good too for us common folk that
may have questions for professions such as yours, because I
mean I get emails from time to time.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah, like running radio advice or something.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
But you know, it's got to be difficult at times
to set those boundaries because, like you said, you want
to help always. Then it's like you're not a Sometimes
I can't twenty four hour shop. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and
I don't have my magic eight ball. It's hard for me,
like I said, when I've never met the animal. I
haven't spoken to the owner since kindergarten. It's so hard
for me to diagnose over Instagram. Well, since I've got
(08:57):
you here, Yeah, my dog is a little bit crazy.
This is a quick one because back to Abby Smeiers
who were talking about a minute ago, Wags and Walks
rescued three wat milers and I used to have one.
(09:21):
Wags and Walks rescued three wat milers and I used
to have one, Josie. I had her for over ten years.
She was the sweetest, I loved her. She had cancers,
so we ended up having to put her down my
shoes older and uh. I moved recently and I found
her pallprint that they did right before they you know.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
That was like, oh, what am I going to do
with this? But I'm glad I have it.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yeah, and Abby sent me the link to the dogs
and I thought, oh, I would love one of these
puppies like they're at their foster homes right now, and
said they're doing well. It's three females. The third one
of the three in this photo slide looked just like Joe,
and I've been so tempted. But my dog Kara is
(10:03):
already just so cuckoo at times. She has a lot
of anxiety. And our coworker, the other Morgan on the
Bobby Bone Show, web Girl Morgan, she was like, maybe
Kara needs a buddy, And so I know you don't
know the exact answer to that without knowing Kara and
every dog is so different, but sometimes has that help
having a dog buddy.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
I'm a huge proponent of having two dogs. I think
that especially when they're nervous and they're kind of in
their own head, it can be helpful for them to
have another pet in the house where they're like, oh,
like you're you're okay, Oh I'm okay too, someone to
kind of just help balance them out a little bit.
So you definitely have my vote. You never have to
ask me about getting another dog, but I do think
(10:45):
it can be really helpful.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Speaking of you getting another dog, he told a story
on The Bobby Bone Show of like taking a trip
to Mexico with your husband and coming back with a dog. Yes,
And I thought of you, And I saw this article
of the fights that couples always have vacation and you know,
taking a trip with your partner. I mean, obviously you
knew a month in you were gonna, yeah, be with
(11:08):
your guy forever. Which I feel like that's another episode
in itself, like I need to probably know. I feel
like you are a unicorn in that area. I think
there's probably a lot of people that made a decision
to move in with someone after a month and it
was like.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Did not go well, I'm sure what Yeah, I feel
like I got lucky. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So back to y'all's vacation and you're bringing the dog home.
Was that a fight between y'all or was it like
He's like, Okay, here's Josie, and this is just how
it is. I mean, obviously he knew who he was marrying,
so he knows. I'm at like I'm going to have animals.
But there definitely were a few tense moments on vacation,
and specifically.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
When we were in Mexico.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
We were supposed to be out enjoying the day and
this little stray dog had been following us the whole
vacation and I fell in love with her, and I
was like, we have to bring her home with us,
Like I can't leave her here. I will stay in
Mexico before I leave without this dog. And so in
order to get her home, we had to get her
a Rabi's vaccine, And so I ended up finding a
vet clinic down there and getting her in and getting
(12:09):
her rabies vaccinated. And the only time they could do
it was when we were supposed to be out on
the boat, so we had to cancel our fun day.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And I do have a video of him or sitting
in the clinic.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
I'm like happy as can be holding her, she's getting vaccinated,
and he's in his like little vacation Fedora, just like
rubbing his temples, just like, how the heck have I
ended up here on vacation.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Well, this is one of the number one things that
couples fight about when on vacation, is because one of
them is like really trying to relax and maybe even
going out and getting some adventure, doing something sight seeing,
like taking in culture all the things, and another one
their partner maybe just wants to still work.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I'm telling you, like, I had no intention of bringing
her home, but when she looked into my eyes, I
was like, we have to. And the craziest thing is
He's like, oh, if we bring her home, we don't
need three dogs, Like, we'll give her to your mom
because my mom really wanted a dog. And I'm like, okay, fine,
that's totally fine. We can do that. In my head,
I'm like, yeah, right, So we get her home, my
mom comes down to Nashville to pick her up, and
(13:12):
the second she comes into the kitchen, I start like crying.
And I'm not a big crier, like it takes a
lot for me to cry. I'm like, I don't think
I can like let her go, like I love her
so much, and Cody was like, okay, we'll keep her.
Like the second I started crying, those were real tears,
they weren't faked tears. And so all that to say
that now he is obsessed with this dog. She loves
him more than me. I'm pretty sure at some points
(13:33):
he loves her more than he loves me, Like they
are just like two little buddies now.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
So it all ended up working out. Other things that
couples fight about on vacation. Is there the person that
just wants to plan everything out and then the other
person wants to be spontaneous. Yes, I feel like I
tend to be more of the planner typically unless there's
a dog. Unless there's a dog, and then it's spontaneity wins.
So yeah, absolutely, I can see that for sure. Another fight,
(13:58):
one typically wants to make time for romance and the
other well isn't having it, so they just want to sleep,
if you know what I mean. And then the last thing,
this is all from the Huffington posts, by the way,
the fight is about too much spending versus being frugal
on the trip, I mean experiences. That's the number one
(14:22):
gift right now. I saw a whole write up on that,
just that that's what people want. And so if you're
going to invest money into something and you're on vacation,
I feel like that's the time to spend. Yeah, but
that's gonna be hard to be with someone that's frugal,
or to maybe even be with someone if you are
an animal lover too. Just tying that into it. Of
like in my marriage, which I feel like my ex
(14:44):
husband was always joking, but with Josie anytimes she would
get so he'd be like, well, she's a five.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Hunde dollar dog, Like that's the limit.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
If it came down to it, I really feel like
he would do something, but I remember as the partner
always being so nervous of like I'd go to the
bed and I'd be like, whatever it is, can we
just keep it under five hundred this visit and then
if you need me to come back, let me know,
because I would have done anything. He loved dogs, but
he's also like, it's.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
A dog, right, It's yeah, yep, So everyone it's different.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I feel like that is like such an important thing
prior to marriage or even in your marriage, like just
talking about because it's such a huge aspect of it.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It's almost like the kid conversation.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
It is like the kid conversation or any value like
major value system. So there's no price tag on our pets.
We would do anything for them, both of us.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
No, that is it's an important reminder of things to
talk about that you don't think of that could pop
up and just so that you know and you're on
the same page, or like are you a cat person
or not? Because I love cats. It probably got the
cat towards the end of our marriage. And the cat's
not why it didn't break out, but it's because my
daughter really wanted to get a cat and I'm like, oh,
I've always wanted a cat, so we finally got one.
(15:52):
But it probably would have been really difficult if he
had to say it's not happening, and we just never
we never even talked about that. Yeah, we talked about
what kind of pets. Like my sister had a bearded
dragon and it died recently and she was so sad
and she wants to get another one.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
And I'm her sister. I'm like, I never really.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Knew this about you, that you like this. She's like, well,
I don't even know. We just kind of got it
for the kids, but she really bonded with it. So
there are things that are going to come up and
you may evolve and decide you like something, right, But
if my partner came home and wanted a beard, a dragon,
or a snake, I would say.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
This is that's a deal breaker. Deal breaker.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Like I'm dating right now, and now this is reminding
me that maybe I need to have a rundown of
animals that area.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Yeah, I mean just like no, no, go yeah exactly, chickens,
maybe goats.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
So do you have any farm animals like that? I don't.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
I have a horse. A twenty four year old horse.
He's retired now he just hangs and do you ride?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Or I do? Yeah. I grew up on horses. My
grandparents had a farm.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
I grew up in Indiana, so I spent a lot
of time around horses and cows and chickens, and they
had deers at one point, so around all those animals
or I just moved. There are a lot of deer
in my neighborhood and they're very used to people. You
can tell because they do not They're not skittish, like
if I'm on a walk, they will be right there,
just in someone's front yard, not scared at all. And
(17:15):
I would like to lure them to mine. I keep
seeing them in my neighbor's yard and I don't know
what's the rule on that. Can I just put some
I mean to feed, now, we're not supposed to feed
wildlife're already there? Okay, Well then, I mean I have
fed raccoons before. I mean, I'm the crazy person, so
I support you. So there's some viral TikTok and it
(17:47):
was this raccoon video and it looks like the same
raccoon that's being awesome in all these different ways. But
then I started to look in the comments and they said,
don't be fooled by this. This is a bunch of
different raccoon shots that have been made into one to
make it look like this really raccoon is like the
coolest pet ever. Yeah, and it made me kind of
(18:08):
want a raccoon pet. So what do you think of
domesticated raccoon that is hilarious? I have also seen it,
and I think they're so cute. I love their little
hands and they just look adorable. I will say the
veterinarian in me like, raccoons are like one of the
biggest carriers of rabies and if humans contract rabies, we die.
Like there is no cure for rabies, So it definitely
(18:29):
gives me some pause. I would not tell the general
public to go out and try and domesticate raccoons.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Does it give you pause or pause? And it gives
me pause? Pause? Good one? Yeah. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
You know, we were talking about vacation and it made
me think of just what your life must be like
as a vet in taking that time off, Like do
you feel like you've got a pretty good clinic, or
like when you are on call, or if you do
get a surgery in the middle of the night, Like
my accession was in the military and he had a
pager and it would go off.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Like are vets like that?
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Do you like a doctor where you could just be
called in at any time and then how can you
ever really disconnect? There are a lot of veterinarians that
are on call or like work emergency shifts. I've been
lucky enough to be in practices where I'm not on
call per se. I did own two clinics for a while,
and I was never off.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
I was getting called twenty four to seven, not because
of medical cases so much as like managing an entire
team of individuals. So that was a whole thing in itself.
Not to speak for all vets out there, but I
think that for the most part, like we take work
home a lot with us. We're always thinking about our patients.
We're thinking about cases, We're thinking about postop, like I
(19:41):
wonder how the surgery's doing. So it's a work of
the heart, for sure, And it's not like you clock
out at five o'clock and don't think about it anymore.
I mean it's it's a huge part of our life,
and so it can be hard to relax and decompress.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
I know, speaking from experience.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Myself, Millennials and gen zers are trying to seek out sleepcations. Oh,
like they're taking time off from work and instead of
going on vacation and maybe even potentially fighting with their partner,
they just try to book something really relaxing, or they
don't even go anywhere and they just do a staycation.
But they try to just rest as much as possible
in that moment.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
What do you do to shut it off?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Because I mean you have to probably, I guess, be
intentional about taking care of your mental health because I
would imagine if you've had a hard day. I get
anyone in healthcare when you've had a success story or
maybe even a loss that's hard, Like, what do you
do for yourself to take care of you.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I am in therapy. I love therapy. I think it's
super important. I get acupuncture every two weeks on the dot.
This is not a plug for acupuncture, but I had
never gotten it and then someone recommended it to me,
and it's been life changing. I swear by it. So acupuncture.
And then I love to be outside. I really feel
my most calm when I'm like barefoot in my yard
(20:57):
planting stuff or playing with my dogs grounding, grounding exactly.
So I try to get outside every morning and just
start my day that way. I think it like sets
my whole day up for success.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
It's what about acupuncture for pets.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
It's actually one of my goals is to get certified
and acupuncture there.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
So what kind of things would that do for a dog?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I guess if they're having any like joint pain, maybe
it's similar to humans, or even it could be an
actual physical ailment or an emotional mental ailment, because dogs
have My dog has anxiety, right, absolutely, yes, it can
be really helpful for anxiety.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
We have a lot of dogs with like back and
neck pain. They can have even like kidney disease, like
any sort of like underlying metabolic disease.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It can be extremely helpful.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
I know you have so many fascinating stories on your
podcast and you answer so many questions, and you're doing
interviews with a lot of people in their pets too.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yeah, which, maybe I could.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Bring Kara on and you could see I would love
that for anxiety, maybe we can give our acupuncture. You know,
like when someone's getting certified from age and they have
to collect all these hours to.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Be my little guinea pig. Yeah, we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I shall volunteer her for you. And then I feel like,
if you learn how to do it on dogs, do
you think you could do it on humans?
Speaker 3 (22:12):
My license is like really strict about that. Practicing any
of my medicine on humans is technically illegal, right, But
but I mean, I mean you need I could stick
a little needle in you somewhere.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Yeah, I think you could die.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
I just feel like out if someone needed a quick,
little surgery situation. Maybe that was just because my uncle
was from a small town in South Texas. Yea that
he was the town mayor, the large and small animal
vet and like the resident doctor for the humans to
surely did things on humans.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Well, yeah, I feel like in a lot of like
rural settings that's all the time, are like suturing people up,
and it's just it's the exact same.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
People are always shocked.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
The medicine, the materials, everything we use is exactly what
human physicians you, So it's kind of the same.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
I would trust with my body, just letting you know
I would gladly suture you up. So four things. Gratitude
will wrap with that.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
If you had four things that you are thankful for today,
and just I'm excited for people to get to know
you a little bit, so it's like a peek into
your life. It could be small things, big things, whatever,
and then they can get to learn more about you
and your vet life on your podcast.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Okay, four things I'm grateful for today. I'm grateful for
when people always ask like, do you like the beach?
Do you like the mountains? And I have decided that
I like Rolling Green Hills. I'm thankful for Nashville. I
think it is so beautiful every time I travel and
I come home and I'm driving home and there's longhorn
deers out one side, and then you've got the National
(23:42):
Skyline in your rear view and it's just like the
most beautiful place. So I'm thankful for where I live
and all the nature here. I am thankful for my mom.
She was a huge reason I became a veterinarian. She
encouraged me to get my first job when I was fifteen,
and that was out of vet clinic and I've only
ever worked in vet med since.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
So very thankful for.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Her, which just shows the impact too of just encouragement
as a mom that's good for me to hear and
knowing what I want to encourage my daughter to do
and how a simple nudge in one direction.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Could change her whole life.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Help projectory, Yeah, achieve something and get to where she's
meant to be.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Yeah, my mom is really good about like motivating me
and nudging me to be successful, but also doing it
in like a very loving way. I feel like she
did a really good job of balancing that. So very
thankful for her. I am thankful for my little family
squad at home, my three dogs and my husband.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
What are the names that we've got.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Biggie, he's like this little chunky Chihuahua. He had an
elderly mom before me that let him out in the
backyard and then went inside and she passed away in
her chair, and Biggie got locked out in the backyard
for I think like four or five days before anybody
noticed that, you know, she had passed. And so the
neighbors saw him and he was It was July and
(25:05):
Nashville's He was out there just like basically dying if
he exhaustion, and they called the authorities. They came in,
they found his mom had passed away. And then they
rescued him. Oh my gosh, I now he's the love
of my life.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Every time you say his name though in your head,
are you like Biggie Biggie, Biggie.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Biggie Biggie totally?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And he's like, got so much like swag, like it
fits him perfectly. He actually came home with a name
baby Bear, and he only responded to baby and Cody's like,
I'm sorry, I'm not calling this dog baby.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
I draw the line.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
He's like, this is where I draw the line. So
we call him Biggie. It sounds like baby and he
loved it. Okay, so you got Biggie, You've got Biggie Saya,
who's from Sylee to Mexico, and then we've got Oakley.
Oakley is a big white German shepherd that was dropped
at a shelter in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
He was eating the.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Cat food in his old owner's house and then having
like blowout diarrhea all over the house and they like
couldn't control him, so so they just dropped him out
the shelter. The shelter called Wags and Walks and said, hey,
we have too many dogs here. If you can't come
get him, we're going to have to euthanize, and they
went and got him and he's the best. No diarrhea,
no eating cat food in our house. It's going great.
(26:14):
And then Cody my husband, my wonderful husband who lets
me smuggle dogs across borders and supports me luckily, a
few grumbles here and there, of overall very supportive, yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Which is awesome, especially with a career that is so
demanding on either side, whether you're male or female.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
We've evolved to that state.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
But when one has such a demanding job and I
don't know exactly what he does, I'm sure it is.
But when you can find a partner that wants to
support or can support and can be a part of
all that you have going on and even expanding your business.
I don't know if you're talking about your next chapter,
are you yet?
Speaker 3 (26:51):
It's still kind of under wraps. Stay tuned, everyone, Yeah,
stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah, she's Josie's working on something cool here in Nashville.
And what's the fourth thing that you're thankful for?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
The fourth thing that I'm thankful for would be I
guess I would say my health. I feel like so
often we take it for granted, like just being able
to get up and move our bodies. And I'm thankful
for my health. I'm thankful for like my brain, to
be able to do my job. My job is very
physically demanding, Like I'm on the floor with these animals
and they're slabbering on me and jumping on me and
(27:21):
all these things, and I just feel like lucky that
I'm healthy and able.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
To do my job and live a healthy life. Okay,
y'all check Josie out. Her podcast is called in the
Vets Office. I'll link everything in the show notes, Instagram, podcast,
all the things. Josie's number. Call me anytime if you
have any questions about your dog. At ten pm on
a Sunday.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Don't do it. Just kidding me. Thanks Josie, thank you,
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