I am just making this statement as my staff think I am. Hey, when the goddess of veterinary animal behaviour sends you an email asking you to help out with a Masterclass at the NAVC Conference,you tend to go. (Bonus was going to Orlando during our Canadian winter!!) It was a low-stress handling lab and boy, was it fun!!! The two board certified veterinary behaviourists running the course were Dr. Karen Overall and Dr. Martin Godbout (a Canadian!) and a great trainer, Pat Miller. There were six of us who were asked to help out during the full day seminar. Three of us were behaviour residents and the other vets had a lot of experience in behaviour from Dr. Overall's course at the NAVC Institute. There were 50 students accepted into the class and we were hopping all day. We were either presenting, helping the students with their training or doing demonstrations (My kong filler can basically blew up while I was demonstrating how to properly fit a Gentle Leader. Luckily the dog thought it was great!).
We are watching a group give a demonstration on how they taught the cat to lay on its back for an ultrasound (the things you can do with baby food as a treat!)
From left to right: Dr. Karen Overall, Dr. Martin Godbout and Pat Miller. Watching the demonstrations of the dogs at the end of the seminar. Only one was left standing.
Pierrette, Colleen and I. Its a small world cause it turns out that Colleen's sister is a client of mine. I wish I could have seen my face when Colleen said she knew exactly where Okotoks was even though she is doing her behaviour residency in Ottawa.
Martin is like the big brother I never had.
Fiia and Steve are also part of what we are starting to call "the tribe". A group of veterinarians who are just crazy about behaviour and figuring out how to make our pets' lives easier whether at the veterinary clinic, home or out in public.
Other than my mother, this woman has had such an incredible impact on my life and how I practice veterinary medicine. Dr. Overall is a complete inspiration.
