Nearly every kid wants to be a veterinarian at some point in their childhood. I went through my own phase, before realizing maggots and anal glands would be involved. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a veterinarian for a father, though, and that undoubtedly shaped me. Although I haven’t completely followed in my dad’s career footsteps, there are several life lessons his veterinarian side taught me.
1. Even broken things deserve love
When my dad was in veterinary school, he promised me a border collie puppy upon his graduation. I was obsessed with James Herriot’s Only One Woof, and couldn’t wait for my brand new canine companion. As the day approached, I told all my friends about the puppy I was about to get.
Upon arriving at the breeder’s kennel, the conditions were deplorable. There was one dog, a middle-aged blue merle collie, who had obviously been overbred and treated poorly. As anyone in the veterinary field can predict, that’s the dog we went home with. I hate to admit it now, but my 10-year-old self was completely pissed off.
This non-puppy’s name was Shelby, and she was afraid of the linoleum floors in our home. She didn’t – ahem – excel intellectually in the way that most collies do. Like many dogs with a dark past, she had her glitches. I quietly admitted to my friends at school that I had a new dog, not a new puppy.
But my dad loved her. Shelby was “his girlfriend,” and he would defend all of the things that were wrong with her. As the years went on, we continued to adopt and acquire more misfit pets. We had one-eyed cats, orphaned ducks and dogs with every food allergy under the sun. I applaud my stepmother’s patience when it came to cleaning up the mess they’d all leave behind.
No matter how imperfect each pet was, my dad consistently demonstrated to my siblings and I that they deserved as much love as a shiny new puppy.
2. You can’t control everything
The first time I woke up with a dead kitten in my room, I panicked. I had been responsible for nursing the tiny feline overnight, and I felt like a failure.
He was a small orange tiger, and he couldn’t have been more than 3 weeks old. A Good Samaritan had dropped him off at our hospital, where I worked as a receptionist after school. Upon seeing him, I just needed to save him.
I bundled him up in a crate with a heating disc, mixed formula up in the pharmacy and brought him home to stay with me. I kept him in my bedroom, and I got up to feed him multiple times throughout the night.
When I woke up to find him lifeless in the carrier, I was devastated. I rushed downstairs to show my father. I asked if I had done something wrong, but my dad calmly shrugged. It wasn’t an incredibly detailed response, perhaps exactly what you expect from a father, but it put me at ease. I knew I had tried my best for the little orange kitten, so I accepted that his destiny was out of my control.
3. Generosity is worth it
“I’d rather she knows what’s wrong with her dog than make another $200.” My dad said this to me just days ago, but it’s a philosophy that has defined his entire time in practice.
As a practice manager, I want to cringe when I consider how much my dad has given away since opening his practice in 2002. Actually, I can currently put a pretty exact dollar figure on his annual “generosity.” I’d never define this type of behavior as a good business practice, but my dad has been generous with so much more than money.
I’ve watched him stay late to talk to worried clients. He volunteers to drop medications off to our neighbors on his way home to spare them the drive. He still hosts rabies clinics, even after working 60-hour weeks. In a potentially insane move, he gives out his cell phone number and texts with clients about their pets.
These are textbook examples of things that every business consultant would warn you against, but I will admit to admiring these actions. The result of his generosity is a community that loves him. Clients rave about him so much in our online surveys that it makes my eyeballs want to roll right out of my head, yet it secretly fills me with pride.
As a consultant, veterinary hospitals come to me because they want marketing and business advice. Our family’s practice is successful, but I honestly can’t package and teach the level of generosity and dedication my dad demonstrates. I have simply learned that generous behavior comes back to reward you.
Danielle is a former veterinary practice manager and the founder of SnoutSchool.com, a website dedicated to teaching veterinary hospitals to use social media effectively. You can get her 5 favorite social media tools here, or follow her on social media to see excessive photos of her Brussels Griffon. She’s @DanielleSnout on Snapchat, Instagram & Twitter.
