Dr Gaelin O’Grady

I have had a very animal filled life from childhood on. From the time I was a small child I was fascinated by animals. My mother helped me save injured and orphaned and unwanted animals. I knew I wanted to be an “animal doctor” even before I could spell veterinarian. I lived and breathed animals. My parents indulged me. I had dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, degus, chinchillas, gerbils, hamsters, rats and amphibians. I fell in love with horses the day I had my first pony ride and rode whenever I could. I bought my first horse in my 20’s and never looked back. As a teenager I worked for dog breeders and spent many long hours learning about breeds, showing, training and dog sports. Those dedicated breeders taught me about all aspects of breeding and instilled the ethics of doing “things right” and that included genetic testing. I quickly became immersed in the dog world. There wasn’t a dog sport that I didn’t try! I started with conformation showing and obedience, and quickly moved on to tracking, agility, and flyball. I started as a competitor and quickly became a teacher. From there it was onto professional dog training and handling. Security dogs, detection dogs (drug, alcohol, food, fire, bomb), search and rescue dogs, herding dogs, whatever I could learn. I was also showing horses and discovered my love of endurance riding. What a good excuse to go riding! I need to condition my horse for the 100 mile ride! Pure bliss! Unfortunately we all have to grow up! It was only natural that I pursed Animal Science at the University of Guelph and in 1988 with a Honours Bachelor of Science in Animal Science with a strong emphasis on breeding, behavior and nutrition. I spent a few years working with farm animals and enjoying my dogs, horses and other pets. I returned to professional dog work, was making excellent money “playing” with dogs all day! I thought I had put the dream of becoming a veterinarian to bed. “Too many years to study I told myself” but the pull to veterinary medicine was strong and I returned to school as a mature student. I graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1999 with my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. Life was busy during those vet school years. I met my husband and we started breeding Australian Shepherds and had our first daughter during those tough vet school years! We survived those long, tough years and after graduation we headed to Ottawa where we started a horse breeding and cash cropping farm, continued to breed Australian Shepherds, and had another daughter.

A short time laterI became a partner in a 5 person veterinary practice. Life was good! But as time passed I realized that I wanted to focus more on wellness and preventative medicine and not run 12 hours a day reacting to health problems. I wanted to practice like the old time family physician, involved from the start of life right through the golden years. With the support of my family I resigned from the busy multiple veterinarian practice and opened a small veterinary practice on our horse farm and haven’t looked back. Now I get to focus on quality medicine, getting to know both my patients and their families and feel good knowing that I can truly make a positive difference in their lives. After 10 years as solo practitioner I wanted to educate more than just my clients. This educational website/blog was a natural evolution, a way to share my years of knowledge and help people and their companion animals live a better life.