What Your Vet Wishes You Knew About Your Doodle: Honest Answers from Dr. Adam Christman (Part 1)

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Have you ever sat in the vet's exam room wondering if you're asking too many questions, or worried that the food on the shelf is being recommended for the wrong reasons?

In Part 1 of this two-part interview, Dr. Adam Christman, Chief Veterinary Officer for DVM 360, joins me to pull back the curtain on what's really happening on the other side of the exam table.

We get into the ear plucking debate (with a real answer, not a Facebook group debate), the truth about why your vet recommends the food they do, what to know about Doodle food allergies and free feeding, the inherited conditions to watch for in Doodle mixes, and how to advocate for your Doodle without crossing into mistrust.

Take the quiz now on the 3 B's of dental care Dr. Christman discussed at https://thedoodlepro.com/dental-quiz

You'll also learn why pre visit pharmaceuticals are an act of love, not a money grab, and how fear free care can transform every vet visit your Doodle ever has.

🌟 Want to be part of conversations like this one? Join the Doodle Pro® Honor Society, where members like Natalie and Heather get their questions answered live by experts like Dr. Christman. You get me, a community of thoughtful Doodle parents, and access to expert conversations as they happen.

Join here: thedoodlepro.com/society

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Corinne Gearhart is the founder of The Doodle Pro®, a science-based training platform helping Doodle parents raise calmer, well-mannered dogs using positive reinforcement. She is the host of The Doodle Pro® Podcast and author of Your Doodle’s Daily Schedule Blueprint™.

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Transcript

Dr. Adam Christman: I didn't even read that, by the way. That's in my head. 

Corinne Gearhart: Oh yeah, that was just I, for those of you listening, he didn't pull out a notebook. I didn't tell you I was gonna ask that. 

Dr. Adam Christman: What I didn't even know that was coming.

And here I am, like I'm telling you, boss dropping beats your left and right. Somebody called Billboard, we're about to drop a hit. 

Corinne Gearhart: Are you ever sitting in the vet's exam room wondering if you're asking too many questions or worried if your vet is recommending something just to make a sale? Today we're pulling back the curtain on what's really happening on the other side of that exam table, because once you understand it, every vet visit gets easier for you.

And your doodle. When I saw Dr. Adam Christman walk by at a podcasting conference, I had to grab him to talk to Doodle Pronation, and we couldn't stop laughing. Which I knew would be the case from following his wildly popular tiktoks over the years. He's the Chief Veterinary Officer for DVM 360, a trusted [00:01:00] veterinary educator and one of the warmest voices in this industry.

I'm Corinne Gearhart, certified dog trainer, doodle specialist, and author of the bestselling book, your Doodles Daily Schedule Blueprint 

I'm so happy to have run into you, to bring you here today I've followed you for years.

I get asked all the time why doodles? I'd love to know you're a dachshund dad. Why dachshunds? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Why not? No. So it, it's a interesting story 'cause I grew up with beagles my entire life. And then when I was on my fourth year of rotation in vet school, Iowa State University's College of Vet Med I had an incredible mentor, Dr.

Karen Klein. She was a neurologist. And so I was on the neurology rotation. There was this one dosa named Susie. I just absolutely fell in love with his long hair dachs. And now, as many of you probably know long backed dogs are prone to intervertebral disc disease slipping discs. And so Susie was recovering from that.

So it was my job to take her swimming and do physical therapy. We just [00:02:00] bonded. Yeah. Dr. Karen Klein said to me, she goes, you're gonna be that guy. I said, what do you mean? You're gonna be that one with all the dachshunds. I'm like. No. And now look over my shoulder. Look at 'em. All 

Corinne Gearhart: I see though, you're that guy.

Dr. Adam Christman: I'm that guy. 

Corinne Gearhart: Yes. And you literally wrote the book on it. 

Dr. Adam Christman: I wrote a book on it and that's what's interesting. The first one that entered my heart was a patient named Cosmo, and Cosmo was a paralyzed dachshund. He presented them down and out. And then I went to take some x-rays and I went to go back to go over the results with the owners and they left.

They never left. They never came back for him. 

Corinne Gearhart: Oh. 

Dr. Adam Christman: So Cosmo became Cosmo Christman. And so that's how the whole thing started. And I wrote a book about it 'cause he was permanently paralyzed. So I had expressed the bladder and then the rest is basically history was working at the animal shelter. There was another dachshund that was dropped off.

And I said, she just needs to get into my heart. And so I said I have two chambers left. 'cause you have four chambers to your heart.[00:03:00]

All up,

Corinne Gearhart: your heart is clearly expanded. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. 

Corinne Gearhart: I know a lot of our listeners have followed you on social media as well. And you're also the Chief Veterinary Officer for 360. Yeah. And a public educator. Yeah. What do you wish more doodle parents and pet parents in general understood more about what's happening behind that exam room door?

Dr. Adam Christman: Thank you for this question too, and thank you everyone for being such amazing pet owners out there and for following me and instilling your trust in me. 'cause it really, I take it very seriously and it means the world to me. So thank you for that. And I definitely want you to know that we're on the same side of the exam table, although we may leave and go opposite directions.

You're veterinarian goes one way, you go out the other. We're really in there for the greater good of your fur babies. And with doodles specifically too. I gotta give 'em a huge shout out for the grooming needs and wants, as yes. 

They're higher maintenance. I have wire herd dachshunds that we were talking about when I met you, that they gotta get groomed every six [00:04:00] to eight weeks.

But we recognize that as veterinarians that we partner very closely with your groomers because they. Such an astute eye to noticing things. Either their ear smells weird, the eye doesn't look good, the skin looks off, behaviorally speaking, they're just acting weird with the other dogs. So we really, especially with the doodle owners we listen and lean in on both you the pet parent, and then we get a lot of phone calls from the groomers.

I'll get 'em all the time. Listen, I have a dog on the table right now. Do you mind if I just send you a picture? This ear doesn't look right to me. And I was like, oh yeah, that looks like you should bring them on in. So it's a very collaborative approach to veterinary medicine, especially to the doodles.

Corinne Gearhart: And you mentioned ears, and I'm gonna put you on the spot because there's a lot of debate. 

Oh. 

Corinne Gearhart: In grooming community, vet community, what. We know that doodles have that hairy deep, like the hair is deep in that poodle ear, but then we're adding in these other breeds, which can be a mess sometimes, and lead to ear [00:05:00] infections.

What's your opinion on plucking versus trimming versus leaving it alone? 

Dr. Adam Christman: To pluck or not to pluck? 

Corinne Gearhart: I know the big debate. 

Dr. Adam Christman: It is a huge debate and I'm not kidding, this is a debate at the veterinary conferences as well. Yeah. And I will tell you from what I see in the literature, there's really no statistical evidence of plucking the hair canals, all right?

There's that. But when I speak to some of my friends who are veterinary dermatologists to me, they say the same thing as I say, like it makes sense, like if you have dog breeds that are predisposed to ear infections like doodles, and similar to mine, like the wires. Then you walk away and you pull the hair out of the ear canals just to keep it less like contamination that could be in there, so again I do not right or wrong but because I know someone will say, no, I don't wanna do this. And yes to no. But I definitely recommend, like me personally I do like to pluck. I use the Neo preta powder. Have you heard of that? 

Corinne Gearhart: Gives you a grip. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. Yeah. And like the dfs and so it numbs the ear canal nicely too, so it [00:06:00] doesn't hurt them.

I put, I give them a nice lick mat to chew on and to go away, has taught me all these things. And but yeah, that, that helps. 

Corinne Gearhart: And pet parents at home don't have to do that on their own or even make that call on their own. 

Dr. Adam Christman: No. 

Corinne Gearhart: They can talk to their vet like, look at your particular dog's. Ear canal. Yes.

Is this becoming a matted? Infection prone mess or is your doodle, it looks pretty clear. And they can also help with that like procedure, so you don't have to do it on your own if it's the right call. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. And remember I say this on my TikTok videos to the pet parents out there. The letter of the ear canal.

What letter does the dog's ear canal make? It makes a letter L, right? So it has a vertical, it has that horizontal ear component. And that area in between the the left and the vertical horizontals where a lot of ear and gunk can really hang out there and especially some of the hair. So it's always a good thing just to pull some of that hair out. The groomers can do it. Certainly veterinary professionals do it. And when you're cleaning the ear, especially the doodle parents, I want you to lift and pull the ear gently towards you because you get 

Really [00:07:00] good visibility and exposure into that horizontal ear canal.

'cause you think of these ear canal ear cleaners as like a detergent, right? And so you don't wanna make sure you get a quote that, that material massage it in. You're not gonna damage the eardrum with a good ear cleaner. I want you to pull that ear canal a little bit further away towards you so that way you can get that ear cleaner in to work more effectively.

Corinne Gearhart: I love it. And when you're using the cleaner, how do you instruct that? Massage? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. Yes. You can massage at the base of the ear, which is nice to a little bit at the bottom. And then I like to put it on a cotton ball or, q-tips can be a little bit more invasive and intrusive, so cotton works really well.

Or even just wrap your finger, dip it in gauze and dip it. Then just do the swoop technique and clean up what you can. So tho those are good techniques. And then you have the dogs that are like absolutely cray. So you're just like, go outside, dunk it and run. 

Corinne Gearhart: They're gonna shake it in there.

I feel like you've met some doodles. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yes. Yes. A few of them. Yes. I love them. 

Corinne Gearhart: We were talking, when we were chatting at the conference, how you went to pick up your dachshunds from boarding. [00:08:00]

Dr. Adam Christman: Yes. There are a, there was a sea of doodles that are there, and I gotta tell you to the doodle owners out there

Corinne Gearhart: yeah.

Dr. Adam Christman: And you know this too. They are, they're a little on the higher maintenance side, like I was mentioning, but they're so well behaved. When they're done, when it's when you train early, they get groomed early. They are in love with each other. Yes. Doodles definitely love doodles. And then I have Capone, who's the wire and they're like.

What are you doing here? You don't belong here. 

Corinne Gearhart: Where's the curl? I see that. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Where are the curls? 

Corinne Gearhart: But 

Dr. Adam Christman: yeah, they're, they are, they have such personalities that, that you see whether they be like the goldendoodles or labradoodles or birdie, doles or Yeah. 

Corinne Gearhart: Or 

Dr. Adam Christman: noodles. 

Corinne Gearhart: I love it. And thank you for celebrating them with us.

Celebrating. Of course. You are a master at social media. I. Just bow down. It is not my expertise, but I feel like social media has changed everything. What is the biggest myth about pet [00:09:00] health that you're constantly trying to correct? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Okay. Coconut oil is not like the Windex to veterinary medicine.

Corinne Gearhart: Like robot.

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. I'm telling you. Newsflash on that. And d tenacious Earth. I know a lot of pet oils like to try natural products for flea control. I have personally seen fleas crawling within the D Earth that's sprayed on these dogs, and this smell is just pretty potent for them. So I see a lot the home remedies and home hacks.

I understand. And I get it. 'cause I talk about some of them on my on my channels and my videos. 

Corinne Gearhart: Yeah. 

Dr. Adam Christman: I always want you to make sure pet parents out there that you do follow the science out there. And we currently I don't know if this is we're really battling a lot of AI generated veterinarians that are not real.

Corinne Gearhart: No. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah, there are tons of 'em out there in the social media space and you wouldn't even know it until we vet them ourselves. We actually look and see and they're like, yep, this is an AI generated veterinarians doesn't even exist. And and they're like on a podcast and they're being interviewed. It looks completely legit and it's, 

Corinne Gearhart: oh my gosh.

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. 

Corinne Gearhart: All right. I could [00:10:00] tell everyone I shook Dr. Crispin's hand in person. Yes. This is really him. I'm here. 

Dr. Adam Christman: I can break the fourth wall for you. 

Corinne Gearhart: So with the AI ones, are they Hawking products? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yes. Or yep. Products is a big one, and they'll say my ears are practicing. I've been practicing for 25 years.

And I'm like, and there's just subtle things I could see in these videos. Like the blinking is off and like the way they're communicating is off, and then they'll recommend a product or whatnot. I get it, but it's, if you're a real veterinarian, of course recommend product, fine.

But if you're not, then that's just complete doesn't make any sense. Yeah, 

Corinne Gearhart: I had a podcast interview with Dr. M she's based in Canada and I had and we talked about this a little bit, but I have had so many doodle parents who just wanna do right by their dogs and give them the best. And they're suspicious of the food recommended by vets because in social media there's a lot of talk of [00:11:00] vets getting a kickback.

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. 

Corinne Gearhart: And that there's no nutrition training in vet school and. I have a different opinion, but I'd love to hear what you're like. First aid 

Dr. Adam Christman: Experie. Oh, Corin. Thank you for bringing this to our attention because this is a huge myth. It really is. It is 100% not true that I don't, and I travel around the world.

I'm telling you and speak with them. Like they're not getting a kick back for recommended product. They're making a percentage if it's in their house. In their in-house, a hospital type of a thing, just like 

Put on heartworm prevention or flea and tick or shampoo. 

Corinne Gearhart: Yeah. If they're stocking it.

Yeah, they're 

Dr. Adam Christman: stocking it, but they're not being like, here, if you do this quid quote, pro quo type of a thing, that's not a real thing. So absolutely not. And you're right. I will agree with you on that. There is not a real good solid nutritional like counseling that we get in veterinary school because you gotta realize we're going through large animal nutrition.

We're doing equine and small animal reptiles, avian dog and cat. So it gets, pretty muddy with what we're trying to be [00:12:00] recommending. So that's where I come in, whereas I work in continuing education. So you gotta keep staying on top of the ever evolving changes, especially nutrition is changing so rapidly.

For the better too. For the better. This is 

Corinne Gearhart: great. 

Dr. Adam Christman: I love the fact that we have raw foods and natural foods and home cooked and they're kibble that my number one piece of advice, my number one piece of advice to all of you out there, please do not kibble, shame, food, shame any pet parents out there because exactly what you just said earlier, Corrine, we're all here.

To do the best thing for our pets. Yes. And if that's what works for you and your dog, I call that a home run. There are two words that I always recommend. I want it to be balanced, and I want it to be complete. And whatever you're doing with that, if it works for home cooking or those broth foods or fresh food, go for it.

I think that's fantastic. The ins and outs are working. The dog's, skin, cats, hair coats, working great, no vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, and sneezing. Home run. 

Corinne Gearhart: Love it. I love how open you are and I just encourage. [00:13:00] Pet parents to leave that suspicion of their vet at the door because you guys didn't get in this for big bucks from a, like from a pet brand.

Dr. Adam Christman: No. 

Corinne Gearhart: That's not why you got in this. 

Dr. Adam Christman: And nutrition is truly the, what we're taught, and this is why everyone should know, is nutrition is truly the nucleus to everything that we do. You hear a lot of the literature about the microbiome now. Probiotics, prebiotics. Probiotics. So nutrition is, plays such an integral role with.

Everything that we're doing. And it's, one of the leading questions that we ask in the exam room is, what are you feeding your dog? Because it really helps. And a great little tip, by the way, too, Corin great for those tuning in is take a picture. Take a picture. 'cause sometimes you get so overwhelmed when you're coming into the exam room.

You've got all these questions you want, take a picture of the food, whatever you're feeding them, the bag of the food. Measuring cups, whatever that looks like. 'cause we're gonna be asking you that because we're gonna look at their body condition score to make sure they're not 

Overweight or underweight.

So bring us anything that you got to make sure that we're aligned with what you're feeding your pet. 

Corinne Gearhart: That's great. And [00:14:00] with doodle mixes, from experience I'm sure how the poodle side can be very particular about their diet and they can, the shock on your face. I had a standard poodle who she would vomit bile before eating something she didn't find.

Dr. Adam Christman: Yes. 

Corinne Gearhart: And for those of our doodles who the lab side isn't the dominant side they can get frustrated with that. And so I see a couple things where free feeding is a common approach of I just leave it out. And then sometimes I imagine when they go into the office with you, they can't really tell you if they've been skipping meals or not.

'Cause it's just the bowl's always full and always out. And then the other side being always enhancing the dish with more and more maybe not balanced things or just trying to get them to eat. 'cause you're worried that they're not going to have their meal. Yeah. What your thought. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. These are great topics.

Gosh, you're so good. Corinne. 

Corinne Gearhart: How are you? [00:15:00]

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah you certainly have owned a few doodles in your day. I'll tell you that. Doodle. I love that. I just came up with that. But no, you're right. I think, listen, no dog will be deprived of not missing a meal. They know how to work you and by work, W-E-E-R-R work it, they know, I'm telling you.

Yes. So it's a matter of finding a diet that, to your point, it works well for everybody. And if you put toppers on it or if you add some other foods in there. That's okay. But just know that you're adding extra calories that are in there. Doodles are, do have a high predisposition for food allergies.

Yes. So we always wanna make sure that we're addressing if the, if they're itchy and they're rubbing their face and scoot in the rears and other areas that it could be food allergies. So you always have to address that issue. But. Yeah. Leaving it out like free feeding or once or the idea of what we generally recommend, nutritious recommend is usually twice a day.

Feedings, generally speaking, tend to do well. 

Corinne Gearhart: Yeah. 

Dr. Adam Christman: And the other thing I'll add is engagement in [00:16:00] enrichment. Doodles have high energy. 

Corinne Gearhart: Yes. You're speaking my language. 

Dr. Adam Christman: They got a lot of energy, so just like giving them the meal and then they're like, okay, that was a great 10 seconds. Now what are we gonna do for the rest of the day?

Puzzle feeders, doing things to hide things around the house, whatever, make them work for some of their food. It's a home run. It's a no-brainer and they love to do it, especially doodles. One of our neighbors, she's got a Bernie Doodle and she says she just hides things around the house, like just a high value treats throughout, and it's part of their playtime one hour a day.

And man, she is mentally exhausted because we have the winter going on. It's really cold. So she do these inside activities, but she said she is out like a light from doing all these fun little games with her. 

Corinne Gearhart: Yes, I love it. And just the contra fee, fee free feeding. My doodle, he is a Cava P. If I set a bowl of food in front of him, eh?

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. 

Corinne Gearhart: The same exact like kibble can be in a puzzle feeder and the challenge, he's I gotta get this out. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yes. 

Corinne Gearhart: This is amazing. And then he's tired as if we just took a long [00:17:00] cardio walk. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yep. Absolutely. They're flipping things. They have the puzzle ones where you like take the pause out or whatever, and they hit the beeping, squeaky toys, all those different things.

Yeah, I think that's great just to keep them mentally and enriched. It's a huge thing. 

Corinne Gearhart: I'm going on a total U-turn from anything we had talked about talking about. So thanks for going on this ride with me. Yes, 

Dr. Adam Christman: let's 

Corinne Gearhart: do it. You're making me think of all these things. 

Dr. Adam Christman: I'm ready to go. 

Corinne Gearhart: Alright. I knew you can handle it.

While we're talking about body composition, another thing that comes up a lot. Are diet dog foods. And do I just need to cut out the greenies? And part of that is I wish there was a little bit more trust between the pet parent and the vets that you guys, again, you're not suggesting a diet dog food.

You're getting paid to? 

Dr. Adam Christman: No, not at all. Absolutely not a hundred percent false, but it's the recommendation based upon the lifestyle of the pet. If there's an aging or a metabolic or disease [00:18:00] process that we're worried about, for example, kidney disease or 

Food allergies that we just mentioned, those are reasons for us to pivot and find a specific diet that meets the wants and needs.

And also a huge also. Is cost. Let's call it what it's, yes, food's expensive. And be transparent with us, the veterinarian. Be like, listen if this is gonna cost me $80 a month, like I, I can't afford that. We do not, judge. Yes, we're here for the greater good of your pets. So just let us know what works.

And there's a great website, I dunno if you've heard of balance it.com, but we can take you there and show you how to do it yourself if home cooking might be a little bit more affordable and 20% of your treats should make up for. The daily caloric intake of your dog's diet overall for that day.

So if it is a greenie, for instance, and you're giving something else like a yummy comb or whatever just take note of it because if they're getting a little, heavy and you're looking over them and that hour waistline glass is a little bit on the thicker side. 

Start by cutting back a little bit on the treats or just blame grandma and grandpa.

I know. 

Corinne Gearhart: [00:19:00] So I've taken care of hundreds of doodles and. It's always when grandma and grandpa are taking care of them. I, is it the table scraps or what is it? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yes, guys, this is what you do. So you pre-measure your food. So if they're going over grandma and grandpa's, this is what you're gonna do is get a black bag, whatever that is, you're gonna weigh or measure the food, but you're gonna under feed them because you know that grandma and grandpa are gonna give them a little extra.

So that's brilliant. I would say a third less is what they're gonna get. Because even when I brought my weens over to mom and dad's, they'd be like, this is all you give them. I said, yeah, this is all, and I know it's lower than I was gonna. I said, this is all they're supposed to get. Send me videos. Oh, they used to send me like, here this is.

I was like, see, I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. 

Corinne Gearhart: I love it. Yeah. And we love to spoil our pups. They are our family. Why should we care if they're a little chunky? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Oh, I know. Listen. Look at all the effects that, that we can have with obesity. [00:20:00] And literally, obesity is a disease. I treat it like monitoring a cancer or diabetes.

Yeah. Those are things that we can treat And listen. The good news about this, the good news is that obesity is reversible. Yes, it's treatable. And I wish that I could say that for a lot of other issues that we see in veterinary medicine, but it's not. But this is reversible, my friends, because we know that obesity can lead to osteoarthritis, cardiac disease, other endocrine diseases such, I just mentioned diabetes, for instance.

So we don't want them to get into those phases because it's all about the longevity of our dogs. We know that food is love. I get it. We know that. We, I'm 

Corinne Gearhart: half Italian, 

Dr. Adam Christman: right? Yeah, same here. And it's like when they're not eating it, it throws you off a little bit. Oh, so up.

It's a big red flag. So you want to enjoy life and listen, they're not in their lives forever, and you wanna make it the best day ever and give 'em the food and enjoyment, but just be very cons wise of what you're feeding, how much you're feeding. If you know you're gonna give him [00:21:00] a little extra TLC with anything, try to redirect that.

I was just on a podcast with Dr. Chris Pockle. He's a boarded veteran behaviorist, and. He talks about training. He's it doesn't always have to be about high value treats with these guys, you can always give them one of their favorite toys or just a boop on the snoot or a belly rub that they love, more of the physical touch and affection to redirect them from maybe a high value treat or a treat in general to replace that so that way they feel a little bit more engaged with that, not the extra calories.

Corinne Gearhart: We can use some of that allotment of what we were going to be feeding in the bowl later. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yes. 

Corinne Gearhart: And mix that in. And it's like a slot machine where you don't know when is the big payout gonna be. It could be kibble, cheese kibble, cheese. Yeah. And that's got a really engaged dog where to work.

Dr. Adam Christman: You can have a robber in your house and they'll like still sleep, but you open up that cheese drawer.

Corinne Gearhart: It's true 

Dr. Adam Christman: too. The string cheese. Yeah, they're right here. Like how in [00:22:00] the Kelly Clark did they get here? 

Corinne Gearhart: Haven't protected you from anything but that cheese drawer. Yeah, 

Dr. Adam Christman: absolutely. Yeah, totally. 

Corinne Gearhart: So we're talking about some like common preventable health issues. What other. Health issues do you feel would be easily preventable by loving pet parents with some small daily habits?

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. Dental disease is another good one. So I call it the three Bs. Brush, bite, and bowl. So if I, ideally, brushing your pet's teeth is super easy or not say super easy, super useful and helpful. Not necessarily easy to do on everyone, so we recognize and understand that you can start early with them.

I usually start with like peanut butter, for instance. And use it on a toothbrush just to get them used to the idea of having their teeth brushed. And then if. If you struggle with that, then there's other options, which is the bite. So dental chew, whether there's non consumable, good dental chew, there's a new one that just came out that I'll be partnering with.

It's called Chew meat, a good one where they're brushing [00:23:00] their teeth and they also can get up into their gums, which is great. 

Corinne Gearhart: Great. 

Dr. Adam Christman: And then there's also the B component for bowl. Where you could put a water additive in there. Now I will say full transparency 'cause I get asked as oh, nothing's working, and then they show me a picture, or they flip the lip and there's these gnarly rotten teeth in the mouth and it's just not, they need a dental cleaning per se.

But to be proactive, like we were just talking about easily dental care, it's it goes a long way. We need to keep their teeth nice and healthy because we know it can cause other issues. So that's one. The other thing, especially my doodle owners, is their coats and their skin. It's so crucial for them.

'cause depending on the type of doodle, 'cause you can have more poodle than the oodle. 

Corinne Gearhart: And then it can all tangle together. 

Dr. Adam Christman: It can all tangle together. Staying on top of their grooming needs and their hair coat quality is so crucial. I find, I dunno about you. I'm curious to get your thoughts on this.

I think. I feel that we tend to over bathe the doodles more. 

And some of them really need some of the oils. Like I had a client, she was bathing her doodle once a week and I [00:24:00] was like, and she was asking why it's so dry and flaky and she was telling me, I was like, oh my gosh. Like it's definitely too, they need some of the oils for their coat.

To keep going. So usually like once a month is ideal, or if they go get groomed every six to eight weeks Yep. But making sure that they don't get tangled and mangled and all of that. That's so crucial. 

Corinne Gearhart: I could go on for hours here, but I'll be succinct. Unless you are brushing out and being able to use a greyhound comb right through that coat.

Every time your doodle is getting wet, it's like cementing any matting. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. 

Corinne Gearhart: And it makes it really hard. Yes, we're stripping the oils, but it's also making it really hard to save that coat later. Yes. And it's just cementing it. So it's drying it out. And then if you're. Using a detangler comb because it rips the ends of the hairs, and then you've got more matting.

You can always, if you're like, oh, my dog got into some dirt and got messy, you can always do, it's basically a bath and a blowout at the groomer. They don't have to do the full groom, but you really wanna [00:25:00] make sure you're not cementing or go with a really short puppy cut. You could just do a rinse down uhhuh and we don't have to be doing all the shampooing and pre brushing and then blow out afterwards.

Dr. Adam Christman: Oh, that's good to know actually. 'cause 'cause not everyone can, physically bathe their pets or whatever right. On the tub and everything. So that's good to, to know those things. It's awesome. 

Corinne Gearhart: Yes. When you see these celebrity doodles with these long, magnificent coats, 

Dr. Adam Christman: yes. 

Corinne Gearhart: They're getting weekly or biweekly, like bath and blowouts in order to keep these we, these are often our family dogs and we're working full time, or we're taking care of the kids and how do we fit in like our, their needs and their health needs with our lifestyle. 

It doesn't have to be full teddy bear all the time. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. No. Although they're still stinking cute.

Corinne Gearhart: I know. 

Dr. Adam Christman: So cute. And the last thing I was just gonna mention is hip and joint health, because that's always important and the age that I like to get them on something is as early as one year of age. 'cause I a lot of [00:26:00] conferences about this. So they talk about getting it more proactive, whether it be, chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine, green lip, muscle sharp car. What's the other one? Eggshell membrane is one of 'em too. And then I'm thinking of the other one, but I can't think of 'em all. But there's all these different ones, but whatever works with you where you talk, chat with the veterinarian about getting 'em on, especially for doodles.

'cause some of 'em are pretty darn tall and big, yeah. Wanna 

Corinne Gearhart: and mixed with the burns or, yeah. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. There's a Labrador component in there, a golden component. Yeah, just making sure that their hips and joints are nice and healthy. 

Corinne Gearhart: That's earlier than I knew. That's really helpful.

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 

Corinne Gearhart: That's great. So we're talking about some of the inherited conditions. Some people talk about like any mix of a dog being a healthy, like hybrid vigor. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. 

Corinne Gearhart: And that then they're a healthier dog, but. Just because you're combining doesn't make them immune to their genetic predispositions or [00:27:00] inherited conditions.

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. 

Corinne Gearhart: When you have doodle mixes come in, what kind of inherited conditions do you watch out for and do you have your eye on? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah, thank you for this. I think it's so good to look at I'm all a big fan of DNA testing in general. Yeah. So even when they're purebreds, 'cause they can have certain genetic markers, like for the dachshunds, I like to see if they carry the markers for in IBDD intervertebral disc disease.

And by all means, by the way, I just wanna let everyone know, like, when you find these things, don't blame anybody. Welcome to a thing called life. Like people have these dogs, have them, cats have them. So you don't go back to the breed like, oh my gosh no, this is what I mean.

They do very, they work very hard to work things out, of course, but this is how things are. Cancers are the big ones that we look for, and fortunately. Now we have a lot of what's called liquid biopsy testing. So you could do a blood test as early as two to three years of age to see if these dogs doodles could be one of 'em.

Or one of 'em for hissy, his [00:28:00] osteosarcomas or lymphoma. 

Corinne Gearhart: Oh 

Dr. Adam Christman: yeah, that's a really big thing. They even have 'em on the schnauzers, miniature schnauzers for urine tests for transitional cell carcinomas. 'cause that breeds a little bit more predisposed to it. Love it. Yeah. And then I always think of Addisons yeah, that, that's a little silent one.

We call 'em zebras and better medicine 'cause it can look like anything else,

Corinne Gearhart: yeah. 

Dr. Adam Christman: So we always look for the Addisons and then some dilated cardiomyopathy and the heart issues, and then retinal atrophies or sudden acute retinal detachment syndrome. SARS can also be something. On our radar.

And of course, some orthopedic things such as like Pan Osteitis, osteo Kenosis, Diskin, or OCD and hip dysplasia. 

Corinne Gearhart: Thank you. 

Dr. Adam Christman: I didn't even read that, by the way. That's in my head. 

Corinne Gearhart: Oh yeah, that was just I, for those of you listening, he didn't pull out a notebook. I didn't tell you I was gonna ask that. 

Dr. Adam Christman: What I didn't even know that was coming.

And here I am, like I'm telling you, boss dropping beats your left and right. Somebody called Billboard, we're about to drop a hit. 

Corinne Gearhart: He has a handheld mic, everybody. So I think we might get a mic [00:29:00] drop at the end for that. I know. I love it. For people who hadn't seen you before, now you know why I was so excited to hoot and holler at him across the room while we're, I'm just drilling you with health questions here.

What is a health topic you wish pet parents would ask more about, but rarely do? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Behavior is a big one. I think that's a it's a little silent one that gets under our radar a little bit. So when we ask about behavior changes, we tend to think about the training components or the doing the number ones and number two.

Now I want a little bit more granular things like what are, how are the routine? Is the routine changing? Especially as our dogs are getting older, we need to recognize those things, choose to not jump on the bed anymore. Okay let's talk about that because yeah, we, let's talk about osteoarthritis, but then there's like subtle behavioral changes when we, and I love this is a great example, pet owners.

So listen up when you say something's just not right. Something's just off. She used to eat in the morning and now she's like eating just a little bit in [00:30:00] the afternoon. Or he used to greet me in the morning when I'm waking up, but now he's not anymore. He's sleeping in his bed. Those are indications that something is truly off.

Go with your gut. 

Corinne Gearhart: Yes. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Like if something is off, 99.9% chance, you're right. And as much as I love my colleagues, if they dismiss it, go to another veterinarian because I'm telling you. You have to figure out what's going on because they can't talk to us what's happening. So behavior is a huge thing that I want you to talk to us a lot more about because I'm only seeing you 20, 30 minutes of the day, right?

You're seeing it 24 7. Take video if there's something that's doing weird. But if it's the reverse sneeze thing, if it's there's scratching somewhere, possibly a seizure, or maybe it's fainting versus a seizure. Try to videotape that or just document when it's happening because all these behavior things that we're talking about could be medical, it could be cardiac related, it could be neuro, yes, it could be related process.

So it's a huge thing. 

Corinne Gearhart: And we as their people are their voice. Yeah. So [00:31:00] we've got the observation, but we're the ones who can say when they're silently even possibly in pain or going through something, you are their eyes and their voice. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Ab Yeah. Thank you. You are their biggest advocate. When we, I first came out of vet school many years ago.

We were just 

Corinne Gearhart: a couple. Yeah. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. That we were, we were in the driver's seat. Pet owners are in the passenger seat. Nope. Nope. Not anymore. And I love that they're, we're not, because you're in the driver's seat. You're the one at the end of the day has to consent to treatment or sign off or give us your credit card, whatever that is.

Corinne Gearhart: Yeah. 

Dr. Adam Christman: And I always think of it, and I say this analogy all the time, like you're in the driver's. I'm in the passenger seat and this car, we're together driving to make the best decisions for your dog together. And it is a teamwork approach because your dogs can't talk to us. And that's why I'm really big on behavior because if they're vocalizing or shaking, crying, whimpering, yeah, we need to know these things to figure out what's going on again together.

Corinne Gearhart: I love that, and as pet parents are trying to do how do you suggest a pet [00:32:00] parent advocate for their dog on a vet visit without crossing into mistrust or confrontation? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah, trust is earned, right? It goes beyond the credentials that's in that exam room and I think a lot of it that you're listening and tuning in, you're probably like, yes, this guy gets it.

Because I do. 'cause I am a dog parent. I am a pet parent and I know how I wanna be treated when I walk through those doors of a veterinary hospital. And so when you have a lot of information that's out there. Thank you. Maybe it's incorrect misinformation, but you won't be dismissed, I promise you.

If what? When I see something that, like I just talked about, co coconut oil, yes. Be the cure, but so they come in oh, I wanna use coconut oil for my really itchy allergic flea allergy dermatitis dog. And I like, thank you for looking that up. And let's talk about this versus saying, no, that is garbage.

You are not gonna do that. That's, you just feel dismissive, just 

Corinne Gearhart: shutting the conversation down. 

Dr. Adam Christman: No, like I would feel like, okay, I'm done here. You know all the work that you've done. When you come in, be open about things. Trust [00:33:00] your veterinarian because we've, we are scientists, so we follow the science and I know some of pet owners get concerned about side effects of medications and they'll go ahead and look up things online.

They're going to Facebook group chats and they'll say, oh my gosh, your vet's trying to kill your dog because they're dispensing this, whatever it is. Medication. Yeah. We are a licensed veterinarian for a reason. 'cause we won't just, we won't just spend something if we didn't feel that it was safe and effective.

Everything that we consume in life is always gonna have a potential side effect.

Corinne Gearhart: Measuring. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Measuring, yeah. Absolutely. So it's measuring, it's a cost benefit analysis of what that looks like. I just did the six, seven 

Corinne Gearhart: oh boy. Which I have a middle school and high schooler. So they would tell us That's so over.

Dr. Adam Christman: So over. I know. I just, 

Corinne Gearhart: oh, over. By the time we knew about it, it was done. I 

Dr. Adam Christman: know. But we're cool. We're the 

Corinne Gearhart: Oh, you're cooler. We're the cool 

Dr. Adam Christman: mom.

Corinne Gearhart: I don't think you have teenagers. I don't think there's any, no, 

I 

Dr. Adam Christman: don't have any kids. I have four that keep me very busy. 

Corinne Gearhart: Yes, they're unconditional. Love as [00:34:00] much we, yeah. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. Totally. But yeah, so that, that's what I always say is trust is certainly earned in, in, in that exam room. And communication is everything.

The number one reason why clients leave a practice is because of miscommunication or they didn't feel that they performed about something. And so when they. Big thing. For example, they'll say, we're gonna take your dog into the back. I can't stand when I hear that from practice management. When I go into practices and I hear that from veterinary technicians or veterinarians, we're really trying to do away with that because the back just feels foreign to a pet owner.

Like, why are you taking my dog away from me and what is it the upside down? Why can't you do it here versus out there? And some dogs do better away from you, but we really want to engage you more in the exam room so you can see everything. 'cause that the. When you go to get invoiced out, you can see, oh, that's right.

He did trim the nails. He pulled blood work in front of me. We did the ear cleaning so you can see what was done. A little bit more. I'd love to take you into treatment. I actually take the owners and show them under the microscope if they're not too, to see [00:35:00] what we're seeing. I want to, do you see what that is?

This is. This is bacteria. That's a lot of bacteria that we see under that microscope. So this is why we need to do these antibiotics today. And you see this part on the skin that's called a hotspot. We're gonna shave that if that's okay just to get some of that gunk off. So just getting them engaged a little bit more.

And if you're not feeling that your voice is heard, and just like you were saying, Corinne, you're not being your best pet's advocate. Find a veterinarian that you just jive with because it's so important. 

Corinne Gearhart: It's beautiful to even hear that there are such great options. I am Fear Free Certified. Oh, and Fear Free Vets.

I did the Vet Certification. Yeah. Yeah. But not one, but just to learn more. But Fear Free Vets, they don't go in the back. 

Dr. Adam Christman: No. 

Corinne Gearhart: And everything is about the comfort for the pet. And the more comfortable we are. I know my, I have a cavalier poodle mix. I just stacked anxiety and connection on top of more anxiety and connection with his person.[00:36:00]

Dr. Adam Christman: Yes. 

Corinne Gearhart: And him being pulled into the back goes much more difficult for him than when I'm able to, I can help hold him while we're doing the injection. I don't need to intrude. I am not the vet, but if I can make it a more. Copacetic experience for everybody. I'm happy to support that. 

Dr. Adam Christman: I love that. I love that you talked about that with Fear Free.

And one thing I wanna mention while we're on this topic is if your veterinarian recommends something called a pre-visit pharmaceutical or PVP, we want to give 'em like maybe Gabapentin or Trazodone. Hold on, I got my microphone. Everyone listen up. 

Corinne Gearhart: All right. Ready? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Give it. Yes.

Especially doodles. Listen, give it, you know it. There'll be a nice from the movie Bridesmaids, they're gonna be relaxed and ready to party for Anelle trip, but you want to be nice and.[00:37:00]

Corinne Gearhart: It felt personal, 

Dr. Adam Christman: right? 

Corinne Gearhart: I 

Dr. Adam Christman: feel violated. No, it's, but it's true. Like anything. Yes. Because they'll say, listen and I hope you, you all understand, it's nice to say, you know what, this is not her day. She's, he's not having it today. Why don't we revisit this and give him a little something to take the edge off of.

It's not to make money, it's not to do. It's just so everyone including you, the pet parent, have a little bit more, less fear, anxiety, and stress going on during that visit goes a long way. 

Corinne Gearhart: I love it when vets recommend that you're changing your whole schedule. You're getting this dog back on your schedule.

Writing the script first because it's for the dog's comfort. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yes. 

Corinne Gearhart: And not just for that one procedure, but it's an investment in future visits. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Absolutely. 

Corinne Gearhart: So we are not holding a dog down who's freaking out. Who's going to remember that office and that discomfort? 

Dr. Adam Christman: Yeah. 

Corinne Gearhart: The Fear Free program is all about if meds are able to help make this more comfortable.[00:38:00]

Let's safely use some meds working with your vet so that it doesn't have to be torturous. One of our members in the doodle pro honor society, amazing pup amazing pup olive, just was really struggling with getting groomed and a bernadoodle can't choose not to be groomed. 

Dr. Adam Christman: Oh, 

Corinne Gearhart: and her mom's amazing. She got a mobile groomer to come, but also got some meds on board and took it slow.

And Olive just had her first successful groom, which is gonna set her up for a decade. Yes. Of successful grooms. 

Dr. Adam Christman: I love that. 

Corinne Gearhart: Dr. Christman, this conversation has already given doodle parents so much to take home. The ear plucking debate settled the truth about food and your vet's nutrition recommendations, and the reminder that you are your doodle biggest advocate.

Inside that exam room next week in part two, Dr. Christman shares the squeaky toy hack that turns a stressful [00:39:00] vet visit into your doodles Favorite outing. We get into the three Bs of dental care, the surprising age to start joint support and what to actually do if you ever spot something coming out of your doodle that shouldn't be there.

And the best part two of our Honor Society members joined us live, and Dr. Christman answered their questions in real time. You're gonna wanna hear those. Make sure you subscribed. So part two, drop straight into your feed. Next Thursday