Dr. Dale Krier is a born and raised New Yorker. She freed herself from the east coast and moved to Colorado for undergrad when she was 18, graduated from CSU in 1987, and then moved back east to be closer to her mom after graduation. She worked for 10 years at a brick-and-mortar practice. When the practice was sold to a corporation, she quit the next day. Dale started Creature Comforts Mobile practice in 1997 with a Dodge truck. She discovered the beauty of in home euthanasia practice, joined IAAHPC, and became certified in hospice and palliative care in 2017. COVID was the smokescreen that allowed her to transition her non-end-of-life care clients & patients to other veterinarians. She is currently 98% end-of-life care and 2% A+ clients that she still works with. She is currently in the process of transitioning to working 3 weeks a month and playing one week a month. 

Topics covered in this episode:

• Dr. Dale’s journey to starting her house call practice
• How a Dodgen Truck helped her leave a long-term job that was sold to a corporation
• How Covid helped Dr. Dale pivot to end-of-life care  
• The pros and cons of owning a mobile clinic
• End-of-life care 
• Getting creative with advertising your mobile practice
• Boundaries and the freedom of house call practices on the road
• Deciding what to charge for your time and services 

Links and Resources:

• Visit the Creature Comforts website to learn more about Dr. Dale Krier
• Find Creature Comforts: In Home Pet Hospice & Euthanasia on Facebook
• Dr. Dale’s writing, “Life Has Moments That Take Your Breath Away”

• • Life has moments that take your breath away. When I was 12 years old my father died at work. I never got to say goodbye, never got to see him, never got to say “I love you” one last time. My perfect life was shattered in an instant with a knock on the door. The police officer stated that my dad had a heart attack and passed before the paramedics arrived. Everything afterward was a blur. Phone calls, family, tears, sadness, denial, anger, helplessness, hugs, guilt, a funeral. Kind people making caring comments that couldn’t take the sadness away. My mother struggled with her own loss. I was left to figure things out. Routines helped. Back to school and my life. Friends, teachers, and family didn’t know what to say, so they said nothing. All assumed that if I was doing well in school I must be okay. Time went on. Life choices were made. I wanted to become a veterinarian. Not a common goal for a woman in the 1970”s. My awkwardness with human relationships drew me to the animals. I was shy around people but always felt an inner peace snuggling with a kitty or playing with a dog. Animals made me feel alive and loved. Veterinary school was beyond challenging mentally, emotionally, and physically. The demands of the curriculum were relentless. The love of the animals was always the reward. Restoring health to a sick, helpless creature is a joy beyond words. My years in training were spent honing my diagnostic and surgical skills to prepare me for the business world. Four years of veterinary school flew by and I moved 2000 miles across the country to start the next chapter of my life closer to family. My first job as a veterinarian lasted for 10 years. My mentors were seasoned veterinarians who shared their advice, experience, and support. I grew secure in my skills and enjoyed the challenges that my career provided. Every day was different. Nothing was ever truly routine. I would never know what surprise awaited me beyond exam room door number one. Was it a cute kitty or a snarling dog, a happy or crying pet owner, a routine vaccine appointment, or an emergency hit by car? There has never been a moment where I didn't believe I was doing important work. One day I was called into the practice owner’s office and told that the business had been sold. My employers would be moving on in their lives and the practice was now owned by a corporation. Something inside me died that day. Once again my perfect family was shattered. That night I discussed the change of circumstance with my husband. I had always fantasized about operating a house call practice. As a child, I spent hours reading James Herriot’s books and dreaming about life as a house call veterinarian. Helping pets and their people in their home environments was a life dream. Five months later Creature Comforts Mobile Veterinary Clinic was born. The day-to-day craziness of operating a small animal mobile veterinary clinic is challenging, emotional, chaotic, tiring, and beyond rewarding. At the end of the day it always comes back to the love of the animal and making a difference in someone’s life. Families who can’t get their cat in a carrier, cats who get violently ill on the car ride to the animal hospital, dogs who tremble with anxiety or growl with aggression. People don’t just call to make an appointment, they call to tell their pet’s story. Many procedures overlap in traditional vs house call medicine but the one that tweaked my thinking the most was the requests for end-of-life care. A faltering voice on the other end of the phone, sometimes silence intermixed with sobs. I learned to recognize these calls for what they were. A pet owner reaching out to a stranger asking for help to provide a gentle goodbye to a beloved family member. All veterinarians are trained to perform the euthanasia procedure but few get to experience the calmness and peacefulness that comes with attending to a pet in the comfort of home. Caring for the human and 4-legged family with dignity, respect, and privacy is truly my calling. People are placed in our path for a reason. After completing Reiki Level 1 and Level 2 certification classes it seemed like the stars were aligning for me. I found myself in polite conversation with a colleague sitting next to me at a veterinary conference. She expressed to me that she had recently opened an end-of-life and hospice care mobile practice. She ignited something in me that I had been contemplating for quite a long time. My research led me to a relatively new group of veterinarians offering end-of-life services only for their furry patients. This is my vision, my passion. I love being able to provide validation, information, options, hugs, and support to families in crisis. I love being able to walk families through an overwhelmingly tough choice and come out on the other side acknowledging that the right decisions were made. No veterinarian starts out on their career path with the goal of helping pets die. Quite frankly, we spend all our energy and training trying to save lives. Exams, laboratory work, x-ray, ultrasound, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatment, all with the hope of saving a life. Veterinary school does not prepare us well for the psychology of dying. Emotions are raw, the sadness is palpable and the connections to one’s pet runs deep. Death does not have to be something we fear. It can take place in a respectful way with food and music and candles and stories and hugs and tears. Tears of sadness mixed with tears of relief that our friends are no longer suffering. I am deeply honored when families reach out to me and ask for my help to provide a peaceful farewell. I have spent the last 45 years missing my father and wondering if he would be proud of the person I have become. I now know that the passion I bring to my work is due to the lessons I have received from loving and honoring the man I know he was. He gives me strength to provide support to my clients and walk beside them each step of the way as they say goodbye to a beloved friend. Many of these families I will never meet again, yet the moments that we shared will never be forgotten. “ My pet is old and his body is not cooperating with his mind and he has become a shadow of who he once was. I need to consider what life he has left and if I should be letting him go to be pain-free.” client's comment

The House Call Vet Academy links:

• Find out about The House Call Vet Academy online CE course 
• Learn more about Dr. Eve Harrison 
• Learn more about 1-to-1 coaching for current & prospective house call, mobile, & concierge vets
• Get House Call Vet swag!
• Find out about the next House Call & Mobile Vet Virtual Conference

Music:

In loving memory of Dr. Steve Weinberg.

Intro and outro guitar music was written, performed, and recorded by house call veterinarian Dr. Steve Weinberg.

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Chronos

This podcast is also available in video on our House Call Vet Cafe YouTube channel