MEET DR. ERNIE WARD

AMERICA'S PET ADVOCATE

America’s Pet Advocate

"The most important reasons for living are the relationships we cultivate with ourselves, each other,
our planet, and pet loved ones."

Dr. Ernie Ward

Dr. Ernie Ward has spent his entire career practicing, writing about, teaching, and encouraging better care for animals to earn the title as “America’s Pet Advocate.” Whether he’s discussing the dangers of obesity, how to perform a physical examination, dealing with behavioral issues, answering pet owner’s questions about nutrition or surgery, or innovating better care for aging pets, Dr. Ward’s unifying theme is: Do what is in the pet’s best interest.

Youtube: Off Label Veterinary News and Dr. Ernie Ward
Veterinary Viewfinder Weekly Podcast

“For over 20 years, I have pursued a higher quality of life for myself, my family, and the pets I serve. I refuse to accept that veterinary practice is limited to simply diagnosing and treating disease. I choose to focus on preventing disease and optimizing health. No longer will I accept ‘wellness’ as the ‘absence of illness.’

This journey has led me to become a student of human and veterinary physiology, nutrition, wellness, and longevity. Curing illness and restoring wellbeing must be a combination of medical and surgical interventions, nutritional and emotional counseling, and holistic support. I am a practitioner of the ‘be it, do it, share it’ life philosophy.

The most important reasons for living are the relationships we cultivate with ourselves, each other, our planet and pet loved ones.”
— Dr. Ernie Ward

VETERINARY INDUSTRY LEADER

Early in his career, Dr. Ward was instrumental in bringing senior pet care guidelines to general veterinary practices in 1999.

In 2001, he developed and published protocols for monitoring pets receiving long term medications such as Rimadyl, Deramaxx, Previcox, Metacam, Enacard, thyroid hormone, prednisone and more. His chart for drug monitoring guidelines is found in most small animal veterinary hospitals in the U.S. and Canada.

Dr. Ward was an early promoter of changing veterinary surgical protocols including pre-surgical blood testing for dogs and cats, the administration of intravenous fluids throughout the procedure and pre- and post-operative pain management, even for routine surgeries such as spay (OHE) and neuter (orchiectomy).

Dr. Ward was an outspoken advocate for extended vaccination protocols as early as 1999. He was an early adopter of C02 laser surgery, beginning to use surgical lasers in his practice in 1999. He gave over fifty lectures in the US, Canada and Europe on the importance reducing the frequency of pet vaccinations by using extended duration vaccines and wrote and produced a veterinary staff training video and guidebook on immunology and vaccinology in 2004.

In 2005, he founded the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention to help raise awareness on the dangers of pet obesity in dogs and cats.

As an author, he has written "Chow Hounds: Why Our Dogs Are Getting Fatter" in 2010 and coauthored the peer-reviewed American Animal Hospital Association's (AAHA) Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats in 2014 and Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Obesity textbook in 2016. He is coauthor of Better You, Better Dog, Better Life (2019) and The Clean Pet Food Revolution (2019). He became a certified personal trainer (certified 2005) and USA Triathlon certified coach (certified 2007) and multiple Ironman Triathlon finisher (11:45 PB).

He also holds a US patent for the first “smart bowl feeding system,” which was filed in 2016.

Dr. Ernie Ward Has Been Featured in:

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS & AWARDS

1989 - 2000

  • 1989 Snickers New Music Search – winner – Southeast US Region, “The Violets”

  • 1990 College Music Journal “100 Best Unsigned Bands in US”, “The Violets”

  • 1991 College Music Journal #19 Hit “I Hate the Grateful Dead”

  • Graduated University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine 1992

  • Founded his practice at Seaside Animal Care 1993

  • First national veterinary magazine article published 1999 in Veterinary Economics

  • First international veterinary publications - U.K. and Japan 1999

  • National Practice of Excellence Award 1999 - Outstanding Small Animal Clinic, U.S.

  • Created and published long-term drug monitoring guidelines for dogs and cats 1999

  • First veterinary staff training textbook and video published “Creating the Veterinary Experience” 1999

  • National senior pet care guidelines creation team member 2000

  • Appointed to Veterinary Economics editorial advisory board 2000

  • Founding Member VetPartners (formerly AVPMCA – Association of Veterinary Practice Management Consultants and Advisors) 2000

2000 - 2010

  • Long-term drug monitoring national campaign launch 2001

  • LifeLearn’s client education handouts (dog, cat) published 2002

  • Animal Planet King of the Jungle television series 2003-2004

  • Speaker of the Year Award North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC) 2004-05

  • Iams weight loss diet National Television Commercial 2005

  • Personal trainer certification 2005

  • Founded Association for Pet Obesity Prevention 2005

  • First veterinary article published in Canada 2005

  • “Creating the Veterinary Appointment” - staff training instructional video 2006

  • USA Triathlon accredited coach 2007

  • First full Ironman triathlon (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) 2007

  • First Rachael Ray Show appearance 2007

  • Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, San Fransisco, California 2008

  • First published in Chinese veterinary journal 2009

  • First published in Taiwanese veterinary journal 2010

  • Author - Chow Hounds 2010

  • AVMA WebMD featured Pet Expert 2010

2010 - 2020

2020 - Present