Welcome to Red Dog Rehabilitation and the first introduction of the team ...

I was told if you have a business you need facebook and a blog – so here goes the blog!  For those of you that haven’t met me yet, my name is Stephanie Bonner. I graduated from Massey University as a vet in 2004.  During my time as a vet I have been lucky enough to work in England, Australia and New Zealand.  Australia had the most diverse workload of all the countries, but I never ever got used to treating possums!!
I was also fortunate enough to travel to South Africa where we helped dart black rhino for conservation purposes, track lions and sample cheetahs for conservation research. It was an amazing trip that I’ll never forget.

As time passed, I completed extra veterinary study in many areas, but the one area that I felt I was lacking was the sore cat or dog whose x-rays were normal.  These animals had me a bit stumped. I knew there was something else wrong, I just didn’t know how to help as much as I was accustomed to doing in other areas of veterinary medicine. 

In 2013, I bit the bullet and started travelling to the US for training in canine rehabilitation so I could help these patients of mine.  It opened my eyes to a new treatment path and by 2014, I had completed my training and gained the qualification of Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist (CCRT).  I joined the American Association of Rehabilitation Veterinarians.  Also in 2014, I completed the Foundation course of Western Veterinary Acupuncture. 

There is so much to learn in the growing area of veterinary rehabilitation.  We are lucky to have many world renowned veterinary rehabilitation specialists leading this field and sharing their knowledge worldwide. I continue to regularly attend conferences and training courses.  In February, I attended a veterinary sports medicine course in Sydney led by Dr Chris Zink that opened my eyes to a new area of canine conditioning.  It’s great learning so many more ways to help our furry family members!  
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 I’m off to the Australian veterinary conference very soon to hear Darryl Mills, Co-author of ‘Canine rehabilitation and physical therapy’ talk. I look forward to sharing new treatment plans and ideas when I'm back.