I Wish People Found Me Sooner
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It Happened Again Today
It happened again today. Someone I know personally headed off to the vet for something that, in my opinion, could have had support started at home right away if they had a good natural first aid collection and access to the kind of education I share inside my Substack membership — instead of waiting to get to the vet over a holiday weekend.
Instead, it became the typical route: a vet visit, a hefty bill that could easily land around several hundred dollars, and likely the common recommendations of antibiotics and NSAIDs. And before anyone takes that the wrong way, yes, veterinary care matters. There is a time for diagnostics, prescriptions, emergency care, and a professional exam. I am not telling people to avoid the vet.
But there is a huge difference between knowing when you truly need the vet and having absolutely no idea what else exists. And also getting started on support while you wait for an appointment or en route to get there in emergencies.
What bothers me most — people don’t know I (an others like me) exist or what we do.
A lot of pet parents do not have a first aid kit ready. They do not know what oils, homeopathics, herbs, supplements, or basic supplies might be helpful to keep on hand. They do not know what can be supported at home, what needs a same-day appointment, and what is a true emergency. So when something happens, they do the only thing they know to do. Well two.
They go to FB neighborhood groups.
They call the vet.
Again, sometimes the vet is exactly the right choice. But sometimes there are supportive steps that could have started immediately, while they waited for guidance, monitored the situation, or decided whether a vet visit was truly necessary.
Sometimes those medications are needed. Sometimes they are appropriate. But they should not be the only tools pet parents know exist.
And that brings me to something I hear all the time:
“I wish I had found you sooner.”
Every time I hear it, I’m sad. Not because I think I have all the answers, and not because I believe every dog needs my help. It bothers me because I know how much frustration, stress, expense, and worry many families go through before they realize there are other resources available.
Recently, I was doing some research on how pet parents search for help online, and what I discovered was eye-opening. Most people are not searching for canine nutritionists, holistic pet health coaches, pet herbalists, animal wellness educators, or behavior consultants. They are searching for veterinarians, pet stores, dog food, groomers, and trainers.
And honestly, that makes sense.
You cannot search for something you do not know exists. Google is ridiculously specific sometimes on what you search for vs what they show.
If you have never heard of a canine nutritionist, why would you think to look for one? If you have never heard of a holistic pet health coach, why would you know to search for one? If nobody has ever explained that there are professionals who help pet parents understand nutrition, gut health, behavior, essential oils, herbs, homeopathy, lifestyle, stress, and proactive wellness, how would you even know that kind of support is available?
Most pet parents know about vets, groomers, trainers, pet sitters, and retail stores. Those are the obvious categories. But there is an entire area of pet care that many people do not discover until they are already overwhelmed.
They find it after years of allergies. After digestive issues. After repeated antibiotics. After anxiety has become unmanageable. After mobility problems have progressed. After the cancer diagnosis. After they have already spent thousands of dollars trying to figure out what is going on. That’s assuming they keep looking for answers or someone makes a referral.
That is when I hear it.
“I wish I had known this years ago.”
“I had no idea nutrition mattered this much.”
“I did not know there were other options.”
“I did not know people like you existed.”
Being too late upsets me. The dogs whose families find me after years of chronic symptoms stay with me. The senior dogs whose families did not know they could have been supporting mobility, cognition, liver health, kidney health, inflammation, and gut health years earlier stay with me. The anxious dogs whose behavior was treated like disobedience when their nervous system, pain level, diet, gut health, and environment all needed to be considered stay with me. Those who ran out of time.
Not because I think I could have fixed everything. Nobody can promise that. But I would have loved the opportunity to help those families understand their options sooner.
That is why I keep teaching. That is why I write the posts, create the guides, offer consultations, and share information that may seem out there until suddenly it is not out there at all.
Because when your dog is uncomfortable, limping, itching, anxious, having digestive issues, doing the pee-pee squat, scratching their ears again, recovering from something, or suddenly acting off, that is not the moment you want to start from scratch. That is not when you want to be panic-Googling at midnight. That is not when you want to realize you do not have anything useful in the house.
A good first aid kit does not mean you never go to the vet. A membership does not mean you never need professional care. But education gives you a better starting point. It helps you ask better questions, recognize patterns sooner, and understand what your dog’s body may be trying to tell you.
Veterinary care is important. Heck, I saw two last week! One for chiropractic and acupuncture, and one for blood work. It is just not the whole picture.
Just like in human health, there is value in having a team. You may have a doctor, but you may also work with a nutritionist, physical therapist, massage therapist, counselor, trainer, or other specialist. Dogs deserve that same bigger-picture thinking.
They deserve more than symptom suppression. They deserve support for the terrain of the body. They deserve food that supports them, a calmer nervous system, less toxic burden, gut support after medications, thoughtful recovery support, and proactive wellness before something breaks.
And pet parents deserve to know these resources exist.
The biggest obstacle is not always finding help. Sometimes the biggest obstacle is knowing what to search for in the first place.
So I have a favor to ask.
If you have learned something from my posts, articles, consultations, classes, guides, or membership, will you tell someone about me? More importantly, will you tell someone about this area of the pet service industry? A google review would be awesome.
Tell them canine nutritionists exist. Tell them holistic pet health coaches exist. Tell them natural first aid education exists. Tell them behavior support can go deeper than obedience. Tell them there are professionals who help pet parents understand food, natural wellness, lifestyle, stress, supplements, herbs, essential oils, homeopathy, and the bigger picture of their dog’s health - with alternative options for antibiotics and NSaids.
You never know who is struggling right now. You never know who is about to spend hundreds of dollars because they did not know there were supportive steps they could have learned sooner. You never know whose dog may benefit from a pet parent discovering these options before they are desperate.
Because the phrase I hear most often is not just, “Thank you.”
It is:
“I wish I had found you sooner.”
And honestly, I wish more people did too.
