This year’s expo has a new speaker focus! We love introducing you to the newest and brightest voices in the holistic dog health space, as well as reconnecting you with previous event favorites and long-established experts who do not often speak at events. Check out the lineup below!
2024 Speakers
Dr. Laurie Larson
When it comes to experts in immune responses to infectious diseases, and what role vaccines are best used, Dr. Larson is one of the first names to come to mind. As a successor in the mission of her mentor, Dr. Ron Schultz, Dr. Larson has been the Director of the Companion Vaccines and Immuno Diagnostic Service Laboratory since 2016, overseeing the titer testing service. Aside from her teaching duties at the University of Wisconsin’s veterinary school, she has published a large number of papers on the use of titers, immune responses, and vaccinology.
Dr. Lindsey Wendt
Dr. Wendt is an honors graduate of UC Davis Veterinary School with a focus in zoological medicine. Like many integrative veterinarians, her journey started when her own dog, Nala, was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease.
After conventional therapy failed, Dr. Wendt began to explore other healing modalities.
She found that by using her medical acumen in combination with exploring treatments that aren't taught in conventional education, she was able to customize Nala's care and elevate her health beyond expectation.
Dr. Wendt has certifications in acupuncture, physical rehabilitation, and Chinese food therapy. She also utilizes Eastern and Western herbs, medicinal mushrooms, adaptogens, essential oil therapy, crystals, quantum interconnectedness, and cannabis medicine.
Herbalist Rita Hogan
Herbalist Rita Hogan grew up with her hands in the dirt as she asked her father and grandmother about the plants growing in around her rural childhood home. This grew into studies of Ayurveda and Buddhism. In my late twenties, I started my formal studies of plant identification, function, energetics, history, and lore. She has studied and worked with renowned herbalists. Her practice today, working with both dogs and humans, encompasses the use of food energetics, western herbs, phytoembryonic therapy (plant bud medicine), spagyrics, homeopathy, essential oils, flower/crystal/mineral essences, and energy work.
Julie Anne Lee, DCH, RCSHom
Julie Anne Lee, DCH, RCSHom, has been the owner and practitioner of some of North America's busiest and long-standing holistic veterinary hospitals and clinics. She is the founder and co-owner of the Adored Beast Apothecary, where she formulates holistic pet care products. She is also a pioneer in studying the animal microbiome and developing protocols for optimizing gut health - all part of a rapidly expanding picture and understanding of the microbiome's crucial role in the health of all our animals and ourselves. Currently, she is leading an extensive research project on canine cancer at Dalhousie University, part of which has just been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, and is doing research and development within her medical mushroom forest in Nova Scotia, Canada, called Myco-Biome.
Dr. Barbara Royal
Dr. Royal, the founder and owner of The Royal Treatment Veterinary Center, is an internationally renowned pioneer in complementary medicine and physical rehabilitation. A nationally published author in numerous magazines and an international lecturer in her field, Dr. Royal is often featured in the media for her successful treatments of animals and groundbreaking work in veterinary medicine. Her first book, “The Royal Treatment: A Natural Approach to Wildly Healthy Pets” was published in September 2013. She now works to share knowledge with veterinarians and related professionals through the College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies (CIVT) and the Animal Diet Formulator.
Dr. Susan Recker
Dr. Recker is a graduate of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. She practiced small animal medicine in Wisconsin and Illinois, where she saw the need for treatment resources beyond the conventional options available. She is a firm believer in integrative treatments, including food as medicine - and she savors the opportunity to make it enjoyable in the process, for both people and animals. Her collaborations with Steve Brown and Dr. Karen Becker have led to her affiliation with the most progressive nutrition formulation tool, Animal Diet Formulator.