Begin with a veterinarian experienced with sighthounds. A vet without that unique experience could mean life or death for your companion. I use my local veterinarian only for basics such as annual tick blood tests, CBC, ultrasounds for pregnancies, basic x-rays, and vaccinations. In truth, many small community veterinary hospitals with broad-based clinical practices do not have 'state-of-the-art' diagnosis equipment to include digital radiography and high resolution & harmonic Doppler imaging ultrasounds. These are, at the very least, vital tools for complicated diagnoses.

• Research and establish where there are Specialty Veterinarian Clinics with Board Certified Veterinarians. Contact them to investigate lead times for future cardiac appointments and how often they have a Board Certified Surgeon on hand for emergencies.

What is a Board Certified practitioner?

The American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP) describes it as this:

It means your veterinarian made a choice to undergo a long and difficult process of additional studies and examination to become a board-certified specialist recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). This process takes a minimum of three years to complete, and the motivation behind it is, very simply, excellence...

These specialists are a very small group of doctors who have earned the title Specialist from the ABVP. In fact, your veterinarian is one of 900 ABVP Specialists in the United States and abroad...
The ABVP board-certified veterinarian has demonstrated they are capable of providing a level of clinical practice that is clearly superior to the norm of the profession.

There are various American College or Diplomate of the College certifications, such as the American College of Internal Medicine (ACVIM), or American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS), to name a few of the important ones. I advise all wolfhound prospective puppy owners that they MUST have access to or establish a relationship with a Veterinary Specialty Practice with Board Certified Specialists who are titled as Diplomates. Any dog owner can search for a Specialist in their area via the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners website or in that particular field of medicine, such as the two cited above. However, there are Diplomat Certifications in all fields of animal medical care and are identified with the title, DAC, with the additional letters of that specific college following. For example, a Cardiologist Diplomate title is DACVIM, a Diplomate surgeon is DACVS-SA.

Though some local community-based or General Practitioner veterinarians are skilled, I utilize the services of a Board Certified Veterinary Specialty practice for Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, Oncology, etc., for medical diagnosis, digital radiography, ultrasounds, and or life-threatening situations. I also use a skilled soft tissue surgeon for spays, neuters, and other routine incisions, and I am admittedly biased in favor of Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine graduates.

I drive 4 hours EACH way for a total of 8 hours drive time to visit my Board Certified Cardiologist. You must have the foremost professional veterinary care for your wolfhound. I also counsel new puppy owners to select a specialty clinic that has critical care staff on hand 24-hours per day, seven days weekly to attend to the patients. I also discourage, if possible, any new owners from using an emergency clinic that requires a sick dog to be moved in the morning to a General Practitioner. In short, I strongly urge owners to pursue a board-certified specialty practice to provide medical care for their wolfhounds regardless of any inconvenient distance.