VALDOSTA – With all the strides women have made in a vast number of industries, it can be easy to forget that as recently as 1978, many women in this country were not allowed to owe credit without the permission of their husbands and fathers, let alone run the operations of a full-fledged business.
A little history lesson: K-12 and public education rarely touched on women’s history prior to the 1970s.
A “Women’s History Week” was first organized in 1978 by the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women to bring attention to this issue. March 8, International Women’s Day, was selected as the main point. At the end of the week, there was a parade and program in the heart of Santa Rosa, California, to celebrate the occasion.
As news of National Women’s History Week spread swiftly across the country, education departments around the country began actively promoting the event as a tool to advance equality objectives in schools. Within a short period, resolutions from governors, municipal councils, school boards and the U.S. Congress were supporting and encouraging hundreds of schools and towns to celebrate National Women’s History Week.
Due to the yearly recurring nature of National Women’s History Week (the week of March 8), yearly lobbying efforts were required. The Nationwide Women’s History Alliance led an annual national initiative that involved thousands of people and hundreds of educational and women’s groups.
By 1987, Congress declared March National Women’s History Month.
Now, 44 years later, 38% of the nation’s businesses are owned by women.
Dr. Amanda Hall-Phillips is one of those business owners.
Hall-Phillips’ passion for animals in her youth motivated her to graduate from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. She is also a member of the American Veterinary Behavior Association and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and is a Fear Free certified veterinarian.
She has also completed the Aggression in Dogs Master Class under Michael Shikashio, a world-renowned expert in dog aggression.
Her education and background led her to open her dog boarding daycare, The Southern Hound Club. Pets with behavioral issues, including human-directed aggression, pet-on-pet aggression, phobias and concerns like separation anxiety, can get in-home veterinary behavior consultations from Hall-Phillips at SHC.
Hall-Phillips has been a small animal vet in Valdosta for more than 15 years. Throughout her work, she has maintained a keen interest in animal behavior and its effect on human-animal interaction. She has experienced firsthand how difficult it is to manage a pet’s severe behavioral issues.
“I’ve had the club for five years, and you know, I’ve been a veterinarian for 18 years and have always loved behavior medicine. and it’s something that I enjoy doing in private practice. and doing behavior medicine in private practice is a real challenge because you have such a short period of time. Being able to witness how the dog is behaving in their own environment versus the exam room just gives a whole better perspective about what is really going on with that pet,” she said.
“And so that’s the number one cause of death in healthy animals are behavior problems. Most veterinarians do not enjoy the behavior cases because, you know, there’s so much nuance associated with it. They’re time-consuming. There’s a lot of emotion. You know, a lot of that’s tied up with it, you know, frustration from the client feeling at their wit’s end. and in many situations, it’s not an easy subset of veterinary medicine.
“Still, it’s something that I love seeing that animals and humans shift in their emotional state by making even small improvements on the first visit if they can see a little glimmer of hope and move forward. That makes it all worth it.”
Her primary focus is to foster a pleasant, long-lasting bond between the dogs and their owners. Medical conditions influencing the pet’s behavior should always be ruled out before proceeding with any behavior modification. She has seen several examples through the years where the underlying reason of aggressiveness was chronic pain, but the trainer misdiagnosed the problem.
Hall-Phillips employs a mix of behavioral therapy, nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals. She’s discovered that making house calls improves the outcome for both the pet and the veterinarian by making it easier to diagnose the condition and start treatment right away.
She has collaborated with various rescue groups and shelters to save the lives of dogs that were once labeled as “too violent” and were set to be put down. For her, the pursuit of practical answers to canine behavioral problems is a driving force.
“It’s always best to intervene early versus, you know, when they’ve practiced this behavior. and now it’s just become part of their daily routine to exhibit that behavior. So earlier interventions have better prognosis. As far as adopting a rescue dog goes, we’re huge fans of the animal rescues that have foster programs because you can get a lot of great insight into that dog’s behavior.
“Do they get along with other dogs? What are the issues that have shown up during the time that they’ve been in that foster home? Do they chase cats? Are they OK with little kids? That kind of thing,” she said.
“Just keep things low-key. Let him or her get the lay of the land. You know, this may be the first time that dog has ever been in a home. It may have lived its entire life outside and, or, you know, in a stressful shelter. and so, even though we have lovely beautiful homes that are comfortable for us. It may not be, you know, something they’re used to. So, get them acclimated to a kennel. and I do know that a lot of rescues are opposed to adopting dogs out to be outside dogs. and I used to kind of have that same mindset. But, you know, I’ve adopted a dog that loves to be outside and is much happier being outside. I’ve witnessed this so many times.
“Just last week, when I was visiting a shelter where they had adopted a sweet dog. The client loved the dog, but it destroyed their house, and it was a working breed of dog that was inside. You know, if it had been given a job to do, things could have probably turned out differently for that dog. One of my best recommendations to manage boredom and dogs is getting rid of the dog food bowl altogether. Enrichment feeding gives them creative ways to eat. Dogs are hunters and enjoy finding their food.”
Overall, Hall-Phillips said she just wants to make sure the animals and their owners are happy, which is why she had a fun, comfortable, stress-free experience during their stay. The club also offers group and individual play sessions throughout the day to meet guests’ social and activity needs, including a large indoor playroom, multiple outdoor play runs and even a pond for swimming.