Harbor Veterinary Services

Harbor Veterinary Services Harbor Veterinary Services provides care for companion animals, horses and livestock. In 1987 she opened her own small animal clinic and a second one in 1997.
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Dr. Susan Besel graduated from the Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine, then completed a one year internship at an equine practice in Woodinville, WA. She then moved to Arizona, where she was the resident veterinarian on a large Arabian breeding farm for 4 years. Having enough of the desert, she then moved back to the northwest and to San Juan Island in 1988. Here on the island,

she has had a mixed animal practice and opened Harbor Veterinary Services in February 2000. Her favorite aspects of practice are general surgery and equine reproduction. In her spare time, Dr. Besel and her husband Rich operate a small farm where they raise Suffolk sheep and beef cattle. She also enjoys riding dressage, herding with her Australian Cattle Dogs and gardening. Dr. Susan Poirot graduated from the University of Minnesota and spent 10 years as partner in a mixed animal practice in Farmington Minnesota. She has been treating small animals for the past 29 years, was an owner of 2 busy animal hospitals in Minnesota and a past member and president of the MInnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine. In 2008 she sold her veterinary practices in Minnesota and moved with her family to Friday Harbor after falling in love with the San Juan Islands. She joined Dr. Besel's practice in October 2008 and looks forward to helping island pets and their owners for years to come. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, fishing, sailing, reading and caring for the family's horses, dogs and cats.

05/15/2024

We are Hiring!!!
Come join our team!
Please drop off a resume or email it to [email protected]

05/09/2024
04/22/2024
02/06/2024

Harbor Veterinary Services is looking for a new team member.
Job Description:
• Greeting clients, responding to questions, processing payments, processing incoming + outgoing pets
• Answering phone calls which may involve answering questions, screening service needs + scheduling appointments, handling incoming + outgoing mail & email
• Documenting + maintaining client information, service data + other pertinent information within business software.
Four to five day work week. Receptionist experience helpful. Send resume + letter of interest to [email protected]

01/29/2024

😆🐾🐾

01/21/2024

Get The Principles Of Perfect Puppy Training Free

12/31/2023
12/06/2023

Reports of an "outbreak" of some as yet unidentified canine respiratory illness are scaring dog owners. But veterinarians and researchers aren't panicking.

11/05/2023

Thousands of animals come through the doors of WSU's Veterinary Teaching Hospital every year for both routine and specialized care, but it is rare when one of those animals is a 400-plus-pound grizzly bear.

11/01/2023
09/25/2023
09/16/2023
08/01/2023

I do have to start this post by saying that your dog doesn't need to meet other dogs.
I know that is controversial for some to hear but very few dogs are truly dog social....many are highly selective.
They may only like their own breed.
They may only like female dogs....small brown dogs...or curly coated dogs.
They have (and are ALLOWED) their own social preference....just as we have our own social preferences.

Or they may just dislike any other dog outside their/your family and friends.

Encouraging dogs to meet a dog walking down the street (even with the best of intentions) can cause some serious issues.

Reactivity and/or aggression.
Injury.
A lessening of the strong bond they may have with you as they can no longer trust your judgement.

So meeting dogs on a walk, just because there is another dog there is something I highly discourage.

However....
There are some circumstances where you may have to introduce dogs. So these are a few tips which have been written about before (separately) in graphics but I have squeezed them together for a clearer reference.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is only concentrating on their own dogs emotional state and not watching the rising stress in the other dog involved....
These cause those "Out of the blue" reactions....

They weren't out of the blue, they were just missed.

🔵Micro meetings are essential.
🔵Parallel walks are a must.
🔵Avoid face to face.
🔵Keep your voices light and happy.
🔵DON'T make a dog sit or lie down.
🔵Tension creates more tension so keep those leads loose.
🔵NEUTRAL territory....not your yard, your house or even your immediate area around your house....go somewhere else.

Biggest tip though (as mentioned) watch the body language of both dogs.....IGNORE the tail wags and watch the whole body and all the little tell tale signs given.

If it doesn't feel right...it likely isn't.
Trust your own intuition.

ALWAYS advocate for your own dog no matter how "friendly" you are told the other dog is.

07/29/2023
06/01/2023
05/03/2023

Watching dogs play well together is one life’s greatest joys. One of my essential criteria when looking for a dog to replace Willie was whether he played well with Maggie. We tried two dogs out before we found Skip, neither of whom had any interest in playing with Maggie. Maggie ignored one, and h...

04/12/2023
03/31/2023
02/02/2023

Address

849 Spring Street, # 3
Friday Harbor, WA
98250

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+13603783959

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