Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Denise Fleck. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Denise, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I was raised by a Great Dane (my parents were around too, of course), but this dog taught me early how kind, sensitive and protective our animal family members can be. At 180 lbs. and 36 inches tall at the shoulders, Uly towered over infant me, yet gingerly moved his large frame between visitors and my playpen creating a safety barrier. Although his size was intimidating, my dad often joked that friendly Uly would even show an intruder around with a flashlight clenched in his canine mouth.
Age can result in irritability brought on by pain, but my gentle giant never showed it. With tiny hands, I grabbed tightly to his skin and pulled myself onto toddler feet. Once steady, my Uly would remain motionless as I scooted along, learning to walk! Danes do not have loose skin, so my grasp may have felt uncomfortable, but Uly never moved, grimaced or growled.
My experience growing up with this kind soul instilled in me a life-long love for dogs and all creatures. Because of Uly, I felt compelled to grow up and become a protector of those who cannot speak for themselves. I was the girl bringing home the strays and naming the wildlife wherever I roamed. During my childhood and teen years, I was blessed to add Jo-jo, Rosebud, Blondie & Moonshine (yes, a dog) to our family.
As time has it, however, I grew up, went to school and decided to go off to college and study filmmaking. Got myself a job as a movie studio publicist promoting feature films and loved the work…until I didn’t. Human egos can become tiresome and the “always on call” mentality – grueling. In my early 30s, after being admonished by a director for wanting a weekend off with my family, I truly felt beat up. This incident coincided with our precious yellow Labrador retriever, Sunny, suffering a back injury, so I decided to listen to my heart. Wanting and needing, to do something that would make ME feel good and make a difference, something that would allow me to feel like I was contributing to kindness and not just trying to make other people famous, I went to the dogs! The cats, rabbits, birds and horses too and found joy in “schooling” myself as I was passionate about helping animals. Nursing The Sunny-dog (as we affectionately called her) back to health and learning ways I could make her life better gave me the recharge I needed.
Obviously, a LOT of hard work came in between, but after volunteering with numerous animal rescues and shelters, attending seminars and honing my skills, I created Sunny-dog Ink (www.PetSafetyCrusader.com), developed curriculum for 8 certificate courses, most of which I teach to this day, some 25 years later, and have written 13 books. I love seeing in others the passion I have for helping our animal friends and family, and…every time one of my pet first aid students tells me, “Because of your class, I saved a dog’s life!” or “Now I understand and am going to make sure none of my friends ever fight dogs!” OR even the student that walked into the pet store and showed an employee a video of the horrors of puppy mills on her phone, I know I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. I truly found my life’s purpose which now encompasses teaching the next generation of animal care instructors throughout the US and Canada.
My advice to all? Listen to your heart. I watched many high school friends choose college majors based on what their parents did before or on what they thought would make them the big bucks. Sometimes it works out but as you get older (and I’d like to think wiser), you tend to realize that wealth and fortune isn’t always what you have in the bank. Rather, true riches can be felt: the joy of being around those you love and doing what makes you glow. Listen to what is inside of you and use it to help make this world a better place.
Having seen a dozen of my canine kids through senior hood, caring for older pets is truly my soft spot. That is why I have volunteered since 2016 with The Grey Muzzle Organization (www.GreyMuzzle.org) and currently serve as Board Chair. Each dog following Sunny…Sushi, Duchess, Rex, Mr. Rico, Bonsai, Haiku and most recently, Princess Kiko, have taken part of my heart with them as they crossed The Rainbow Bridge, but each dog has sent me on their own twist in the road of my pet safety educational journey.. In the words of that sage, Winnie the Pooh, “How lucky I am to have [loved someone so much] that makes saying goodbye so hard!”
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I teach people to go mouth-to-snout with their dogs or cats to save lives! Mouth-to-nares with our avian friends too. It is amazing what a difference you can make in the life of an animal by tuning in and taking time to smell the flowers like they do. Animals are our teachers and can help us get the most out of our experience on this planet. In the words of French poet & novelist, Anatole France, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened,” and I SOOOOO believe it! Seeing people who just don’t get it learn how to love and be loved by an animal is a beautiful thing. Obviously, there is too much cruelty in this world directed at both people and animals, but those that understand what it feels like to have a dog look at you adoringly have earned riches far greater than kings.
After The Sunny-dog suffered her back injury, I wanted to learn everything I could about helping her get well, but also about how I might have better transported her during her time of need. My husband and I lived in a 1925 cabin in The Hollywood Hills when her incident occurred, and there were 110 Railroad Tie steps leading from our house to the car. It turned out well getting a Vet Tech to come transport her on a stretcher, but I never again wanted to feel helpless when my fur child needed me most. That gave me the drive to learn everything I could about teaching people to work hand in hand with their veterinarians, to perform weekly head-to-tail checks at home to spot problems early, to learn how to stop bleeding, properly bandage, treat upset tummies, heatstroke and all types of ailments, even BEFORE reaching veterinary care, that our canine and feline family members may encounter. In honor of The Sunny-dog I created Sunny-dog Ink to help teach people how to help their pets. One of the highlights for me was when veterinarians began to embrace what I was teaching, NOT to have people stop going to their vet, but rather, work more closely with their vet for the sake of their pet!
My dog and cat pet first aid classes led me to developing a line of pet first aid kits, and then of course…the kits needed pocket guides to go in them so I started off writing small instruction manuals which ultimately evolved into “The Pet Safety Bible” and “Pet First Aid & CPR Quick Reference for Dog & Cat Parents and Pet Professionals.”
In my journey of teaching pet first aid, I joined an animal response team to rescue animals during disasters. This caused me to work with cows, horses, pigs, goats, llamas, alpaca, chickens & ducks and more. My joy for working with varied species and the understanding that whether the wind blows, the ground shakes, the flames rise or the snow falls, we all must be prepared for our human and animal family members. This led to my writing (after much learning myself) “The Pet Safety Crusader’s My Pet & Me Guide to Disaster PAWparedness” and of course, to develop a course to complement the book teaching people how to write a disaster plan for their family and/or business. You must write it down! Even in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th drafts you’ll discover you forgot something, and please…include all family members when writing it. As they say, “out of the mouths of babes,” you’ll discover needs from everyone’s perspective.
Learning about livestock and birds, working with rabbits and pocket pets at the local animal shelter I volunteered at led me to developing first aid courses for other species and classes to go along which…then led me to developing and teaching a 5-month course for high school students in Animal Care. After school, they would come to the animal shelter for classroom learning about care, diseases, issues, anatomy, first aid and more, but on Sunday mornings, bright and early, I’d train them to be Kennel Attendants working with, feeding, cleaning and training the shelter animals. I learned much of what I taught my 16-17 year-old students was shared at the dinner table, and the parents would ask me further questions about the best diet for their family dog and more. Lightbulb moment! Although kids don’t always listen to their parents, parents do listen to their kids, so if I capture the young ones, animal care knowledge can trickle UP! This led to a series of children’s books, “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover,” that share with kids 0-99 the joy of getting to know the animal or person underneath the fur coat and to never judge based on age, fur color, breed or anything. This series has at least 3 more books in the works but two are currently available.
And yes, my soft spot — senior pets, which is attested to in my “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover” series, but I have written “The Autumn and Winter of Your Pet: Make Those Senior Years Golden” and have a corresponding course to help our older best friends through their later years and make sure their quality of life is the best. As President of the Board of The Grey Muzzle Organization I truly get to embrace my love for senior dogs. As a 501c3, GMO provides funding to other non-profit shelters and rescues for senior dog programs. In 2023, we granted almost $850K to 90 organizations that will provide dental cleanings, diagnostic testing or mass removals to help senior dogs get adopted. Other funding will go to retention, to help senior dogs that already have their homes keep them, by providing our grantees with the ability to give vouchers to pet owners for veterinary care. We are always looking for innovative programs to help senior dogs and provide free monthly webinars to educate pet lovers on the latest and greatest ways to help. As The Grey Muzzle mission says, “We envision a world where every senior dog thrives and no old dog dies alone and afraid.” Making Grey Muzzle become the thought leader for senior dog care is truly our goal.
For my day job though, my focus is on training the next generation of animal care instructors, so I offer a 10-week one-on-one Pet First Aid Instructor training course. I meet with trainees 1-2 hours weekly live online to teach the basics, as well as provide all the “backstory” on how to teach checking vitals, bandaging techniques, what to do for choking or if a pet stops breathing, as well as all that comes in between (bee stings, snake bites, heatstroke, frostbite, intestinal issues including bloat, poisoning, and more). I could not be more delighted that my trainees are now helping others to help their animals from coast-to-coast and beyond.
Beyond the 3 more children’s books and the continued training of instructors, what is my next trick? Can’t share the title, but it will definitely be the story of all the animals I have loved and their impact on me. Keep a lookout in say, 2027 🙂
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Follow your heart, your passion is what will not only make the job fun, but will make it fulfilling and make you wake up and want to do it! It will also make learning about it an enjoyable journey.
No matter what line of work you go into, you have to be able to put a good sentence together. In this world of acronyms and texting shorthand and emojis, you still need to be able to write. Everyone doesn’t have to be able to write creatively, but communication is so important. I encounter many people who say they are fed up with people and only want to work with animals, but…who adopts and cares for animals? People! We need to communicate and we need to communicate with kindness. You never know what the other person is going through…
Listen. Each of us wants to get our own message out there, but…when you are talking “with” (notice I did not say “to”) someone, make them the most important thing at that moment in time. Give them your full attention and really listen to what they have to say. They will appreciate you and you may even learn something by keeping your ears open and your mouth closed. Also, sometimes we all just need a shoulder.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I’m always looking for others who share my passions for our fellow creatures.
If you’d like to share how pet parents can help their pets even before veterinary care is available, I’d love to teach you to teach others.
If you are an entrepreneur wanting to create pet first aid kits, I would love to consult.
If you are someone concerned about being prepared for anything life throws your ways, I’d love you to take my course and/or read my Pet Disaster PAWparedness book.
If you are a philanthropist and could donate “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover” to animal shelters so that kids could practice their reading skills and socialize dogs, please get in touch!
If you have a production company, I have 14 scripts ready to go for a series, so track me down 😉
If you have a passion for senior dogs and would like to become a board member, volunteer or help The Grey Muzzle Organization’s mission in any capacity, run, don’t walk to your computer and let me know.
If you love animals, take time to be in the moment with them and cherish the special gift they are in our lives!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.PetSafetyCrusader.com
- Instagram: thepetsafetycrusader
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/SunnyDogInk
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/denisefleck
- Twitter: @thesunnydog
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/thesunnydog
- Other: Amazon Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Denise-Fleck/author/B00J7MFGU6?
Image Credits
Courtesy of Sunny-dog Ink
