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MEET THE ANIMAL HOSPITAL BY THE SEA'S

EXPERIENCED VETERINARIANS AND STAFF

Jean Dieden DVM

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“Dr. Jean” Dieden has nearly 30 years of experience as a small animal veterinarian. She first started working on Whidbey Island in the late 1980s, shortly after moving to Western Washington from New England. Not surprisingly, it did not take her long to fall in love with the island’s natural beauty as well as its “pet-centric” community. In 1999, she came to live here as a full-time resident. Since then, she has worked in mainland emergency hospitals and busy day practices until she was able to finally come home and create a new facility here in Langley.

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Aside from her official career as an animal health professional, Dr. Jean has been active in the dog sports community since her early teens. She began walking to dog training classes at the local YMCA, and at 14 years of age, she put her first obedience title on the family

miniature dachshund. They finished their Companion Dog title in style, winning a runoff and five separate trophies. Once Dr. Jean was on her own, her pet brood quickly expanded and she has had the pleasure of living with multiple dogs and cats ever since. With her Belgian Tervuren and a houseful of wirehaired dachshunds, she has trained and competed at a national level for almost 40 years, together earning more than 100 title certificates from the American Kennel Club, including advanced show, field, obedience, tracking, agility, and earthdog titles. Hathor Farm has been graced with Best in Show and multiple national field trial winners, as well as one of the country’s few triple champion, champion tracker dogs, CT DC M’I Spy of Hathor Farm SW, CD RN OA AXJ NAP OJP OF JE.

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Dr. Dieden has traveled throughout the country as a popular tracking, field, and earthdog test judge and has served on several national committees and as an officer of the Dachshund Club of America, as well as president of the local specialty club. Her involvement in dachshund field trials and earthdog tests earned her the ultimate recognition when she was honored with the 2012 AKC Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance Events.  Not content to limit her canine experiences, her interest in extreme veterinary medicine was piqued when she first attended Alaska’s Iditarod Dog Sled Race as a checkpoint veterinarian in 1992. Now, more than 21 years (and 21 races) later, she continues to make the annual trek to the great north to volunteer, working right along with the participants and the hundreds of volunteers associated with the Iditarod family.

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Dr. Jean is a graduate of New York’s Cornell University and the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. Her practice experience runs the gamut from shelters and small rural farm community clinics to referral hospitals that incorporate the latest cutting-edge technical care. She is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Society for Theriogenology, International Sled Dog Veterinary Medicine Association, American Association of Feline Practitioners, the Whidbey Island Kennel Club, the Dachshund Club of America, Cascade Dachshund Club, and the Puget Sound Earthdog Club.

Dr. Dieden is dedicated to working with owners to find the best possible solutions tailored for all their pet care needs. She has special interests in small animal reproduction services and health screening tests.

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