Doug Jernigan, DVM

Dr. Doug Jernigan grew up in the Flint Hills of Kansas and received his B.S.

and D.V.M. degrees from Kansas State University. He has practiced small

animal medicine and surgery for the last 35 years in Topeka, Kansas.  For

“Dr. J” pets and their people are his life.  The lessons learned from pets and

their people are his story. 

A second-generation “James Herriot” style of veterinarian, his interest in pets expanded to humans when he realized pets could see good things in people that he didn't see.  In 2006, Dr. J retired from practice to devote his time to public speaking.  He brings audiences this unique message: Applying your pet's view of life, and it’s strategies for living, can take your life and relationships to a new level. If you have ever trained a pet, you can train yourself for success!

People love their pets.  And pet analogies energize his enthusiastic presentations. He has spoken to dozens of organizations locally and regionally over the last 35 years.  Audiences of all types can appreciate and enjoy his presentation,  “Your Brain is a Border Collie." A well-trained pet is a joy. Well-trained humans are an asset to themselves and the lives they touch.

Topic

Your Brain is a Border Collie

People need training!  The best trainer for you is you!  Within our head (between our ears) we have a trainer and his/her dog!  Recent research on brain function shows that our "high" road, our cortex and pre-frontal cortex, is literally a trainer   Our "low" road, the genetically inherited tendencies of our brain is the dog between our ears.  It consists of the amygdala, hippocampus and the brain stem.  This is a very simplistic representation of our brains but we can use it for discussion.  Our behavior is very complex but is easily directed by the low road part of our brain.  In our pets, the low road is evident in their behavior.  Border Collie's herd, pointer's point, retreiver's retreive and Bassett Hounds are a nose on four feet!  In humans, because of our low road, we live our lives as if we are dogs exhibiting behavior that is inherited.

It doesn't have to be that way.  The good news about our "Border Collie" brains is that they are easy to train.  We use very effective training techniques with our pets.  These same techniques make it easy to train ourselves.  The awareness that we can train ourselves and that the future can be what we want is a unique message.  When Dr. J wraps this message in pet analogies, we get it.  When we get it, we take action, just like our pets.  We watch our pets all the time.  We know what makes them tick.  It turns out that the behaviors that make our pets succeed can help us succeed.

In his talks, Dr. J helps us understand the trainer and his/her dog between our ears.  He takes us on a journey with Joss and has her teach us the Joss Principle.  Hannah shows us how to find the "sunny spots" in our lives and keep them there.  We'll look to see how you can tell if you are 'herding in all the wrong places."  Finally, with a Rabbit interlude and some Terrior bliss the road to our lives is made clear!  Dr. J brings a fun filled and thoughtful reframe on how to look at our world and create success.