Detroit Dog Boss | Dr. Christina Cole
We’re diggin’ on Detroiters who are the top dogs in the animal care industry. These entrepreneurs, innovators and educators are what make our community a top notch place to own our pups. We hope you enjoy learning about Detroit’s Dog Bosses as much as we enjoy working with them.
Dr. Christina is the owner and founder of Advanced Animal Chiropractic. A native Detroiter, she grew up in the suburbs surrounded by animals. She attended the University of Michigan for her undergraduate degree, completed her doctorate of Chiropractic at Life University in Georgia, and finished her animal chiropractic certification at Options for Animals College of Animal Chiropractic in Kansas. She is one of only a handful of certified practitioners in the state of Michigan and works in tandem with her now husband, Dr. Grant Tully. The two practice out of nine different locations across Michigan currently. They also have three beautiful rescue pups, Mowgli, Pongo, and Slinky Dog.
Q: When did you know you wanted to work with animals and how did you get there?
A: Working with animals has been in my cards since day one. Growing up my family was inundated in the animal world. My father is co-founder of the Michigan Animal Adoption Network (MAAN), an organization that does a great deal of work with animals and other rescues, so it was always part of my path to be involved. Many of my weekends growing up were spent with the animals, at adoption events, doing outreach and fundraising. I wouldn’t have changed a single moment of it as these are the moments that showed me what truly mattered in my life. Knowing that I wanted to spend my days surrounded by furry beings made schooling and professional choices easier since the field is rather limited (or so I thought). Naturally I was on the pre- veterinary path, spending days off of school shadowing various vets, when I realized that while my heart was in the right place, physically I could not handle veterinary medicine. After the third or fourth time fainting during surgery, I realized God had a different plan for me. By a twist of fate I discovered animal chiropractic and fell in love. I applied for chiropractic school the next day, was accepted shortly thereafter, and thus began my journey.
Q: What do you like the most about working with dogs?
A: There isn’t much that I don’t like. Dogs don’t complain, they never talk back, they basically are giant fur balls of love. They want love, they need love, and they exude love everywhere they go. Who wouldn’t love working with that every day? There isn’t a single day that goes by where a dog hasn’t improved my mood or made me smile. They are the epitome of joy, and I’m lucky enough to get to share in that joy and keep some of it as my own.
Q: What’s the most exciting thing happening in your organization this year?
A: This year marks the fifth year of our practice and the second year of having Dr. Grant be part of the practice. Each year we have grown and added on more locations that we visit to better accommodate our clients. This year alone we have added hours at clinics in Shelby township and Davison. In addition, we are in the process of having our fourth paper published which is another case series on IVDD (disc disease) in dogs leading to paralysis that have all recovered undergoing chiropractic care, we are super stoked about it!
Q: Favorite dog breed, and why?
A: We love mutts and we cannot lie! My husband and I are partial to the hound mixes, anything with floppy ears and strong vocal cords makes us laugh.
Q: What’s one thing you want dog owners in Metro Detroit to know?
A: That we exist! Animal chiropractic care is an amazing alternative for folks looking for more conservative options when it comes to their pets. We work on cases as serious as paralysis and as simple as arthritis. Often times people don’t realize that chiropractic is an option for their pets, and we are trying to change that by building awareness. We’ve seen amazing results in pets with chronic ear infections, arthritis, paralysis, incontinence, constipation, cruciate injuries, luxating patella, hip and elbow dysplasia, pinched nerves, compressed discs, and spondylosis to name a few. What we do can benefit pets of all ages and sizes, truly there are no limits! For more information we invite everyone to visit our website at www.advancedanimalchiropractic.com, check out our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ AdvancedAnimalChiro/, and follow us on instagram @AdvancedAnimalChiro.