Dr. Ernie Ward
Veterinarian, author, entrepreneur, and advocate for healthier pets, stronger veterinary teams, and better clinical care.
For more than three decades, Dr. Ward has worked across clinical practice, media, publishing, technology, and global veterinary leadership. He is best known for helping bring pet obesity, nutrition, senior pet care, and veterinary wellness into everyday clinical conversation.
A veterinarian first
Dr. Ernie Ward is a veterinarian, author, entrepreneur, speaker, and longtime advocate for pets and the people who care for them. His career has connected exam rooms, veterinary teams, media, publishing, technology, and global professional service with one practical goal: better everyday care.
From founding the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention to advancing clinical conversations around obesity medicine, senior pet care, nutrition, and responsible innovation, Dr. Ward has spent his career translating large health challenges into tools, language, and systems veterinary teams can use.
Three initiatives. One mission.
The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, the World Pet Obesity Association, and Dr. Ward’s forthcoming Wiley clinical reference share one goal: helping pets and the people who care for them live longer, healthier lives.
Advocacy & Education
Association for Pet Obesity Prevention
Founded in 2005, APOP gives pet owners and veterinary teams practical tools for weight management and client education, plus the annual pet obesity prevalence survey it has run since 2007.
Visit APOP →
Clinical & Professional Standards
World Pet Obesity Association
WPOA advances clinical definitions, education, and professional tools for diagnosing, classifying, and managing obesity in companion animals.
Visit WPOA →
Forthcoming
A resource for clinical obesity
A multidisciplinary Wiley clinical reference, in development, introducing a practical four-tier classification framework for obesity assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring in dogs and cats.
About the book →Current projects
Defining obesity as a clinical disease, a forthcoming Wiley reference, and ongoing work on responsible AI in veterinary care.
Establishing obesity as a clinical disease
Dr. Ward is helping move the profession toward recognizing and treating obesity as a clinical disease, developing the diagnostic criteria, classification, and standards of care that let veterinary teams diagnose and manage obesity in their patients, not just describe it.
Learn more at the World Pet Obesity Association
Veterinary Clinical Obesity: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Dr. Ward is developing a multidisciplinary clinical reference on companion animal obesity, to be published by Wiley, for veterinary teams who diagnose, classify, treat, and monitor obesity in dogs and cats.
Learn more about the book
Guardrails for AI in veterinary practice
Dr. Ward is currently helping the profession think through how artificial intelligence should enter veterinary practice, with a focus on clinical judgment, patient safety, workflow, ethics, and responsible use.
A career across veterinary medicine
Dr. Ward’s perspective is grounded in work he has done firsthand: owning a veterinary hospital, training teams, building companies, advising emerging technologies, and developing practical tools for everyday veterinary care.
Experience rooted in practice
Dr. Ward built and ran an award-winning veterinary hospital for more than two decades, work that shaped two of his books on veterinary teams and the client experience.
Working beyond borders
Dr. Ward serves in international leadership and advisory roles, including WSAVA’s Strategic Advisory Committee, the WSAVA Financial Advisory Committee, the Morris Animal Foundation Animal Welfare Advisory Board, and Mission Rabies.
Building tools for practices
As co-founder of a group purchasing organization serving thousands of clinics, Dr. Ward has long supported independent practice ownership, home diagnostics, and connected pet-health devices.
Guidelines that make care safer
Dr. Ward develops practical guidelines that make patient care safer, from long-term medication monitoring that informed IDEXX materials to the standards behind modern senior pet care.
Care that starts with the genome
As veterinary medical lead for a pioneering pet-genetics company, Dr. Ward helped connect at-home genetic and oral-health testing with practical conversations about feline health, risk, and longevity.
Lifestyle medicine on both ends of the leash
An Ironman triathlete, USA Triathlon coach, and certified veterinary food therapist, Dr. Ward brings the same lifestyle-medicine lens to pets, veterinary teams, and the people who care for animals.
Tackling the toughest topics in vet med
Since 2016, Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVT, have co-hosted The Veterinary Viewfinder Podcast, an award-winning weekly conversation on the issues shaping veterinary medicine. From practice culture and leadership to clinical controversy, client communication, technology, and the future of care, the podcast brings candid, practical conversations to veterinary professionals.
Learn more about Veterinary ViewfinderBooks, columns, and clinical references
Books by Dr. Ward: The Clean Pet Food Revolution, Chow Hounds, and Better You, Better Dog, Better Life, along with Creating the Veterinary Experience and Creating the Veterinary Appointment, practical guides to veterinary team training and the client experience.
Practical thinking on practice, leadership, and care
Opening Shots · Today’s Veterinary Business
Dr. Ward’s long-running Opening Shots column for Today’s Veterinary Business answers real questions from veterinary teams on practice management, leadership, communication, culture, and the changing realities of veterinary work.
Dr. Ward has written for the veterinary profession since 1999, including more than 50 articles for Veterinary Economics on practice management, leadership, client communication, and team training.
A trusted voice
Dr. Ward brings a practical, experienced voice to veterinary conferences, media interviews, panels, and industry conversations. His work connects clinical care, communication, team culture, business leadership, and the future of pet health.
- Lectures across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia
- Named #6 on Consult Clarity’s 50 Essential Thought Leaders in Veterinary Medicine, globally
- Speaker of the Year, VMX and WVC conferences
- 2018 Veterinary Journalist of the Year
- Briefed the U.S. Congress on veterinary drug policy, 2024
- National Practice of Excellence Award, youngest-ever recipient
- “Opening Shots” columnist, Today’s Veterinary Business
- Resident veterinarian, the Rachael Ray Show (2007–2014)
- Vetty Award-winning podcast host
- Author of five books; 100+ articles, texts, and training videos
- Co-inventor on a 2016 U.S. patent for a connected smart pet-feeding system
- Boards & committees: WSAVA (Strategic Advisory chair, Financial Advisory), Morris Animal Foundation, Grey Muzzle, CATalyst Council, Cat-Friendly Practice, Mission Rabies; founding member of VetPartners
- Past: Petplan Pet Insurance advisory board (2003–2019)
Help pets and people live healthier lives.
For interviews, speaking engagements, collaborations, or questions about Dr. Ward’s work, email is the fastest way to get in touch.