Brendan Howard oversees veterinary business, practice management and life-balance content for dvm360.com, dvm360 magazine, Firstline and Vetted, and plans the Practice Management track at all three Fetch dvm360 conferences.Brendan has proudly served under the Veterinary Economics and dvm360 banners for more than 10 years. Before that, he worked as a journalist, writer and editor at Entrepreneur magazine and a top filmed entertainment magazine in Southern California. Brendan received a Masters in English Literature from University of California, Riverside, in 1999.

There's a dog on a surgical table and another on an exam room table—just like at your hospital. The difference is that these dogs aren't powered by blood but electricity and state-of-the-art animatronic design. And the doctors checking their vitals are way too young to be in veterinary school.  

False positive: Animatronic dogs at ÃÂ­Wannado City look so real that kids ask if they're OK when the dogs go motionless. (COURTESY OF MERIAL.) 

This is Wannado City in Sunrise, Fla., where children can try their hand at more than 200 occupations, including television director, police chief, dance club DJ, archaeologist, and, yes, animal doctor. Once visitors get their hands on them, the animatronic dogs respond with vocal noises and wagging tails, and kids are asked to get to the bottom of what's ailing the sick dog on the surgery table. Could it be ... something Sparky ate? Hint: Yes. (Merial is the sponsor for the veterinary clinic portion of the park.) 

I wannabe a vet!

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