Always Helpful Veterinary Services Nottingham, Maryland

Always NASTY is what I'd call this office, at least the staff. I traveled to this office from southern, NJ. It's a fair distance. The women who answer the phone are ALWAYS nasty and short with me and that's unacceptable, especially for what it costs to see this particular veterinarian. I am really tired of getting attitude whenever I call, not to mention, I brought my dog's records but they now tell me that they don't have them on file.

I would give them 10 stars if I could! 1 in a million.

I live an hour away and I bring my dog to Dr. Shoemaker at Always Helpful. She is an incredible veterinarian and very nice person and all of the staff at Always Helpful are friendly, responsive and helpful. Under Dr. Shoemaker's care and guidance, my large 6-yr old dog has regained his vitality, flexibility and strength and is acting like his younger self again. He had a lot of stiffness and pain before, and now I have to make sure he doesn't play too wild with the puppy. I highly recommend Always Helpful!

Dr. Shoemaker is wonderful and an impressive veterinarian. Her expertise in different modalities of holistic and conventional approaches is exactly what I was looking for in an integrative vet. "Always Helpful" is a great way to describe the staff. Their "Wellness Plans" make this an affordable addition to the needs of our dogs. We look forward to our next visit and what we'll learn about improving the health of our Titus and Addie.

Everything I could truly desire in a veterinarian I received. Such beautiful and unusual care . It is a pleasure to receive and to support. There is always so much to learn and understand about health. I want to see my dog shine and glow, and Dr. Shoemaker has the gift, experience, knowledge to be able to help ! It is a lovely harmonious environment with everyone working together in a unified purpose. I would say idyllic and practical and down to earth all at the same time.

I generally do not write reviews because they can be random and subjective, even punitive. However, I can no longer keep from touting the talents, knowledge, and understanding of Dr. Shoemaker and her staff at Always Helpful Veterinary Services. I've been a client for quite a while now, and I can say that Dr. Shoemaker and her staff have been MORE than helpful at any given time. We rely on veterinarians to make things OK with our pets. Well, Dr. Shoemaker does more than that. She has done wonders with my dogs, and every single "problem" that I deemed an emergency or that I did not see coming. Her skills are second to none. She practices veterinary medicine, but it's more than that. She knows your pet(s) and genuinely cares about their physical and mental health. She also, and I'm not sure how she does it, cares for the human client. Many moons ago, I used to think that holistic medicine was a bunch of nonsense, and was highly reliant on conventional veterinary practices. Dr. Shoemaker practices both holistic and conventional veterinary medicine. Her talents span both disciplines and she has treated my dogs with both. I will say her chiropractic therapies have helped my dogs in areas where I did not think it was possible. She's also saved me tremendous upset and anxiety by healing holistically. I've had two dogs now that had vestibular disease and both were treated with chiropractic adjustments and exercises that helped tremendously. Dr. Shoemaker is generous with her time, knowledge, and energy. She is gentle, kind, and loving towards all animals. I am grateful to have her as my veterinarian and a genuine friend. We appreciate her and her staff tremendously.

My golden retriever is 13 years old She is slowing down but family/friends remark that she doesn’t act like her age. We have been going to this practice for 5 years.The vets and staff are attentive and attentive to her needs. I strongly recommend this practice to all pet owners.

Job experience: Doctor's staff is lovely, Dr. Schumaker is one of the best, however, should manage their management better. I shouldn't have to pick weeds in the blistering hot sun. This is rediculous, I shouldn't have to work in this kind of conditions.

This place is fantastic. I have 2 English bulldogs and 1 English mastiff. I really appreciate the patience and love Dr Shoemaker shows my pets and the patience she gives me. Everyone of my dogs love her no matter what procedure she has to do on them. I appreciate the wealth of information she is willing to share so I can take better care of my dogs which cuts down on vet bills. Dr Shoemaker obviously does this because she loves the animals. Her staff is just as nice and efficient, plus they are quite knowledgeable. It was very stressful not being able to be with my dogs when they were getting treated in other vet offices, but Dr Shoemaker's office gives you the ability to see and talk with the Doctor during the treatment. You can be sure, when it is your animals turn, they are getting the best care possible. I highly recommend this office and doctor to everyone who wants the best care for their pets!!

Thank you for all your help and your thorough evaluation!

Dr. Shoemaker & her team are the VERY best! Professional, caring, extremely knowledgeable, I can not say enough good things about this practice. My horses & dogs have been patients for over20 years, I would never go anywhere else!!

Dr. Judith Shoemaker and the entire staff of Always Helpful offer the best possible care for my dog, Loki. I never received such dedicated care and insightful service from any previous vets, and would not even consider going back to any of them. I highly recommend Always Helpful Veterinary Services.

Dr. Shoemaker and the techs who worked with my girl Darcy were very knowledge. I love the homey atmosphere and the holistic teaching and environment, Darcy is usually a nervous dog, but was very comfortable through the whole process. I look forward to working with them in the future and learning as much as I can. I highly recommend this vet, and I will be referring everyone to them.

I really like the way they handled my baby. Dr. Shoemaker came outside introduced herself to us and my pet went right to her for his introduction which made me happy. I really didn't care for the video chat I would sooner be with my pet but under today's circumstances I understand. Hopefully things will change and we can go back to in person. I'm very happy with all the care that my pet received. I will be using her service for the entirety of my pet's life. So glad I found her advertisement in natural awakenings magazine. Staff members are awesome too.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Shoemaker personally. I consider her the top holistic vet in the US and continue to refer cases to her. Her consults provide peace of mind as well as clinically responsive treatments.

Dr. Shoemaker really helped us understand what we are dealing with and what our best course of action needs to be. I look forward to hearing back on our DNA test and knowing exactly what we need to use to help our sweet little Boston Terrier.

I love Judith and her knowledge. I have brought both horses and dogs to her for help for over 30 years. She is the best!!

Dr Shoemaker is a wealth of knowledge, both clinical and training. Spending time with her and my Wire Fox Terrier is akin to a hands on classroom experience. She has an extraordinary sixth sense with animals whether it's a 1200 lb Thoroughbred or a 15 lb pup. Her extensive abilities using alternative modalities is nothing short of phenomenal. I am blessed to have crossed Life's path with her!

Our first visit with Dr. Shoemaker and our pup. We were concerned about his growth and a few other things that the breeder couldn't explain. Dr. Shoemaker walked us through chiropractic and acupuncture care that seemed to help almost instantly. Since that first visit, he's been a different pup - confidence wise. Expensive yes, but so so many questions answered that another vet didn't care to explain. Worth so much to us so we can raise our pet with the best possible care.

Our dog was becoming aggressive with advancing heart disease. We thought we were facing euthanasia and could no longer allow people in our home and his ability to get exercise was compromised. Dr. Judy provided so much treatment and education we are seeing dramatic changes already and have hope to give him a good life with the time we have. He was given acupuncture, chiro, Biemer, nails expertly cut to impressively short length, walking training and muzzle advice, supplements and diet options to improve his health, testing to get to the bottom of his condition. The cardiologist we were using only wanted to treat symptoms with meds not diagnose underlying condition. But most importantly the communication she provided helped us see that our fears of losing him and of his aggression were causing a feedback loop of him giving us what we were expecting and fearing. She explained how we should think about his situation as they really are mind readers and also how he wanted us to let him off the hook of mothering our other dog which is against his nature and was stressing him out. We can tell he knows now all he has to do is take care of himself and we can just enjoy him in real time as dogs live in the present. The change in his behavior and sense of peace since the visit made it well worth the investment. Wish we knew about her before.

Dr. Shoemaker is always professional. The time and loving care she shows my Cocoa (German shorthair pointer) is beyond expectations. The 3 hour round trip drive is well worth it. She explains everything in detail and is always willing to give helpful advice. The staff are very friendly and always ready to help. Love this place!

It’s hard to think of anything that could make the visits better! All staff and Dr Shoemaker are thorough, caring and amazing. Kelly always comes away feeling better and happy. No question that he is getting the best care possible. He is so different from when he adopted me and so much more confident! He is my hero along with the Always Helpful Vet Team!

I have a pug puppy named Gizmo and I felt there was something wrong with his hind legs. He received chiropractic work plus accupunture and he is doing fabulous. The staff is quite knowledgeable

Since bringing my 2 dogs there I’ve completely changed my dogs feeding to raw. Let me tell you how good both of my dogs look. They are lean and healthy. Also a wonderful staff that go the xtra mile. Not many vets like always helpful will give the upmost care without any rxs. Highly recommended them

The whole experience was amazing! My cat actually enjoyed her visit to the vet and was comfortable and happy throughout with the techniques they used to keep her calm. The only challenge we had at all was the website to order her new food was not listed on the paperwork however it was super easy and quick to get the answer I needed by email! Love this office!!!! They will be our vet for life!

We brought our 11 year old Cavachon in because she had injured her already arthritic back. She had been to her regular vet and got worse even though they put her on pain relief meds and muscle relaxers. Eventually the pain got so bad that she wouldn’t eat or drink and began to dehydrate. I had to rush her to the Animal ER where they gave her fluids and meds including opioids for the pain. The opioids caused stomach and intestinal issues and she had constant diarrhea to the point that her bum was raw and she still wasn’t eating. I finally got her to eat a tablespoon of fish and they started treating the stomach and intestinal problems with probiotics, antacids, and antibiotics in addition to pain meds, muscle relaxers, and fluids and stopped the opioids. Having gotten major relief from chiropractic care myself after I was involved in a bad car accident, I decided to see if I could find a vet who did chiropractic sessions on dogs and found Dr. Shoemaker at Always Helpful Veterinary. I made arrangements to check my dog out of the ER for a 2 hour appointment and then return her to the ER for continued treatment. She was so sick when I picked her up that I was beginning to think it was the end. With the Covid restrictions in place, Dr. Shoemaker made it possible to watch the whole time via my smartphone. She did chiropractic work, acupuncture, other procedures as well as showed me how important it was to trim her nails properly which would also help with her back problems. When we left, it was like I had a puppy again. I took her back to the ER and they were amazed at the difference. Since she had started eating and drinking again and she looked so much better they suggested that she might be better if she went home with me. End of story! She came home and is doing so well that you would never know she went through what she did. We still have follow up appointments for continued treatments and each time it gets better. The only option the other vets were giving me was an invasive and expensive surgery, but they wouldn’t guarantee that it would get her back to where she was before the injury. Dr. Shoemaker worked wonders, and the clinic’s Name “Always Helpful Veterinary” truly lives up to that name.

My 13 year old Dachshund had 2 tumors removed by my primary vet. Due to the possibility that they were cancerous, I contacted Always Helpful Veterinary Services for continued care. They were great! We learned a lot. They took great care with “Hanna” and were able to refer us to get an immediate Ultrasound of Hanna. We now know she does have cancer. I will be following up with Always Helpful Veterinary Services for further treatment.

Dr Shoemaker is an expert on the care and management of animals, small and large. She is passionate about making sure you have all the tools you need to create a great relationship with your pet, and that your pet can be a good animal citizen. Her office staff is kind and compassionate and allows Dr Shoemaker to give you and your pet her undivided attention (they take the notes, keep track of the discussion, etc). Great visit today, she made me very hopeful about my new rescue.

Dr. Shoemaker and her staff are amazing!!

Dr. Shoemaker and staff are thorough and kind, handling our Pip with ease. We value and trust the advice and treatment, living up to their name, Always Helpful.