Dr. Gordon Davis
Veterinarian, Semi-Retired to Management Advisor, Owner
Dr. Gordon Davis grew up in small-town Ohio and started working for a local veterinarian when he was just 9 years old. He attended Ohio State Veterinary School and then moved to Virginia in 1970 to start a practice in McLean and raise a family. Dr. Davis started a two-man, one-employee practice that has progressed to one of the largest privately held practices in the Washington Metropolitan area.
While practicing, Dr. Davis focused on small animal surgery and orthopedics and he has thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of his career. Dr. Davis’s wife is a dog and cat lover! Their son’s family includes R.J., Heidi, Spencer and Jack. Their daughter’s family includes Bob, Lizanne, Kendall and Brady. In his free time, Dr. Davis enjoys riding horses, racing horses and woodworking.
Dr. Craig Felton
Veterinarian, Medical Director
Despite having lived over half his life as a Virginian, Dr. Craig Felton is a Buckeye through and through. Part of who he is comes from these Ohio roots. For example, when he and his wife moved to Northern Virginia, they immediately knocked on their neighbors’ doors, introduced themselves and handed them a housewarming gift. After seeing the neighbors’ puzzled looks, Dr. Felton quipped, “I’m sorry, we’re from Ohio and we don’t know any better.”
Ohioans are warm, unassuming people who, despite their independence and self-reliance, will always lend a hand to a friend or even a perfect stranger. Dr. Felton considers himself lucky to work in a profession that ties in so many of the activities he loves, provides mental challenges and learning experiences to grow and rewards him with personal fulfillment. His parents recognized early on his love and aptitude for science and it was their dream for him to become a medical doctor. His father’s job as a middle school principal and his mother’s as a hospital administrator afforded Dr. Felton the learning resources and job experiences to observe doctors and the inner workings of hospitals first hand. It wasn’t until his junior year in college that two events changed his path. First, his mother lost her battle with leukemia, and second, he met a pre-vet student who gave him direct access to observing what his future profession was all about.
Unlike human medicine where all doctors are highly specialized, most veterinarians wear “multiple hats”, which allows animal doctors to follow their patients from infancy to death. They are forced to learn and become proficient in all aspects of medicine and surgery. Dr. Felton’s mother’s illness showcased one shortcoming to specialization: the fact that a serious illness like cancer requires multiple highly specialized doctors. There were more opportunities for lapses in communication and fewer opportunities for compassion and connection to their patients. Ultimately, his decision to become a veterinarian balanced his passion for science and learning with his family’s core beliefs in compassion and empathy for all living things.
Dr. Felton received a BS degree from Ashland University in 1973 and then spent a year of independent research at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. In 1978, he received his DVM from Ohio State University. He has interests in internal medicine, soft tissue surgery, ultrasonography, laparoscopic diagnostics, acupuncture (CUA), and he is a USDA accredited veterinarian.
Dr. Felton married his college sweetheart, Debbie, with whom he will celebrate 40 years of marriage in 2013. They are blessed to have 2 beautiful daughters, Kelly and Lindsey, who still have their father wrapped around their fingers. 2013 is also a milestone year as Craig and Debbie officially became grandparents for the first time. Dr. Felton is looking forward to spoiling his granddaughter and grandson and the opportunity to talk jibberish and act like a kid again. The Feltons have one male miniature poodle, Eli, who keeps them on their toes with his zest for living and regularly outwits everyone at every opportunity.
Now that he is in his sixties, Dr. Felton’s interests are a little more leisurely than athletic. His two previous passions, tennis and running, have given way to low impact activities like kayaking and biking. White water kayaking is now morphing into less excitement and more the pursuit of the zen stroke and reading the river perfectly. He still enjoys home improvement projects, especially those involving woodworking, and now that he has grandchildren, has rediscovered his love of photography. Finally, gardening has and will always be a form of meditation and a creative outlet for him.
Dr. Andrea Newman
Senior Veterinarian
Dr. Andrea Newman was born in Frederick, Maryland, and raised in Bethesda. She went to Duke University for undergraduate studies and achieve a Master’s degree at Hood College before attending the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. She came to veterinary medicine late. After graduating from college, she was volunteering at a large cat (lions, tigers, leopards, servals and caracals) breeding and research facility in North Carolina and realized that she could combine the joy of working with animals and the people who love them with her interests in science and medicine.
The joy and challenge of veterinary medicine is that it’s like being the only doctor in a remote town. We work on patients from infancy through geriatrics and do medicine, and surgery, and dentistry too! Dr. Newman’s favorite part of her job is the diagnostic challenges.
Dr. Newman’s husband, Wayne Tympanick, is a music teacher at Kent Gardens Elementary School. He also plays drums on the side (jazz is his love). They have 2 cats: Monk and Miles; a yellow naped parrot, Yna, who loves to sing along to music; and a tank full of fish that they choose to believe are happy. In her spare time, Dr. Newman enjoys gardening, bicycling, hiking (any excuse to be outdoors on a nice day!). She also enjoys cooking and reading.
Dr. Kirsi Burnett
Veterinarian
Dr. Annabel Austin
Dr. Alexis Hake
While at UCSC, she failed (spectacularly) at surfing but did manage to acquire new passions such as climbing, yoga, and burritos. Through her studies she also realized that her passions for conservation and working with animals were matched by keen interests in physiology and biology, which cemented her pursuit of a career in veterinary medicine. After obtaining a B.Sc. in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, Dr. Hake worked both as a veterinary assistant and for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. There she worked with some inspiring scientists and veterinary mentors, primarily in sea otter pathology and infectious disease transmission in near-shore ecosystems, before moving to Davis, CA to continue her education. She received her DVM from the University of California Davis in 2010 and stayed on at the university to work in food safety and infectious disease research, obtaining a Masters of Preventative Veterinary Medicine in 2012.
Although she enjoyed many aspects of research, Dr. Hake missed working with patients, the challenges of practicing medicine, and the sense of family/teamwork that one finds at a well-functioning veterinary hospital. She thus made the leap to clinical practice and has yet to look back. Dr. Hake loves the methodical process of working up complex medical cases, the wide variety of disciplines within the field one is required to master and being part of a profession that requires her to be a perpetual student. Most importantly, she loves playing a role in supporting the powerful human-animal bond that she witnesses daily between her patients and clients.
In 2016, Dr. Hake said farewell to California and moved with her family to the Kingdom of Bahrain. There she had the honor to work both in private practice and as a civilian veterinarian supporting military working dogs and privately-owned pets in Bahrain. This past winter, Dr. Hake relocated to northern Virginia.
Dr Hake lives in McLean with her husband, her two boys, and her German Wirehaired Pointer, Addie Pearl. She is excited to explore the area and thrilled to be a part of the ODAHC team. When not working, she spends most of her time trying to keep up with her two boys while rediscovering the world through their eyes and planning the next adventure.
