About
Dr. Tecla Fuller
Often little girls envision their wedding and what their wedding dress will be when they grow up, not me, all I ever dreamed of was owning a horse. My walls were plastered with pictures of horses, I saw every movie, and read every library book written that was about a horse. I was 23 years old when my dream finally came true. He came straight off the racetrack, a big, dark bay thoroughbred and his name was “Benny”. He was full of personality. I had to put all the years of reading to use as this man hadn’t seen anything in his life except a flat racetrack. Our first trail ride together was an outing of patience as he had never encountered rolling terrain in his lifetime. It took me three hours to get him to go up a hill. We spent a glorious five years together learning and loving one another and having the time of our lives. Our most memorable trip was a pack trip in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Sadly, our time together was much too short. After a severe case of colic and two colic surgeries, I lost him.
After Benny, my barn grew from one horse to many in attempts to fill his void. Over the past twenty-five years, I have had some special horses and had some unique experiences, such as getting to ride with Pat Parelli at his ranch in Colorado, but none of these have yet replaced Benny. It’s his image that graces the logo for Alpine Animal Chiropractic.
I have always had a deep passion for animals, but never combined that passion into my work, until now. When my beloved cat, Alpine began to express a decline in her health due to chronic kidney disease, I began searching for alternative care options. The care that we desired was only available from one veterinarian in the area. She was in high demand, so we were put on a waiting list to see her. Alpine’s health continued to decline, and I was never able to utilize alternative care before her passing. Her death inspired me to make a life change. I decided to expand my practice to help animals too.
In May 2021 I enrolled at A.C.E.S. (Animal Chiropractic Education Source) in Meridian, Texas completing a 240-hour post-doctoral course in Animal Chiropractic in just under four months. I have also obtained certification as an Animal Chiropractor with the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association (AVCA).
Whether I am serving patients with two legs or four, I feel very blessed and very inspired to be able to provide additional health options for animal patients that my previous animals were never afforded.
Dr. Dusty Fuller, DC
I was adopted as a baby and grew up in rural Oklahoma on a small ranch. It was a wonderful life experience growing up with dogs, cats, horses, and cattle. There were pastures and woods to explore and of course, chores. My dad taught me to drive a standard-shift pickup truck when I was nine. At that time, I only knew first gear, but I could drive while Dad tossed hay from the back of the truck when feeding the cows. I was also exposed to rodeo and team roping events. When I was 4 or 5 years old, I rode one of the sheep that I had bottle fed. I loved it. I continued to pester my dad until he roped a calf. He brought it in from the pasture to the arena for my first calf ride. I dreamed about becoming a bull rider and I practiced on a “bucking barrel” suspended between two trees behind the house. I could identify by name the best bull riders, my heroes, because I studied their bull riding photographs, read every bull riding article in Rodeo News and Rodeo Sports News, and consistently monitored the standings for the NFR & IFR. When I was eleven, my dad allowed me to enter the steer riding at the 4-H Rodeo in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I came off that steer at about 6 seconds, landed on the ground and knew that this was my event. I could hardly wait to ride again—that desire never left my heart. God allowed my childhood dream to be fulfilled as I went on to compete in youth, high school, college & even professional levels of bull riding.
I believe my Heavenly Dad used bull riding to get me into college through a rodeo scholarship. He sees the end of one’s life from the beginning, for one cannot be a Chiropractor without attending and having a successful college career. I earned an Associate of Arts degree while competing on the rodeo team of what is now Rogers State University. Next, I attended Oklahoma State University then moved and graduated from what is now University of Central Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in biology. I continued collegiate learning at St. Anthony Hospital in their Medical Technology program and worked as a Medical Technologist in hospitals & clinics. I then changed careers and taught middle school science & high school biology for nineteen years. During that time, I earned a master’s degree in College Teaching with emphasis in Biology at Northeastern State University. For about the last five years of my teaching career I knew there was something else for me in life and I believe God called me to become a Chiropractor. I committed to attend Chiropractic college at age 47 and graduated from Texas Chiropractic College in 2014.
Chiropractic has taken me to many destinations in the United States as well as Central America on two different occasions. I have completed post-doctoral chiropractic training in spinal correction and worked at three of the largest clinics in the United States. Through Chiropractic, I have had the honor to help the underserved, served in a crisis clinic, provided care outside of the U.S., gave Chiropractic care to high school, college, professional athletes, and professional rodeo athletes.
Recently, I completed animal chiropractic training through Animal Chiropractic Education Source (A.C.E.S) in Meridian Texas. Currently, I am practicing animal chiropractic with my wife, Dr. Tecla Fuller who is also a human and animal chiropractor.
When I am not providing human and animal chiropractic care, I enjoy living life with my wife, our cats and horses whether traveling, watching wildlife, horseback riding, mountain biking, or attending rodeos. I always treasure time with my daughter, son-in-law and grand babes.
About Alpine Animal Chiropractic
Just like humans, four-legged pets and animal athletes can benefit from Chiropractic care to address injury and pain relief as well as overall health and wellness.
Alpine Animal Chiropractic is a Mesa, AZ based Animal Chiropractic service provided by Dr. Tecla Fuller, DC. Her human practice, Fuller Life Chiropractic has been providing care for patients in the East Valley since 2017. Having senior pets of her own (two horses and two cats) with chronic health conditions, she became passionate about expanding her Chiropractic knowledge to include animals. Alpine Animal Chiropractic opened in August 2021 and was named after “Alpine”, beloved feline (06/2002 – 03/30/2021).
Animals under regular Chiropractic care typically have overall better health and function, improved mobility, reduced pain and muscle spasms, optimized performance, improved speed and accuracy of movement, decreased degeneration (improved longevity), reduced likelihood of injury, etc.
Alpine Animal Chiropractic provides exceptional, personalized, and passionate care for your animal by an AVCA certified Animal Chiropractor.
