Dr. Ballinger grew up in a small town on the Redwood coast in far Northern California. After serving on a Fast Attack Submarine in the early 1970s, he attended Texas A&M University and earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. He has been in practice in Canyon since graduation. In his career, he has done large animal, feedlot, emergency, and small animal medicine. He was the consulting veterinarian for the Bureau of Land Management facility that housed and cared for approximately 3,000 mustangs. He has been small animal exclusive for about the last 20 years with particular interest in dermatology and surgery. In his spare time, Dr. Ballinger enjoys spending time with family, especially his grandkids, cooking and eating, and riding or working on his motorcycle. He is also a proud board member of the Hope Lives Here organization based out of Amarillo, TX, which rescues dogs from local shelters and pairs them with Veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress (PTS), traumatic brain injury (TBI), military sexual trauma (MST), and/or chronic pain disorders, and trains the two as a team.