Prior to a career in Chiropractic, Dr. Irven began a career working with animals as a Keeper and Enrichment Coordinator for rescued Capuchin Monkeys at a Primate Sanctuary in Gainesville, Florida. She lived with exotics on an Animal Sanctuary in Arizona as a Keeper of big cats, wolves, mountain lions and other exotics and farm animals. She graduated an accelerated program with a degree in Animal Science and passed National Boards achieving a certification as a Licensed Veterinary Technician in the State of Nevada and began working in veterinary medicine. She worked with domestic and exotic animals in emergency, surgery, reproductive and nuclear medicine, and with horses in the largest equine practice in Las Vegas.

Dr. Irven completed her post-graduate education in the Animal Chiropractic Program at Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas, TX and became certified in Animal Chiropractic. Parker College of Chiropractic is the only Animal Chiropractic program offered by an accredited chiropractic school in North America where students of Animal Chiropractic join DCs and DVMs in a course of study that prepares them to sit for the AVCA certification exam. This highly accredited program is headed by Gene Giggleman, DVM and is designed for both Doctors of Chiropractic and Doctors of Veterinary Medicine to learn the techniques of Animal Chiropractic from the top Chiropractic and Veterinary Doctors in the field. Dr. Irven also earned a certification in Animal Chiropractic by the Animal Chiropractic Certification Commission of the Animal Veterinary Chiropractic Association, the primary national credentialing in North American and remains a member.

Additional certifications include being a Certified Medical Examiner for the Department of Transportation and a Certified Practitioner of the Personal Injury Institute. She is trained in Activator Methods I & II, Graston Technique and has post-graduate training in Nutrition, Extremity Adjusting, Whiplash and Brain Traumatology.

After both receiving their degree as Doctors of Chiropractic, she and her husband, Dr. John Smith, moved to Loveland and got married. Together, with Dr. Smith, they opened Rocky Mountain Spine & Disc in Loveland and later their second office in Fort Collins. After practicing in separate offices for five years, they merged their offices after purchasing and renovating a building in the perfect location backing to open space in Fort Collins, CO. They are surrounded by nature and Dr. Irven loves the opportunity to work both inside and outside with animal patients.

Dr. Irven is fully dedicated to her animal patients working out of her new facility at Rocky Mountain Spine & Disc with an animal wing designed specifically for the care of animals. It only takes walking in the animal entrance to understand her level of dedication to serving animals on the Front Range and beyond. Dr. Irven and Dr. Smith are the proud “parents” of two English Mastiffs, a Red Nosed Pit Bull Terrier and a cat rounding out their pack. They enjoy an active life skiing, hiking, camping with their dogs and enjoying sporting events.