October 8, 2024 • 55 mins
Soulmate Dog tells the brave, moving story of Slater’s extraordinary relationship with her German Shepherd, Brady. The book charts the nature of love and the inevitability of loss that accompanies it, while showcasing the telepathic language that can exist between dogs and humans. Because Brady became seriously ill at the age of five (and, according to his vets, should not have survived), this is also a story of the expanding field of modern integrative veterinary medicine.
** Please be sure to like, share, & subscribe!**
≽^•⩊•^≼
All links are archived and listed on https://counterculturewise.com
( ͡ಠ ʖ̯ ͡ಠ ) Check out Chuck's "Holy Crap, This is Actually Happening" channel here: / @thisisactuallyhappening
⸜(｡˃ᵕ˂ )⸝♡
Connect with us on
Locals: https://locals.com/member/CCWiseRadio
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ιο̲̅̅o)̲̅$̲̅] Support us! [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ιο̲̅̅o)̲̅$̲̅]
Merch: https://www.redbubble.com/people/CCWi...
oin Rumble: https://rumble.com/register/CounterCu...
SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/counter...
Venmo: @StormKatt
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ Podcast! ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Locals https://locals.com/feed/40611/counter...
Rumble https://rumble.com/c/CounterCultureWISE
Twitch / counterculturewise
Apple Podcasts: .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}
** Please be sure to like, share, & subscribe!**
≽^•⩊•^≼
All links are archived and listed on https://counterculturewise.com
( ͡ಠ ʖ̯ ͡ಠ ) Check out Chuck's "Holy Crap, This is Actually Happening" channel here: / @thisisactuallyhappening
⸜(｡˃ᵕ˂ )⸝♡
Connect with us on
Locals: https://locals.com/member/CCWiseRadio
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ιο̲̅̅o)̲̅$̲̅] Support us! [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ιο̲̅̅o)̲̅$̲̅]
Merch: https://www.redbubble.com/people/CCWi...
oin Rumble: https://rumble.com/register/CounterCu...
SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/counter...
Venmo: @StormKatt
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ Podcast! ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Locals https://locals.com/feed/40611/counter...
Rumble https://rumble.com/c/CounterCultureWISE
Twitch / counterculturewise
Apple Podcasts: .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome, welcome, welcome. I Oh, there's so many things to
talk about, and of course you've got the amazing view
behind you as well. So before we get started, let's
give our listeners where they can find you on the
interwebs and how they can find your book.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well, Jim and Melanie, thank you so much for having me,
and I'm delighted to be here with you, and you
can find me on Michellslider dot com on my Instagram
account mishall be Slater. I also have a TikTok account
with the same name, and you can order the book.
It's available anywhere that books are sold, and there you go.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
We will have all of those links on our website,
counterculturewise dot com, as well as the live video and
audio version of the interview. Absolutely okay, well, let's get
right on into it. I know Jim's been bursting with questions.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
We've well, I wanted to say firstly that you hold
a PhD in French literature from John Hopkins University. That
is no small feat. Congratulations on that. Very welcome. So
I really enjoyed your book. I want to say that
right from the get go, it opened my eyes and
(01:30):
my mind to some things that I was only maybe
just on the surface aware of it. Get right to
the beginning. It sets the stage for the main story.
At the beginning of the book, you lost your mother
and your beloved German shepherd Joy within a very short
period of time of each other. So it's a.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Great name for a German shepherd. Yeah, they go for
something a little bit more strict sounding.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah, I love it. I grew up with one named Fritz,
the obvious, the stereotype auto or whatever.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Well, she had a lot of joy to our family,
and that was, you know, how my mother wanted to
name herself.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
It was very appropriate, absolutely, And I love your story
about how you wanted a puppy and went about that.
So really sweet. Folks are gonna have to buy the books.
I'm not going to give too much away because you
do want it. You want to immerse yourself in.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
It, right right, It's it's a good read. So enter
Our friend Brady is named after Tom Brady, the football player.
I'm a Seahawks fan, so I'm not going to hold
it against.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
You, but it was still still the goat though. You
got to hand it to me.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
He's he's an amazing player, an amazing player. So tell
us what that was, What that was like meeting this
soon to be soulmate dog.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It was it was a supernatural experiences. I think I
put it in Soulmate Dog that I I really felt
like I fell in love with this puppy at first sight.
And I'm very reserved, I'm very skeptical. I don't go
giving my heart away easily. And this puppy and I
had a bonding experience without even really knowing who the
(03:25):
other was. And so I just I was. I was
so convinced that this was the one dog and and
and and it was just like that. And from so
from that moment on, I made a commitment to Brady
to to care for him as I would for myself,
(03:46):
and to spend time with him and be with him
and get to know him, and and and and he
became this central figure in my life. And then I
wanted to know more and more and more about him.
What led me on this journey, Insoli dog.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
It's it is quite a journey. It wasn't without its
bumps and bruises on the way. Though you speak of
an experience with Shults end Breaders, I'm using the quality
mark fingers for a reason. It took a bit out
(04:25):
of the boy, but he came back around, which was
good he did.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
That remains that remains to be a top regret of
my life with sending him to that training. I didn't
understand what it entailed, and I'm very grateful that he
was able to come back from that PTSD that he
came home with. But it was it was an informative experience,
(04:52):
and it really ultimately led me, ultimately led me to
my greater understanding of what his capacities were. Right.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I don't I think we underestimate our pets in general,
you know, even if if we don't have that kind
of spiritual bond that can be very I think we
limit our pets, you know, in a lot of ways.
Just for those of you who aren't familiar with this
type of training, the the she I'll just give a
(05:26):
brief synopsis. I don't want to blow the book. But
you had a suspicion that things weren't going quite the
way they were supposed to, so you arrived early to
pick the dog up and experienced one of the trainers
being very abusive towards the dog, yelling at it, beating it,
(05:46):
that that kind of thing absolutely one and eighty degrees
from what you were trying to accomplish.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
We accidentally sent your dog to military school.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Equivalence, exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yeah, it's actually still pain well to hear you recount.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
That, I'm sure it is. I'm sorry, but it's important.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
And I I just, I just I would encourage your
listeners to research a new training programs a bit better
than I did. I I was. I was convinced that
it was going to enhance his natural abilities and that
it would be pallenge for him, even an athletic challenge,
(06:30):
and he he was so smart, as are German shepherds,
and so I thought that it would be an intellectual
challenge for him, if you will. But I yeah, so
I I did. I did experience quite a shock to
see what the conditions were and that they I never
(06:50):
gave him anything but unconditional love, and that's sure the
fear he had been raised and and I'm anti violence
all the way. So so yes, that that was. We
absolutely had many bumps along.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
The way, and then there's overcoming I'm sure there was
a sense of guilt too, because you didn't know, and
then when you found out I mean, I would have
taken that very personally, even even though it you know,
it wasn't your fault, you weren't the one doing it
to them, but you still I can kind of tell
just by your eyes that there's still a little bit
of of guilt there. And man, I I can't say
(07:28):
that I wouldn't have retaliated. I can't say that I
would have behaved myself in that situation.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
So I just, I just, I just I just cared
about rescuing that and I would want others to know
about it. So I just caution people before they undertook
training to really research what that entails. Other other than
(07:55):
that it's mostly pain. It's not guilty anymore. It's it's
still good paying that he went through and and that
that's that's that's all that remains really.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
But you fixed it.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
You fixed it, so that's the bond got stronger than ever.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah, And he said he probably forever saw you as
his rescuer. He probably did not make any connection at
all other than moms here to get me.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Oh no, no, I know he didn't. And then that,
I mean, that's the beauty of unconditional love is that
it's accompanied by unconditional forgiveness, and and then we went
back and we went into unconditional love therapy to try
to treat the PTSD, and it really did work. I was,
I was, I was relieved a thousand times over to
(08:42):
see him get his smile back and his confident smile.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
That's cute smile.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah. But then a couple more things started happening. That
happened that actually had you thinking a little bit stronger
about the bond between we humans and animals. It's whether
it be our pets, it could just be other animals.
You see, you got dog, got a stomach bloat, and
(09:11):
then you lost the dog. Talk a little bit more
about that.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yes, So when I was teaching at the University of Wisconsin,
I was well, I was aware of of what stomach
bloat was in barreled dogs, and they did come on
quite quickly. But when you're in it, it does. It did.
(09:37):
It came up very quickly that we were just home
one night to snow and he started acting very strangely
and licking the floor and my my hair and even
trying to eat my hair and and and then kind
of collapsing. And I so I didn't know that it
(09:58):
was stomach blow. But I we raced to the emergency
hospital and his stomach was in the process of of flipping,
as the VET explained it to me, And so I
spent the night there as they as they performed a
surgery on him and were able to correct it and
(10:18):
then through a long healing process. But yes, that was
that was another That was another scare. And I already
knew that I loved Oh, I loved Brady so much.
I was just just sitting there meditating all night, waiting
for him to come out of this, out of this surgery.
(10:38):
And so that, yes, that was that was another very
frightening experience for me. And then to actually lose him
because we I I the boundary, the property boundary with
his invisible fence changed because I had a I had
an ice worm that knocked down an old shed, and
(11:00):
so I was it left this hole and where the
invisible fence was, and he usually stayed right next to me,
and and and somehow he sniffed something and wandered off,
and then all of a sudden he wasn't there right hour.
It took hours. I mobilized the whole neighborhood. People were
(11:22):
out looking for him, and I just I just, I
just I knew I was going to stay out, even
if it was all night long, even it was even
a bit took more than a day, I was I
was not going to go to bed until I found him.
And so fortunately we were graced with this wonderful neighbor
(11:42):
who found him. He was safe at another neighbor's house.
A boy had found him on the road and put
him in the car and drove him to the fire station.
And then these people walking by said, well, we'll take him,
and nobody, nobody, nobody called his BET's number was on
his tag. I then took different measures, and I do
(12:05):
encourage everyone to have their phone number on their dog's collar.
My my dog now has. But but but we found him,
and so it was a very joyful reunion.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
That that leads me to something else that I liked
about your book, and something you brought home more than
once and more than one situation, and that was the
importance of community between your father and your neighbors and
everybody just coming together on multiple occasions. It's just it
(12:46):
brought that home as a big theme for me.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I I'm glad that you brought that up. Jim because
that the community aspect of loving an animal, loving anyone
I think, I think is very important and that we
we all do need help in this world and it's
things things can get complicated, and I think that I
(13:13):
also I also like the word community because I in
saul Nate Dog. It was important for me to share
tips for my readers that I thought would be helpful
to everyone at large. Even one example for that is
is I think the importance of having pet insurance.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
And definitely and if.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Brady had had a pet insurance, wow, I would have
had a different financial situation. I are and and and
now I do have pet insurance, and I and with
my father, I did a lot of research to find
a good one and and and and so it's it's
(14:00):
important to do that. But I just think that we
love our animal companions so much, and we all have
health insurance at least I hope we do. So. I
just I just think that to cover the what if
when yeah goes so terribly wrong. It's just I wanted
(14:20):
to share things like that with my right that people
might not think of when they are when they welcome
a new animal into their lives.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Right well, as we want to find out what you
You and Brady went through some things that no one
would have even thought about having to to confront in life.
One of the most the most important thing for me
about this book, the biggest theme is just that they're
(14:54):
you can develop telepathy between yourself and other animals. Now,
Melanie and I have had a a pet communicator as
a guest on our show before, and so we we
we started to grasp the concept. But then entered Debbie mcgilvy,
(15:17):
who is from everything I've read about her, just she's
amazing animal. I hesitate to use the word psychic, but
when we're going to go ahead and use that to
keep things simple.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
And we foster animals as well, and we had a
foster dog that I just could not get So I
had a very similar experience to you with my Golden
She was my best and dearest friend. She was a
once in a lifetime dog, you know. And we have
(15:51):
a dog now who I adorn and she's great. But
Abby was this is Abby actually she was part of
the show for the longest time, and she she was
once in a lifetime dog and there was a special
understanding there and we could we could well. I taught
her sign language as well, so later on when she
went deaf, that actually worked out. But we had this
thing where we could just make eye contact and we
(16:12):
would know. And after she passed, a neighbor had abandoned
their dog, and we didn't know what to do, and
we weren't in a situation where we could keep it.
So we fostered it and tried to find find her
a home. And I did the best I could. Now
I do train dogs and very successfully, but this dog,
(16:33):
there was just something I just could not figure her out.
And so a friend of ours talked about this, this
pet psychic, and I'm really skeptical. I don't believe in
the free through that kind of stuff. And she just
kept at it and kept at it, and finally she said,
I'll tell you what. I'll gift you a session. You've
got to talk to her. And it was an It
(16:56):
was a surreal experience, and the information we got from
her really helped me deal with this dog. We found
out she had the doggy equivalent of being on the
autism spectrum. I tutor autistic kids. I know how to
handle that. And once I understood what was going on,
you know, we started our our systems and our routines
(17:17):
and then she kind of flourished at that point. And
you know, right down to changing her name, she acted
like her name was a swear word. She wouldn't come
to her name. And this, lady simple, it's because the
person who had her before didn't treat her good and
that name is associated with that. She needs a more
powerful name, she needs a name that she's proud of.
So we named her after Greek goddess I think it was.
(17:39):
And you know, just she blossomed and has just made
it so much easier to place her because I don't
think we would have been able to. People would have
just thought she was dumb. And she wasn't dumb, but
boy was she frustrating.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
But that was the real And I was also very
skeptical and I and I and I understand. I think
that animal telepathy, animal communication can absolutely transform and animals
relationship with humans and yes versa. And if we can
(18:19):
reach a deeper level of understanding of one another, then
we can then we can really have a meaningful relationship
and alleviate frustrations for example, Yeah, with medical issues all
manner of things.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, and that was that was the most surreal thing
about that, And I do want you to elaborate about
the phone thing, because that was the thing that I
was like.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Really, you didn't meet her in person. Yeah, she was
totally accurate in per se right.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
And the first thing this one said, the first one,
this one thing one said was I had always fed
Abby lamb and pumpkin. And she said, no, you can't
feed her lamb. You can't feed her chicken, and you
can't feed her lamb. I changed her diet, different dog.
And how would you know that over the phone.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Nothing to do with the phone. That telepathy doesn't need
a phone or a skype or or or anything like that,
because it's an energetic transmission. So it's if it's thought
to thought, then it doesn't it doesn't need all of that.
It's only us. We don't have that capacity like the
(19:30):
animals have, so we need these tools. So maybe it
seemed a little primitive to Brady, this skype business.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
But you said he did not he did not like
communicating be a skype. You mentioned that.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
No, no, he didn't like it at all. My eye
was in Turkey and my father thought it would be
an excellent idea for Brady to be able to see
me and when he realized that it was fake and
I wasn't really there and he could see my voice,
he couldn't touch me, he was He was very disturbed
by that, so it really flummixed him. And then Dad
(20:07):
was like, this is too upsetting for Brady. We cannot
skype again with him. And it was like, ah, fine,
that's fine. So when I ended, when Debbie taught me
to send a mental postcard to Brady, so I would
try to send him images and love and and that
(20:28):
was my form of communicating with him if I was away,
rather than doing the skype.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Well, and this goes all the way back to the
beginning with the training. He was sending you something because
you came early, you felt you knew. You didn't even
know that you knew, you just did, and he had
already established that connection. You just didn't recognize it for
what it was. So being graced with with that that
(20:56):
realization later probably just strengthened strengthened that bond so much more.
And like I said, I'm still a little on the
skeptical freo through side, but having experienced it firsthand, and
it's not like it's this huge expensive endeavor like we
do with humans. I mean, we set them up for
thousands of dollars an hour for years and years and years,
(21:17):
and sometimes make progress and sometimes don't. This situation was
she keyed into this dog within minutes and made life
changing discoveries and I was blown away. And I'm not
that easily persuaded. So so how did you even find
out about her?
Speaker 3 (21:36):
It was just through an acquaintance who had who had
told me that she had worked with her extensively. Of course,
being the skeptic academic that I am, I rejected it immediately,
but I was, I was, I was so curious and
I am eager to know Brady on a more profound
(21:57):
level that I thought, it's okay to be skeptical, but
you can at least try it and then decide. And
a true academic skeptic wouldn't just outright reject something. So
there's the whole Pagelian process of desy, yes, write antithesis
and reaching a dialectic. And so in that regard, when
(22:19):
I had the conversation with the initial conversation with Debbie,
as I do write in the book, that it was
immediately clear that she was speaking with Radie. It was
his tone it was his energy, even the things he
was bored with some of my questions because I was asking,
I was trying to tell her things that I had
(22:41):
already communicated to him, you know, tell. I wouldn't have
used the word telepathically at the time, but I would
tell him, Okay, so we're going to Vermont to see
your grandparents. And so I told that to Debbie. I said, well,
you could tell him that soon we're going to Vermon.
He loved going to Vermont, and he said, well, this
(23:04):
is kind of boring because Michelle is saying things that
she's already told me. So let's talk about something more interesting.
Oh wow, instant And that was so that was just
so brady. So it was. But what really clinched it
for me in that initial conversation was that Debbie also
(23:26):
conducted body scans with the dogs she communicated with, and
that he indicated that his lower lumbar and they were
very precise about which part of lumbar it was, I
think L four or something, and she encouraged me to
take him to see an animal chiropractor. So I was
(23:48):
able to do that that afternoon, And of course I
didn't mention that I had talked to an animal communicator.
So I went in and she scanned him right away
his spine and she said, always lower lumbar I think
it was L four was out and I just, I
really I I just was staring at her and I thought, Okay,
(24:12):
yes this I knew the but yeah, I really confirmed it.
And then the rest of Brady's life things got things
got very deep and very intense, and we talked to
Debbie a lot, and she was really instrumental in She
was really instrumental in Brady's medical journey from that point on.
(24:39):
And I would even say in this in this profound
almost psychological, spiritual journey that Brady and I were on together.
So that that's complicated for our interview, but I hope
that our fads will be interested in learning about that
and then maybe seeing how they could be on their
(25:01):
own journey with their animals.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Well I will. I will say on the side that
Debbie has her own website and she does offer her
services by email, by phone, personal appointments.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Should bring her on the show, frankly.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
A little bit. Oh, I wish that she would. She
is absolutely remarkable and she's very she's very approachable, she's
very down to earth. I do write about Insulmate Dog
that I did her training and that I felt like
I could speak the language of dog on a sort
of intermediate level. And I think every dog is different.
(25:40):
Brady oh loved to talk my current dog, Genji. He's
more of an observer. He's not very catty. So I
think that you know, the level that each dog is
going to communicate too, is or animal, Any animal is
going to be different.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
But but Debbie.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
If I was on the intermediate level, she was, you know,
the master level. And she keeps saying too that it's
like it's like working out to you just build this muscle.
The more that you keep communicating and so and so
she is. She's very accessible and she she just helps
(26:20):
so many people and animals. I love her work. I
love what she does. I really do hope that you
would have her on your show. She I think she
would be great.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
We'll give it a shot. Yeah, one more thing and
then we'll move back onto your book. I really appreciate
that you and her talked about how it's something you
can learn and that that from me, took it from
the fu fu. You know, I was born with this talent.
I see dead people realm into me. No, this is
a skill. This is a talent. You can teach it,
you can learn it that once it became tangible. Okay,
(26:55):
I'm a little bit more on board now I'm not so,
you know, talking to the Jamaican lady on the phone,
you know, getting my tea leaves red. Now, now it's
an absolute skill.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Yes, I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
All the cliches, all right, So moving on with the
story of you and Brady. So Jim has all the questions.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Did you did point out something very interesting that I
didn't give a whole lot of thought to before we
move on?
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Excuse me, in a little of Texas, I'm going to
kill a scorpion. I'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
While she's doing.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
That's literally crawling on my legype.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Humans have seventy thousand thoughts going through their head every day,
so meditation is a good way to filter and calm yourself.
And this is something you used a lot in your
journey with Brady as well as just in your everyday life.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Yes, yes, and I do think that meditation is helpful
in learning the tools of animal communication, because you really
need to quiet your mind to be able to tune
into the radio station of your animal, your the frequency
that your animal is community communicating on. And I think that,
(28:14):
you know, always being distracted with our phones is a
way to take us out of that realm and farther
away from that possibility, further away from that possibility. So
I think that meditating helps to quite the mind and
allows you to be able to tune in and listen
(28:38):
when your animal is speaking. I think that's a very
important part.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
It does help to calm the inner critic and the
inner cynic and all of that as well.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
So, yeah, it's you know what, it's funny is a
lot of I can't believe I just did all that
without screaming. There was literally a scorpion crawling.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Up my leg and some prows seemed normal to me too,
that you are.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Yeah, I think that was anyways.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
And cats are really really good at that when you
can just have that moment where you just kind of
do that blinking thing and that calms me. With dogs,
there are tactics that you can use the dogs that
I have literally used on my husband, and you know,
just when you look them in the eyes and you
(29:27):
rub their ears and you get them to calm down.
I've literally done that with my husband and it works.
Some of the meditation techniques that if you are with
your dog at the time. And I love seeing those
videos of dogs doing yoga with with their with their parents,
and you know, they always cute and funny, but it
(29:49):
just seems so natural for a dog to do that
and and to mimic that and to want to share
in that experience it and it is like a shared meditation,
so and good good practice because people resort to drugs
so much, and I think social media has become a
(30:10):
drug as well, and we need to I mean that
the joke online is go touch grass, but it's so true.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Yeah. Actually I found that in them when I would meditate,
it would also Reddy would give out this sigh and
he would just go into that realm with me too,
and it just it really helps to quiet the mind,
to be able to hear each other. So yeah, that
was an important part of it for me.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Well, you go on vacation with Brady, it's just a
you having a good time splashing around in the water,
and then something, a life changing event happens for our
young friend and mh, this is where things to take
a turn. Because this turned into a long hospital stay,
(31:08):
really expensive treatment. Would you mind talking about that for
just a bit and filling filling in our listeners with
what went down?
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Yes, I would, I would. I will try to keep
it brief so that they can read the book and experience,
of course it for for themselves, but of course, but yes, Brady,
who was a very very healthy dog, contracted leptos for
roses and it came on very suddenly, very frightened, in
(31:43):
a very frightening way. And and and yes he he
he experienced kidney failure and needed to stay in the
emergency hospital to undergo around the clock tree bents. And
so for me, this was an initial reason why I
(32:05):
wanted to write the book, because I believed in his recovery.
He believed in his recovery. Debbie McGillivray was very supportive.
We had a team of emergency veterinary surgeons as well
as our holistic vets and my family and friends. If
(32:27):
you want to talk about community, I pulled. I went
to everybody. I was not afraid to ask for help
from anyone, if they would meditate, if they would whatever
it was. And so when Brady did have his miraculous recovery.
The reason I was so interested in writing Soulmate Dog
(32:49):
was was that several vets had said to me, Brady's
a miracle dog, and you need to write about this.
People need to know that they can save their dogs,
that kidney failure is not a death sentence, right, And
so that that was a driving factor because I like,
I like to be able to help people. I like
(33:11):
to be able to offer something that's concrete and tangible,
and I felt like that could help a lot of
people to save their save their animals.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Yeah, I think you're right. I think this book would
help a lot of people. I hope we can get
the word out for you, because it is an amazing
journey you've taken. We've only we've only scraped the surface.
But once again, community comes into play. After he was released,
(33:41):
Team Brady as we call him, helped while you went
on vacation. They took care of the dog while you
were away, and that just that, that part of the
story just moves me because it's so hard to find
community these days. You can live somewhere for years and
(34:02):
years and not even know your neighbor's first name anymore.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
It's so true it's so true. And here in Switzerland
we have this little community where my dog runs free
and he goes to visit different people, and I've gotten
to know people because they say, oh, your dog has
come to see me and they're walking by, and or
(34:26):
other neighbors who will just put out a water bowl
for him and then we So I feel like there's
a way that our animals can can bring the humans
together too, because they're friendly and outgoing, and there are
so many different ways that that that can be done.
(34:46):
But yeah, I do feel like we are lacking community
and it's harder to find it, and and I think
that our our animal friends also encourage that. I think
the animals do bring out the best in the humans.
I think.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
I think you're absolutely right. I can't. I don't understand
the mentality of people who refuse to have pets or
think they're you know, they're awful or whatever, because I
have I do know people who are like that. I
don't quite get it.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
I don't like to judge people in first impressions, but
there is an inherent distrust that instantly arises when somebody says, oh,
I don't like entire species of animal.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
It's like because because a dog bit them when they
were Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Okay, that doesn't mean a golden yeah. And imagine if
we were that bigoted towards humans. I mean, that isn't
that isn't just a race, that is an entire species.
I mean that's insane, you know, And but what can
you do? And you can't say that to their face,
(35:55):
although i'd like to. I want to divert a little
bit into your writing process. And I mean, you have
a PhD in literature, for crying out loud, and I
just want folks to understand that if you pick up
this book, you're going to get kind of a lyrical
treat and I just want to read since we're on
(36:19):
this area. I don't know, it's a little bit painful,
but just the way you wrote this get you are
literally in the book and you just want to continue reading.
So I just want to give a tiny, tiny little
taste for readers so that it's not just about the
story and the journey, which is fantastic, but it's also
the actual writing style, which only you could do this
(36:44):
because I wrote a book kind of about my dog too,
but it was more of a networking book. It's called
nose to nose networking, and it takes the canine experience,
it translates it into humans so that people can can
use it. And I've been thinking ever since the pandemic
of doing it second version of that for just how
to make friends, because I don't think people know how
to do it anymore, and dogs do it so easily.
(37:07):
So I want to read this just a tiny little
bit here talking about how this started and going from
it's from your chapter from a five star vacation to
a five star hospital, and how you opened this chapter
when Brady collapsed into a lethargic keep of feverish black
and cinnamon fur, looking nothing like the vicious German shepherd
I knew so well. I'm sorry, vicious, vivaciousious, vivacious. Why
(37:30):
did I say vicious vivacious not vicious? Okay? I raced
him to the emergency veterinary hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, trying
to reach the speed of light. The late summer sun
bore down on us that Sunday afternoon as I carried
him to the back seat of my car. As we
took off, swiftly words I had written in my journal
(37:50):
earlier that summer haunted my fraught mind, my greatest fear
is losing Brady. It's almost like you knew it was happening.
And then later on in the chapter, I think the
exact words were or we shall go, puppy stay, and
that you just had to get yourself when they told
you that you couldn't stay. I know that feeling, and
you had to just go all the way down to
(38:12):
baby talk yourself to get yourself out of that situation.
And it just was such a wonderful contrast going from
just the beautiful metaphors and the way that you know
you brought us into the book down to we shall go,
puppy stay and having to say that to get yourself
out of the room. So tell us a little bit
about this writing process. First of all, how long did
(38:35):
it take and was it like a cathartic experience? Did
you cry a lot?
Speaker 3 (38:40):
It's interesting you just read that and I started to crush.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
I'm so sorry, I knew you.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
Sorry, Sorry, Yeah, thank you, thank you very much. There
are parts of Soul Night Dog that that do still
make me cry, to make me laugh too, but but yes,
so the writing, thank you, thank you for acknowledging my
my my writing it is my deep passion to express
(39:10):
the express the primarial thought or description that that that
I want to convey, and I don't I don't know
how to explain that. I frequently feel like there's a
muse with me, and I just I've all I've loved
(39:30):
words my entire life. I I loved learning to read
when I was a child. I love to play with words.
I love to I love it when I can play
with words and put them together in a way that's
really conveying the core of of what I would want
(39:51):
to express. And so they they sometimes they just come,
they just come to me, and I'm so delighted that
they've come and that they they work well in the context.
And it took me a very long time to write
Sulmate Dog because because I was sick with lime disease
(40:15):
for a lot of the time that I was trying
to write Sulmate Dog. And then I had this miraculous
recovery myself. So it's sort of ironic that I have
written two medical memoirs, and one is about my recovery
from lime disease, Starving to heal in Siberia, my radical
recovery from land stage lime disease, and so everything that
(40:36):
I wrote while I was sick with lime disease. When
I recovered and I went back to read my manuscript,
I was like, there were just it wasn't me. It
wasn't me, it was sick me writing it. And so
there were things that just didn't work because I had
this intense brain fall for so long. And so I
(40:59):
then went through the process of going through it again
and and then things came together beautifully. But all in
I would say that this book took me about ten
years from the time I started writing it to the
(41:19):
time that it came out in June.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
So My Dog truly a labor of love.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Yeah, a labor of love. If I had been well,
it wouldn't have taken so long. Sure, So from from
the time that I recovered from lime disease myself and
and then and then went into the writing full time,
then then it went. It went. It went very smoothly,
although I did also work with my editor, who made
(41:50):
some suggestions about the sequence and adding in the grief
portion that we we we touched on in the beginning
of or Time Together. My editor felt that it was
important to discuss my early experiences with grief so that
the reader would understand my plar relationship with it, and
(42:13):
that that was that was a very that was a
very difficult part to write about. But again I felt
that it also would enhance the reader's experience, and I
felt that I had something to offer about how to
process grief. And so there were times when I was
writing the parts on grief in Soulmate Dog and I
(42:37):
was I was close to the ocean, which never happens
to me. I was just close to the ocean at
that time, and it was and it was cold, and
I would be writing, writing, writing, and then I just
I emotionally couldn't take it anymore, and I would run
to the ocean. I would just go swimming, noo, just
(43:00):
to just shake it.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Yeah, yeah, repelicans.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Basically it was very powerful. So when I get into
the book, it's like I'm living inside of it, and
and it does, it does get intense. But I felt
that the book deserved it and the reader deserved it,
and I again I felt like I had something to
contribute in regards to grief in that way, and so
(43:29):
I I put aside how intense it was for me
to write about it, so that I would be able
to make that contribution.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
It made it real. It made it real.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Yeah, and this is the type of book that I
would recommend gifting to someone who is going through that.
And quick question, do you think that the fever writing
the fog brain writing? Do you think there were parts
that you got out of that that you wouldn't have
gotten otherwise? Then a lot of it probably didn't make sense,
(44:06):
But was there some things in there that you're like, Oh,
I probably wouldn't have written that. Had I been well,
I probably wouldn't have thought of that.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
I wouldn't say that necessarily, but I would say that
I wasn't all was not lost. I was absolutely I
was absolutely able to salvage a lot of things. And
so I wouldn't say that it was it was a
completely lost effort. I would say that I'm such an optimist.
(44:35):
I'm always looking for the optimistic angle there, and on
that one I just pointed at me, I would I
would love to have to be able to say that,
but I can't.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
I call that sitting in your splat, when you just
go splat and you're sitting there going your choice is
to sit there and you know, whine and cry and
why me, or to get up and you know, get
out of your splat. And so you were, you were
in a splat, but you were still Do you think
the writing helped you get well? On top of all
(45:09):
the other things, the meditation and all the things.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
I do not think that the writing helped me get well.
I think the very specific protocol that embarked on and
which is also pretty far out there in Siberia, that's
that's what got me.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Well, Like literally in Siberia, we're we're not being metaphor
literally in Siberia.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
Yes, yes, and it's and it saved my life. And then,
you know, I didn't think that you could overcome brain
fog and get your memory back. And then and then boom,
I recovered and I and I and I wrote four books.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
And so I do want to read that book because
I just.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
I came on I came on fire. But I think
that's something that helped me survive being ill, was that
I kept trying to write.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
I kept trying to.
Speaker 3 (46:02):
Live my passions and make a contribution because I feel
like I can't live without making a contribution to other people,
other animals, and and so I kept trying. I never
gave up.
Speaker 2 (46:17):
So yeah, and a weaker person would have. In fact,
they might have even used that as an excuse to
carry on with their give upedness. Coin you really persisted,
You really persisted. And you know Brady had that same spirit.
He had that same persistence. I think that's why you
guys spoke to each other so well.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Yes he did. He was he was a fighter. I
was a fighter. We also loved each other so deeply
that we were both fighting to also still be with
each other. I believe that so deeply, and I think
that the animal communication is helpful in that regard to
(47:01):
so if people are interested to to just enhance the
deep love that they already have with their animals, it
is it is absolutely life changing to be able to
have that deeper level of expression and and help one another.
So it did. It did help us. But yes, he
was a fighter and I was going to fight for him.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
You did.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
You lived for quite a good long time after the
recovery too, so that that's that's a blessing.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
Yes, it is a blessing. And you know, German shepherds,
the larger dogs just don't live as long as some
of some of the other dogs, so I was, I'm
I'm I'm grateful for the rest of my life that
we had the time that we did, and it was
so high quality. You know, I don't usually get teary eyed.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
I'm sorry, I'm sorry spoke to me.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
No, and I and I have said that. So My
Dog will always be the most meaningful book that I
will ever write. So it is. It is very close
to my heart, and I'm I'm delighted that I was
able to share it. And and of course it's it's
(48:17):
going to produce produce emotions in me because I there
there are important topics for me to share.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
Absolutely, Yeah, I guess we'll just bring it back. And
after you had another three years with Brady and all
that went down, and you know, he moved on, you continues,
The book.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
Doesn't end with his passing. Yeah, which is a nice change.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
I appreciate that. And the dog died the end. But no, no,
you you literally took it one step further.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
You went on something I would never have done even
when I was younger. It's up to you how much
you want to share about it. But you went on
a hike.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
That's an understatement.
Speaker 3 (49:09):
Miraculous in itself, because you know it was I was not.
I was not a well person. I just I I
have lifelong mountaineering skills. I used to be a mountaineering guide.
And the way I process grief for me is to
I walk it off. I have to. I have to.
(49:29):
I have to walk and think and process and that
that helps me tremendously and and and and again. Grief
is such an important aspect of love. And I did
not want to leave my reader there as I have
myself struggled with so many books about a beloved animal
(49:49):
and then it ends, and then your lapt grieving mm
hm and and I and I wanted to walk the
reader through my messy process of grief that was in
some very raw writing. And I shared journal entries and
I somehow found this adrenaline to go on this journey
(50:12):
to Patagoniam with my backpack and stay in my tent
and bring you know, a journal, and and just really
I needed an expanse of space to really contemplate the
profound experiences love loss.
Speaker 5 (50:33):
That that that I that I shared with with Brady,
and it was a very important part of my journey
and I think it was even important part of me
writing soulmate dog.
Speaker 3 (50:44):
It added such a rich element and and it deepened
my my thought process on it, and I kind of
and I kept I kept continuing to communicate telepathically with
Brat in spirit after.
Speaker 2 (51:01):
After after I was going to ask you about that
if if you still had that connection, because I feel
like that would just never be broken.
Speaker 3 (51:09):
Absolutely, yes, and and even and I do I do
share this and I I I name it a coda
of soulmate Dog that I was just looking out at
the expanse of Patagoniam one day and those mountains that
continued to be so stunning in my mind, and I
(51:32):
really distinctly heard him say that this this trip was
for me, that I deserved doing something beautiful after everything
that I did for him. And I would not come
up with that on my own. I don't think like that.
So it was it was endearing to hear his his
(51:52):
loot just come to me like that. But but yes,
I I that is that is another aspect that is
important to me. That is being able to process grief
for your animal companion who you love so much.
Speaker 2 (52:10):
Yeah, yes, wow, So I think we could talk to
you for another two hours, but I'm not going to
do that to you. Let's go ahead and wrap this
up by first of all, get the book. All the
links will be on our website. Remind people where they
can find you, and what are you doing on Instagram
(52:31):
and TikTok these days? What kind of things can they
find there?
Speaker 5 (52:35):
Well?
Speaker 3 (52:35):
I do share. I do share animal related posts, I
share about my books and different quotes from my books.
Also I share. I like to also share quotes about writing,
or my own thoughts about writing, or a little bit
(52:57):
of my life. I'm out hiking in Switzerland frequently with
my dog, and so sometimes I'll just share, you know,
mountain pictures out with my dog. I'm very healthy now
that I have recovered from from lime disease. You look amazing,
Thank you, And I'm you know, and I'm I'm still
(53:19):
I'm still writing. I have another book coming out in March,
the Lunatic novel that actually features a dog, a dog
who has this intuitive sense of being able to communicate
with its humans. So I'll be sharing on Instagram and
TikTok a little bit more about that. I'm the process
of writing another novel right now, so I don't like
(53:41):
to share too much while I'm in the process. Of writing.
But i'll you know, something a little here and there.
Speaker 2 (53:48):
Well, when that's ready, send it forward. We will shamelessly
plug that one and have you back on for sure
so much. Yeah, yeah, this was quite the ride. It's
it's not I'm not going to say it's an easy read.
It's not easy. It's enjoyable, you do. Yeah, it is rewarding.
You learn a lot about communication and a lot about yourself.
(54:11):
So I would call it more of a journey and
encourage folks to just get a nice quiet place, a
cup of tea, and you know, buckle up. Well, Michelle,
it's been a complete joy, Jim, do you have any
any last words?
Speaker 1 (54:26):
Just absolute pleasure talking to you, and I like your book.
I look forward to reading more of your work.
Speaker 3 (54:33):
Thank you so much for having me and being so generous.
I really enjoyed your questions are conversation, and I'm grateful
to be on your show.
Speaker 2 (54:48):
All right, Well, you've been a delight, so we look
forward to having you back again. Is there anything else
you would like our listeners to know before we release
you into the beautiful mountains that are.
Speaker 3 (55:01):
I don't, I just I just you know, I hope
that they will consider reading Soulmate Dog and being open
to the beauty that can be enhanced between humans and animals,
the beautiful relationship.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
Just go look your dog or your cat in the
eyes and think about what we said here today and
then read our book. All right, you have an amazing,
amazing day, and thanks again for being on our show.
Speaker 4 (55:32):
Thank you you too.
Speaker 3 (55:46):
Wow.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome, welcome, welcome. I Oh, there's so many things to
talk about, and of course you've got the amazing view
behind you as well. So before we get started, let's
give our listeners where they can find you on the
interwebs and how they can find your book.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well, Jim and Melanie, thank you so much for having me,
and I'm delighted to be here with you, and you
can find me on Michellslider dot com on my Instagram
account mishall be Slater. I also have a TikTok account
with the same name, and you can order the book.
It's available anywhere that books are sold, and there you go.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
We will have all of those links on our website,
counterculturewise dot com, as well as the live video and
audio version of the interview. Absolutely okay, well, let's get
right on into it. I know Jim's been bursting with questions.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
We've well, I wanted to say firstly that you hold
a PhD in French literature from John Hopkins University. That
is no small feat. Congratulations on that. Very welcome. So
I really enjoyed your book. I want to say that
right from the get go, it opened my eyes and
(01:30):
my mind to some things that I was only maybe
just on the surface aware of it. Get right to
the beginning. It sets the stage for the main story.
At the beginning of the book, you lost your mother
and your beloved German shepherd Joy within a very short
period of time of each other. So it's a.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Great name for a German shepherd. Yeah, they go for
something a little bit more strict sounding.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah, I love it. I grew up with one named Fritz,
the obvious, the stereotype auto or whatever.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Well, she had a lot of joy to our family,
and that was, you know, how my mother wanted to
name herself.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
It was very appropriate, absolutely, And I love your story
about how you wanted a puppy and went about that.
So really sweet. Folks are gonna have to buy the books.
I'm not going to give too much away because you
do want it. You want to immerse yourself in.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
It, right right, It's it's a good read. So enter
Our friend Brady is named after Tom Brady, the football player.
I'm a Seahawks fan, so I'm not going to hold
it against.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
You, but it was still still the goat though. You
got to hand it to me.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
He's he's an amazing player, an amazing player. So tell
us what that was, What that was like meeting this
soon to be soulmate dog.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It was it was a supernatural experiences. I think I
put it in Soulmate Dog that I I really felt
like I fell in love with this puppy at first sight.
And I'm very reserved, I'm very skeptical. I don't go
giving my heart away easily. And this puppy and I
had a bonding experience without even really knowing who the
(03:25):
other was. And so I just I was. I was
so convinced that this was the one dog and and
and and it was just like that. And from so
from that moment on, I made a commitment to Brady
to to care for him as I would for myself,
(03:46):
and to spend time with him and be with him
and get to know him, and and and and he
became this central figure in my life. And then I
wanted to know more and more and more about him.
What led me on this journey, Insoli dog.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
It's it is quite a journey. It wasn't without its
bumps and bruises on the way. Though you speak of
an experience with Shults end Breaders, I'm using the quality
mark fingers for a reason. It took a bit out
(04:25):
of the boy, but he came back around, which was
good he did.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
That remains that remains to be a top regret of
my life with sending him to that training. I didn't
understand what it entailed, and I'm very grateful that he
was able to come back from that PTSD that he
came home with. But it was it was an informative experience,
(04:52):
and it really ultimately led me, ultimately led me to
my greater understanding of what his capacities were. Right.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I don't I think we underestimate our pets in general,
you know, even if if we don't have that kind
of spiritual bond that can be very I think we
limit our pets, you know, in a lot of ways.
Just for those of you who aren't familiar with this
type of training, the the she I'll just give a
(05:26):
brief synopsis. I don't want to blow the book. But
you had a suspicion that things weren't going quite the
way they were supposed to, so you arrived early to
pick the dog up and experienced one of the trainers
being very abusive towards the dog, yelling at it, beating it,
(05:46):
that that kind of thing absolutely one and eighty degrees
from what you were trying to accomplish.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
We accidentally sent your dog to military school.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Equivalence, exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yeah, it's actually still pain well to hear you recount.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
That, I'm sure it is. I'm sorry, but it's important.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
And I I just, I just I would encourage your
listeners to research a new training programs a bit better
than I did. I I was. I was convinced that
it was going to enhance his natural abilities and that
it would be pallenge for him, even an athletic challenge,
(06:30):
and he he was so smart, as are German shepherds,
and so I thought that it would be an intellectual
challenge for him, if you will. But I yeah, so
I I did. I did experience quite a shock to
see what the conditions were and that they I never
(06:50):
gave him anything but unconditional love, and that's sure the
fear he had been raised and and I'm anti violence
all the way. So so yes, that that was. We
absolutely had many bumps along.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
The way, and then there's overcoming I'm sure there was
a sense of guilt too, because you didn't know, and
then when you found out I mean, I would have
taken that very personally, even even though it you know,
it wasn't your fault, you weren't the one doing it
to them, but you still I can kind of tell
just by your eyes that there's still a little bit
of of guilt there. And man, I I can't say
(07:28):
that I wouldn't have retaliated. I can't say that I
would have behaved myself in that situation.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
So I just, I just, I just I just cared
about rescuing that and I would want others to know
about it. So I just caution people before they undertook
training to really research what that entails. Other other than
(07:55):
that it's mostly pain. It's not guilty anymore. It's it's
still good paying that he went through and and that
that's that's that's all that remains really.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
But you fixed it.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
You fixed it, so that's the bond got stronger than ever.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah, And he said he probably forever saw you as
his rescuer. He probably did not make any connection at
all other than moms here to get me.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Oh no, no, I know he didn't. And then that,
I mean, that's the beauty of unconditional love is that
it's accompanied by unconditional forgiveness, and and then we went
back and we went into unconditional love therapy to try
to treat the PTSD, and it really did work. I was,
I was, I was relieved a thousand times over to
(08:42):
see him get his smile back and his confident smile.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
That's cute smile.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah. But then a couple more things started happening. That
happened that actually had you thinking a little bit stronger
about the bond between we humans and animals. It's whether
it be our pets, it could just be other animals.
You see, you got dog, got a stomach bloat, and
(09:11):
then you lost the dog. Talk a little bit more
about that.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yes, So when I was teaching at the University of Wisconsin,
I was well, I was aware of of what stomach
bloat was in barreled dogs, and they did come on
quite quickly. But when you're in it, it does. It did.
(09:37):
It came up very quickly that we were just home
one night to snow and he started acting very strangely
and licking the floor and my my hair and even
trying to eat my hair and and and then kind
of collapsing. And I so I didn't know that it
(09:58):
was stomach blow. But I we raced to the emergency
hospital and his stomach was in the process of of flipping,
as the VET explained it to me, And so I
spent the night there as they as they performed a
surgery on him and were able to correct it and
(10:18):
then through a long healing process. But yes, that was
that was another That was another scare. And I already
knew that I loved Oh, I loved Brady so much.
I was just just sitting there meditating all night, waiting
for him to come out of this, out of this surgery.
(10:38):
And so that, yes, that was that was another very
frightening experience for me. And then to actually lose him
because we I I the boundary, the property boundary with
his invisible fence changed because I had a I had
an ice worm that knocked down an old shed, and
(11:00):
so I was it left this hole and where the
invisible fence was, and he usually stayed right next to me,
and and and somehow he sniffed something and wandered off,
and then all of a sudden he wasn't there right hour.
It took hours. I mobilized the whole neighborhood. People were
(11:22):
out looking for him, and I just I just, I
just I knew I was going to stay out, even
if it was all night long, even it was even
a bit took more than a day, I was I
was not going to go to bed until I found him.
And so fortunately we were graced with this wonderful neighbor
(11:42):
who found him. He was safe at another neighbor's house.
A boy had found him on the road and put
him in the car and drove him to the fire station.
And then these people walking by said, well, we'll take him,
and nobody, nobody, nobody called his BET's number was on
his tag. I then took different measures, and I do
(12:05):
encourage everyone to have their phone number on their dog's collar.
My my dog now has. But but but we found him,
and so it was a very joyful reunion.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
That that leads me to something else that I liked
about your book, and something you brought home more than
once and more than one situation, and that was the
importance of community between your father and your neighbors and
everybody just coming together on multiple occasions. It's just it
(12:46):
brought that home as a big theme for me.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I I'm glad that you brought that up. Jim because
that the community aspect of loving an animal, loving anyone
I think, I think is very important and that we
we all do need help in this world and it's
things things can get complicated, and I think that I
(13:13):
also I also like the word community because I in
saul Nate Dog. It was important for me to share
tips for my readers that I thought would be helpful
to everyone at large. Even one example for that is
is I think the importance of having pet insurance.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
And definitely and if.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Brady had had a pet insurance, wow, I would have
had a different financial situation. I are and and and
now I do have pet insurance, and I and with
my father, I did a lot of research to find
a good one and and and and so it's it's
(14:00):
important to do that. But I just think that we
love our animal companions so much, and we all have
health insurance at least I hope we do. So. I
just I just think that to cover the what if
when yeah goes so terribly wrong. It's just I wanted
(14:20):
to share things like that with my right that people
might not think of when they are when they welcome
a new animal into their lives.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Right well, as we want to find out what you
You and Brady went through some things that no one
would have even thought about having to to confront in life.
One of the most the most important thing for me
about this book, the biggest theme is just that they're
(14:54):
you can develop telepathy between yourself and other animals. Now,
Melanie and I have had a a pet communicator as
a guest on our show before, and so we we
we started to grasp the concept. But then entered Debbie mcgilvy,
(15:17):
who is from everything I've read about her, just she's
amazing animal. I hesitate to use the word psychic, but
when we're going to go ahead and use that to
keep things simple.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
And we foster animals as well, and we had a
foster dog that I just could not get So I
had a very similar experience to you with my Golden
She was my best and dearest friend. She was a
once in a lifetime dog, you know. And we have
(15:51):
a dog now who I adorn and she's great. But
Abby was this is Abby actually she was part of
the show for the longest time, and she she was
once in a lifetime dog and there was a special
understanding there and we could we could well. I taught
her sign language as well, so later on when she
went deaf, that actually worked out. But we had this
thing where we could just make eye contact and we
(16:12):
would know. And after she passed, a neighbor had abandoned
their dog, and we didn't know what to do, and
we weren't in a situation where we could keep it.
So we fostered it and tried to find find her
a home. And I did the best I could. Now
I do train dogs and very successfully, but this dog,
(16:33):
there was just something I just could not figure her out.
And so a friend of ours talked about this, this
pet psychic, and I'm really skeptical. I don't believe in
the free through that kind of stuff. And she just
kept at it and kept at it, and finally she said,
I'll tell you what. I'll gift you a session. You've
got to talk to her. And it was an It
(16:56):
was a surreal experience, and the information we got from
her really helped me deal with this dog. We found
out she had the doggy equivalent of being on the
autism spectrum. I tutor autistic kids. I know how to
handle that. And once I understood what was going on,
you know, we started our our systems and our routines
(17:17):
and then she kind of flourished at that point. And
you know, right down to changing her name, she acted
like her name was a swear word. She wouldn't come
to her name. And this, lady simple, it's because the
person who had her before didn't treat her good and
that name is associated with that. She needs a more
powerful name, she needs a name that she's proud of.
So we named her after Greek goddess I think it was.
(17:39):
And you know, just she blossomed and has just made
it so much easier to place her because I don't
think we would have been able to. People would have
just thought she was dumb. And she wasn't dumb, but
boy was she frustrating.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
But that was the real And I was also very
skeptical and I and I and I understand. I think
that animal telepathy, animal communication can absolutely transform and animals
relationship with humans and yes versa. And if we can
(18:19):
reach a deeper level of understanding of one another, then
we can then we can really have a meaningful relationship
and alleviate frustrations for example, Yeah, with medical issues all
manner of things.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, and that was that was the most surreal thing
about that, And I do want you to elaborate about
the phone thing, because that was the thing that I
was like.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Really, you didn't meet her in person. Yeah, she was
totally accurate in per se right.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
And the first thing this one said, the first one,
this one thing one said was I had always fed
Abby lamb and pumpkin. And she said, no, you can't
feed her lamb. You can't feed her chicken, and you
can't feed her lamb. I changed her diet, different dog.
And how would you know that over the phone.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Nothing to do with the phone. That telepathy doesn't need
a phone or a skype or or or anything like that,
because it's an energetic transmission. So it's if it's thought
to thought, then it doesn't it doesn't need all of that.
It's only us. We don't have that capacity like the
(19:30):
animals have, so we need these tools. So maybe it
seemed a little primitive to Brady, this skype business.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
But you said he did not he did not like
communicating be a skype. You mentioned that.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
No, no, he didn't like it at all. My eye
was in Turkey and my father thought it would be
an excellent idea for Brady to be able to see
me and when he realized that it was fake and
I wasn't really there and he could see my voice,
he couldn't touch me, he was He was very disturbed
by that, so it really flummixed him. And then Dad
(20:07):
was like, this is too upsetting for Brady. We cannot
skype again with him. And it was like, ah, fine,
that's fine. So when I ended, when Debbie taught me
to send a mental postcard to Brady, so I would
try to send him images and love and and that
(20:28):
was my form of communicating with him if I was away,
rather than doing the skype.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Well, and this goes all the way back to the
beginning with the training. He was sending you something because
you came early, you felt you knew. You didn't even
know that you knew, you just did, and he had
already established that connection. You just didn't recognize it for
what it was. So being graced with with that that
(20:56):
realization later probably just strengthened strengthened that bond so much more.
And like I said, I'm still a little on the
skeptical freo through side, but having experienced it firsthand, and
it's not like it's this huge expensive endeavor like we
do with humans. I mean, we set them up for
thousands of dollars an hour for years and years and years,
(21:17):
and sometimes make progress and sometimes don't. This situation was
she keyed into this dog within minutes and made life
changing discoveries and I was blown away. And I'm not
that easily persuaded. So so how did you even find
out about her?
Speaker 3 (21:36):
It was just through an acquaintance who had who had
told me that she had worked with her extensively. Of course,
being the skeptic academic that I am, I rejected it immediately,
but I was, I was, I was so curious and
I am eager to know Brady on a more profound
(21:57):
level that I thought, it's okay to be skeptical, but
you can at least try it and then decide. And
a true academic skeptic wouldn't just outright reject something. So
there's the whole Pagelian process of desy, yes, write antithesis
and reaching a dialectic. And so in that regard, when
(22:19):
I had the conversation with the initial conversation with Debbie,
as I do write in the book, that it was
immediately clear that she was speaking with Radie. It was
his tone it was his energy, even the things he
was bored with some of my questions because I was asking,
I was trying to tell her things that I had
(22:41):
already communicated to him, you know, tell. I wouldn't have
used the word telepathically at the time, but I would
tell him, Okay, so we're going to Vermont to see
your grandparents. And so I told that to Debbie. I said, well,
you could tell him that soon we're going to Vermon.
He loved going to Vermont, and he said, well, this
(23:04):
is kind of boring because Michelle is saying things that
she's already told me. So let's talk about something more interesting.
Oh wow, instant And that was so that was just
so brady. So it was. But what really clinched it
for me in that initial conversation was that Debbie also
(23:26):
conducted body scans with the dogs she communicated with, and
that he indicated that his lower lumbar and they were
very precise about which part of lumbar it was, I
think L four or something, and she encouraged me to
take him to see an animal chiropractor. So I was
(23:48):
able to do that that afternoon, And of course I
didn't mention that I had talked to an animal communicator.
So I went in and she scanned him right away
his spine and she said, always lower lumbar I think
it was L four was out and I just, I
really I I just was staring at her and I thought, Okay,
(24:12):
yes this I knew the but yeah, I really confirmed it.
And then the rest of Brady's life things got things
got very deep and very intense, and we talked to
Debbie a lot, and she was really instrumental in She
was really instrumental in Brady's medical journey from that point on.
(24:39):
And I would even say in this in this profound
almost psychological, spiritual journey that Brady and I were on together.
So that that's complicated for our interview, but I hope
that our fads will be interested in learning about that
and then maybe seeing how they could be on their
(25:01):
own journey with their animals.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Well I will. I will say on the side that
Debbie has her own website and she does offer her
services by email, by phone, personal appointments.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Should bring her on the show, frankly.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
A little bit. Oh, I wish that she would. She
is absolutely remarkable and she's very she's very approachable, she's
very down to earth. I do write about Insulmate Dog
that I did her training and that I felt like
I could speak the language of dog on a sort
of intermediate level. And I think every dog is different.
(25:40):
Brady oh loved to talk my current dog, Genji. He's
more of an observer. He's not very catty. So I
think that you know, the level that each dog is
going to communicate too, is or animal, Any animal is
going to be different.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
But but Debbie.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
If I was on the intermediate level, she was, you know,
the master level. And she keeps saying too that it's
like it's like working out to you just build this muscle.
The more that you keep communicating and so and so
she is. She's very accessible and she she just helps
(26:20):
so many people and animals. I love her work. I
love what she does. I really do hope that you
would have her on your show. She I think she
would be great.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
We'll give it a shot. Yeah, one more thing and
then we'll move back onto your book. I really appreciate
that you and her talked about how it's something you
can learn and that that from me, took it from
the fu fu. You know, I was born with this talent.
I see dead people realm into me. No, this is
a skill. This is a talent. You can teach it,
you can learn it that once it became tangible. Okay,
(26:55):
I'm a little bit more on board now I'm not so,
you know, talking to the Jamaican lady on the phone,
you know, getting my tea leaves red. Now, now it's
an absolute skill.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Yes, I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
All the cliches, all right, So moving on with the
story of you and Brady. So Jim has all the questions.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Did you did point out something very interesting that I
didn't give a whole lot of thought to before we
move on?
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Excuse me, in a little of Texas, I'm going to
kill a scorpion. I'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
While she's doing.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
That's literally crawling on my legype.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Humans have seventy thousand thoughts going through their head every day,
so meditation is a good way to filter and calm yourself.
And this is something you used a lot in your
journey with Brady as well as just in your everyday life.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Yes, yes, and I do think that meditation is helpful
in learning the tools of animal communication, because you really
need to quiet your mind to be able to tune
into the radio station of your animal, your the frequency
that your animal is community communicating on. And I think that,
(28:14):
you know, always being distracted with our phones is a
way to take us out of that realm and farther
away from that possibility, further away from that possibility. So
I think that meditating helps to quite the mind and
allows you to be able to tune in and listen
(28:38):
when your animal is speaking. I think that's a very
important part.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
It does help to calm the inner critic and the
inner cynic and all of that as well.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
So, yeah, it's you know what, it's funny is a
lot of I can't believe I just did all that
without screaming. There was literally a scorpion crawling.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Up my leg and some prows seemed normal to me too,
that you are.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Yeah, I think that was anyways.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
And cats are really really good at that when you
can just have that moment where you just kind of
do that blinking thing and that calms me. With dogs,
there are tactics that you can use the dogs that
I have literally used on my husband, and you know,
just when you look them in the eyes and you
(29:27):
rub their ears and you get them to calm down.
I've literally done that with my husband and it works.
Some of the meditation techniques that if you are with
your dog at the time. And I love seeing those
videos of dogs doing yoga with with their with their parents,
and you know, they always cute and funny, but it
(29:49):
just seems so natural for a dog to do that
and and to mimic that and to want to share
in that experience it and it is like a shared meditation,
so and good good practice because people resort to drugs
so much, and I think social media has become a
(30:10):
drug as well, and we need to I mean that
the joke online is go touch grass, but it's so true.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Yeah. Actually I found that in them when I would meditate,
it would also Reddy would give out this sigh and
he would just go into that realm with me too,
and it just it really helps to quiet the mind,
to be able to hear each other. So yeah, that
was an important part of it for me.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Well, you go on vacation with Brady, it's just a
you having a good time splashing around in the water,
and then something, a life changing event happens for our
young friend and mh, this is where things to take
a turn. Because this turned into a long hospital stay,
(31:08):
really expensive treatment. Would you mind talking about that for
just a bit and filling filling in our listeners with
what went down?
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Yes, I would, I would. I will try to keep
it brief so that they can read the book and experience,
of course it for for themselves, but of course, but yes, Brady,
who was a very very healthy dog, contracted leptos for
roses and it came on very suddenly, very frightened, in
(31:43):
a very frightening way. And and and yes he he
he experienced kidney failure and needed to stay in the
emergency hospital to undergo around the clock tree bents. And
so for me, this was an initial reason why I
(32:05):
wanted to write the book, because I believed in his recovery.
He believed in his recovery. Debbie McGillivray was very supportive.
We had a team of emergency veterinary surgeons as well
as our holistic vets and my family and friends. If
(32:27):
you want to talk about community, I pulled. I went
to everybody. I was not afraid to ask for help
from anyone, if they would meditate, if they would whatever
it was. And so when Brady did have his miraculous recovery.
The reason I was so interested in writing Soulmate Dog
(32:49):
was was that several vets had said to me, Brady's
a miracle dog, and you need to write about this.
People need to know that they can save their dogs,
that kidney failure is not a death sentence, right, And
so that that was a driving factor because I like,
I like to be able to help people. I like
(33:11):
to be able to offer something that's concrete and tangible,
and I felt like that could help a lot of
people to save their save their animals.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Yeah, I think you're right. I think this book would
help a lot of people. I hope we can get
the word out for you, because it is an amazing
journey you've taken. We've only we've only scraped the surface.
But once again, community comes into play. After he was released,
(33:41):
Team Brady as we call him, helped while you went
on vacation. They took care of the dog while you
were away, and that just that, that part of the
story just moves me because it's so hard to find
community these days. You can live somewhere for years and
(34:02):
years and not even know your neighbor's first name anymore.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
It's so true it's so true. And here in Switzerland
we have this little community where my dog runs free
and he goes to visit different people, and I've gotten
to know people because they say, oh, your dog has
come to see me and they're walking by, and or
(34:26):
other neighbors who will just put out a water bowl
for him and then we So I feel like there's
a way that our animals can can bring the humans
together too, because they're friendly and outgoing, and there are
so many different ways that that that can be done.
(34:46):
But yeah, I do feel like we are lacking community
and it's harder to find it, and and I think
that our our animal friends also encourage that. I think
the animals do bring out the best in the humans.
I think.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
I think you're absolutely right. I can't. I don't understand
the mentality of people who refuse to have pets or
think they're you know, they're awful or whatever, because I
have I do know people who are like that. I
don't quite get it.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
I don't like to judge people in first impressions, but
there is an inherent distrust that instantly arises when somebody says, oh,
I don't like entire species of animal.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
It's like because because a dog bit them when they
were Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Okay, that doesn't mean a golden yeah. And imagine if
we were that bigoted towards humans. I mean, that isn't
that isn't just a race, that is an entire species.
I mean that's insane, you know, And but what can
you do? And you can't say that to their face,
(35:55):
although i'd like to. I want to divert a little
bit into your writing process. And I mean, you have
a PhD in literature, for crying out loud, and I
just want folks to understand that if you pick up
this book, you're going to get kind of a lyrical
treat and I just want to read since we're on
(36:19):
this area. I don't know, it's a little bit painful,
but just the way you wrote this get you are
literally in the book and you just want to continue reading.
So I just want to give a tiny, tiny little
taste for readers so that it's not just about the
story and the journey, which is fantastic, but it's also
the actual writing style, which only you could do this
(36:44):
because I wrote a book kind of about my dog too,
but it was more of a networking book. It's called
nose to nose networking, and it takes the canine experience,
it translates it into humans so that people can can
use it. And I've been thinking ever since the pandemic
of doing it second version of that for just how
to make friends, because I don't think people know how
to do it anymore, and dogs do it so easily.
(37:07):
So I want to read this just a tiny little
bit here talking about how this started and going from
it's from your chapter from a five star vacation to
a five star hospital, and how you opened this chapter
when Brady collapsed into a lethargic keep of feverish black
and cinnamon fur, looking nothing like the vicious German shepherd
I knew so well. I'm sorry, vicious, vivaciousious, vivacious. Why
(37:30):
did I say vicious vivacious not vicious? Okay? I raced
him to the emergency veterinary hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, trying
to reach the speed of light. The late summer sun
bore down on us that Sunday afternoon as I carried
him to the back seat of my car. As we
took off, swiftly words I had written in my journal
(37:50):
earlier that summer haunted my fraught mind, my greatest fear
is losing Brady. It's almost like you knew it was happening.
And then later on in the chapter, I think the
exact words were or we shall go, puppy stay, and
that you just had to get yourself when they told
you that you couldn't stay. I know that feeling, and
you had to just go all the way down to
(38:12):
baby talk yourself to get yourself out of that situation.
And it just was such a wonderful contrast going from
just the beautiful metaphors and the way that you know
you brought us into the book down to we shall go,
puppy stay and having to say that to get yourself
out of the room. So tell us a little bit
about this writing process. First of all, how long did
(38:35):
it take and was it like a cathartic experience? Did
you cry a lot?
Speaker 3 (38:40):
It's interesting you just read that and I started to crush.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
I'm so sorry, I knew you.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
Sorry, Sorry, Yeah, thank you, thank you very much. There
are parts of Soul Night Dog that that do still
make me cry, to make me laugh too, but but yes,
so the writing, thank you, thank you for acknowledging my
my my writing it is my deep passion to express
(39:10):
the express the primarial thought or description that that that
I want to convey, and I don't I don't know
how to explain that. I frequently feel like there's a
muse with me, and I just I've all I've loved
(39:30):
words my entire life. I I loved learning to read
when I was a child. I love to play with words.
I love to I love it when I can play
with words and put them together in a way that's
really conveying the core of of what I would want
(39:51):
to express. And so they they sometimes they just come,
they just come to me, and I'm so delighted that
they've come and that they they work well in the context.
And it took me a very long time to write
Sulmate Dog because because I was sick with lime disease
(40:15):
for a lot of the time that I was trying
to write Sulmate Dog. And then I had this miraculous
recovery myself. So it's sort of ironic that I have
written two medical memoirs, and one is about my recovery
from lime disease, Starving to heal in Siberia, my radical
recovery from land stage lime disease, and so everything that
(40:36):
I wrote while I was sick with lime disease. When
I recovered and I went back to read my manuscript,
I was like, there were just it wasn't me. It
wasn't me, it was sick me writing it. And so
there were things that just didn't work because I had
this intense brain fall for so long. And so I
(40:59):
then went through the process of going through it again
and and then things came together beautifully. But all in
I would say that this book took me about ten
years from the time I started writing it to the
(41:19):
time that it came out in June.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
So My Dog truly a labor of love.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Yeah, a labor of love. If I had been well,
it wouldn't have taken so long. Sure, So from from
the time that I recovered from lime disease myself and
and then and then went into the writing full time,
then then it went. It went. It went very smoothly,
although I did also work with my editor, who made
(41:50):
some suggestions about the sequence and adding in the grief
portion that we we we touched on in the beginning
of or Time Together. My editor felt that it was
important to discuss my early experiences with grief so that
the reader would understand my plar relationship with it, and
(42:13):
that that was that was a very that was a
very difficult part to write about. But again I felt
that it also would enhance the reader's experience, and I
felt that I had something to offer about how to
process grief. And so there were times when I was
writing the parts on grief in Soulmate Dog and I
(42:37):
was I was close to the ocean, which never happens
to me. I was just close to the ocean at
that time, and it was and it was cold, and
I would be writing, writing, writing, and then I just
I emotionally couldn't take it anymore, and I would run
to the ocean. I would just go swimming, noo, just
(43:00):
to just shake it.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Yeah, yeah, repelicans.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Basically it was very powerful. So when I get into
the book, it's like I'm living inside of it, and
and it does, it does get intense. But I felt
that the book deserved it and the reader deserved it,
and I again I felt like I had something to
contribute in regards to grief in that way, and so
(43:29):
I I put aside how intense it was for me
to write about it, so that I would be able
to make that contribution.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
It made it real. It made it real.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Yeah, and this is the type of book that I
would recommend gifting to someone who is going through that.
And quick question, do you think that the fever writing
the fog brain writing? Do you think there were parts
that you got out of that that you wouldn't have
gotten otherwise? Then a lot of it probably didn't make sense,
(44:06):
But was there some things in there that you're like, Oh,
I probably wouldn't have written that. Had I been well,
I probably wouldn't have thought of that.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
I wouldn't say that necessarily, but I would say that
I wasn't all was not lost. I was absolutely I
was absolutely able to salvage a lot of things. And
so I wouldn't say that it was it was a
completely lost effort. I would say that I'm such an optimist.
(44:35):
I'm always looking for the optimistic angle there, and on
that one I just pointed at me, I would I
would love to have to be able to say that,
but I can't.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
I call that sitting in your splat, when you just
go splat and you're sitting there going your choice is
to sit there and you know, whine and cry and
why me, or to get up and you know, get
out of your splat. And so you were, you were
in a splat, but you were still Do you think
the writing helped you get well? On top of all
(45:09):
the other things, the meditation and all the things.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
I do not think that the writing helped me get well.
I think the very specific protocol that embarked on and
which is also pretty far out there in Siberia, that's
that's what got me.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Well, Like literally in Siberia, we're we're not being metaphor
literally in Siberia.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
Yes, yes, and it's and it saved my life. And then,
you know, I didn't think that you could overcome brain
fog and get your memory back. And then and then boom,
I recovered and I and I and I wrote four books.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
And so I do want to read that book because
I just.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
I came on I came on fire. But I think
that's something that helped me survive being ill, was that
I kept trying to write.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
I kept trying to.
Speaker 3 (46:02):
Live my passions and make a contribution because I feel
like I can't live without making a contribution to other people,
other animals, and and so I kept trying. I never
gave up.
Speaker 2 (46:17):
So yeah, and a weaker person would have. In fact,
they might have even used that as an excuse to
carry on with their give upedness. Coin you really persisted,
You really persisted. And you know Brady had that same spirit.
He had that same persistence. I think that's why you
guys spoke to each other so well.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Yes he did. He was he was a fighter. I
was a fighter. We also loved each other so deeply
that we were both fighting to also still be with
each other. I believe that so deeply, and I think
that the animal communication is helpful in that regard to
(47:01):
so if people are interested to to just enhance the
deep love that they already have with their animals, it
is it is absolutely life changing to be able to
have that deeper level of expression and and help one another.
So it did. It did help us. But yes, he
was a fighter and I was going to fight for him.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
You did.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
You lived for quite a good long time after the
recovery too, so that that's that's a blessing.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
Yes, it is a blessing. And you know, German shepherds,
the larger dogs just don't live as long as some
of some of the other dogs, so I was, I'm
I'm I'm grateful for the rest of my life that
we had the time that we did, and it was
so high quality. You know, I don't usually get teary eyed.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
I'm sorry, I'm sorry spoke to me.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
No, and I and I have said that. So My
Dog will always be the most meaningful book that I
will ever write. So it is. It is very close
to my heart, and I'm I'm delighted that I was
able to share it. And and of course it's it's
(48:17):
going to produce produce emotions in me because I there
there are important topics for me to share.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
Absolutely, Yeah, I guess we'll just bring it back. And
after you had another three years with Brady and all
that went down, and you know, he moved on, you continues,
The book.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
Doesn't end with his passing. Yeah, which is a nice change.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
I appreciate that. And the dog died the end. But no, no,
you you literally took it one step further.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
You went on something I would never have done even
when I was younger. It's up to you how much
you want to share about it. But you went on
a hike.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
That's an understatement.
Speaker 3 (49:09):
Miraculous in itself, because you know it was I was not.
I was not a well person. I just I I
have lifelong mountaineering skills. I used to be a mountaineering guide.
And the way I process grief for me is to
I walk it off. I have to. I have to.
(49:29):
I have to walk and think and process and that
that helps me tremendously and and and and again. Grief
is such an important aspect of love. And I did
not want to leave my reader there as I have
myself struggled with so many books about a beloved animal
(49:49):
and then it ends, and then your lapt grieving mm
hm and and I and I wanted to walk the
reader through my messy process of grief that was in
some very raw writing. And I shared journal entries and
I somehow found this adrenaline to go on this journey
(50:12):
to Patagoniam with my backpack and stay in my tent
and bring you know, a journal, and and just really
I needed an expanse of space to really contemplate the
profound experiences love loss.
Speaker 5 (50:33):
That that that I that I shared with with Brady,
and it was a very important part of my journey
and I think it was even important part of me
writing soulmate dog.
Speaker 3 (50:44):
It added such a rich element and and it deepened
my my thought process on it, and I kind of
and I kept I kept continuing to communicate telepathically with
Brat in spirit after.
Speaker 2 (51:01):
After after I was going to ask you about that
if if you still had that connection, because I feel
like that would just never be broken.
Speaker 3 (51:09):
Absolutely, yes, and and even and I do I do
share this and I I I name it a coda
of soulmate Dog that I was just looking out at
the expanse of Patagoniam one day and those mountains that
continued to be so stunning in my mind, and I
(51:32):
really distinctly heard him say that this this trip was
for me, that I deserved doing something beautiful after everything
that I did for him. And I would not come
up with that on my own. I don't think like that.
So it was it was endearing to hear his his
(51:52):
loot just come to me like that. But but yes,
I I that is that is another aspect that is
important to me. That is being able to process grief
for your animal companion who you love so much.
Speaker 2 (52:10):
Yeah, yes, wow, So I think we could talk to
you for another two hours, but I'm not going to
do that to you. Let's go ahead and wrap this
up by first of all, get the book. All the
links will be on our website. Remind people where they
can find you, and what are you doing on Instagram
(52:31):
and TikTok these days? What kind of things can they
find there?
Speaker 5 (52:35):
Well?
Speaker 3 (52:35):
I do share. I do share animal related posts, I
share about my books and different quotes from my books.
Also I share. I like to also share quotes about writing,
or my own thoughts about writing, or a little bit
(52:57):
of my life. I'm out hiking in Switzerland frequently with
my dog, and so sometimes I'll just share, you know,
mountain pictures out with my dog. I'm very healthy now
that I have recovered from from lime disease. You look amazing,
Thank you, And I'm you know, and I'm I'm still
(53:19):
I'm still writing. I have another book coming out in March,
the Lunatic novel that actually features a dog, a dog
who has this intuitive sense of being able to communicate
with its humans. So I'll be sharing on Instagram and
TikTok a little bit more about that. I'm the process
of writing another novel right now, so I don't like
(53:41):
to share too much while I'm in the process. Of writing.
But i'll you know, something a little here and there.
Speaker 2 (53:48):
Well, when that's ready, send it forward. We will shamelessly
plug that one and have you back on for sure
so much. Yeah, yeah, this was quite the ride. It's
it's not I'm not going to say it's an easy read.
It's not easy. It's enjoyable, you do. Yeah, it is rewarding.
You learn a lot about communication and a lot about yourself.
(54:11):
So I would call it more of a journey and
encourage folks to just get a nice quiet place, a
cup of tea, and you know, buckle up. Well, Michelle,
it's been a complete joy, Jim, do you have any
any last words?
Speaker 1 (54:26):
Just absolute pleasure talking to you, and I like your book.
I look forward to reading more of your work.
Speaker 3 (54:33):
Thank you so much for having me and being so generous.
I really enjoyed your questions are conversation, and I'm grateful
to be on your show.
Speaker 2 (54:48):
All right, Well, you've been a delight, so we look
forward to having you back again. Is there anything else
you would like our listeners to know before we release
you into the beautiful mountains that are.
Speaker 3 (55:01):
I don't, I just I just you know, I hope
that they will consider reading Soulmate Dog and being open
to the beauty that can be enhanced between humans and animals,
the beautiful relationship.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
Just go look your dog or your cat in the
eyes and think about what we said here today and
then read our book. All right, you have an amazing,
amazing day, and thanks again for being on our show.
Speaker 4 (55:32):
Thank you you too.
Speaker 3 (55:46):
Wow.
Popular Podcasts
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!