Welcome to the Soul Touched by Dogs Podcast, the show for dog lovers who
see dogs not as toys or tools, but wise souls worth our respect and care.
I'm an Herrmann, and I'm your host.
I talk to poor some humans, people who do great work for dogs and their people.
So come and join us for today's conversation.
Anke: Hello and welcome, Ellen.
I'm super happy to have you here today.
Ellen: Thank you, Anke.
It's really good to be here.
Anke: Awesome.
So, well, before we get started, I would love you to tell people where
in this beautiful world you are based.
Ellen: So I'm located in Gold Hill, North Carolina, that if you know North
Carolina, it's mostly the center of the state, northeast of Charlotte,
and I live on 11 magical acres, and I have, there's a labyrinth here,
there's a vortex here, hiking trails.
I have five Airbnbs on site, as well as, I mean, when they're not rented for
retreats, they're rented for Airbnb.
And, um, it really is a magical place.
A lot of times storms go around me and I'm just sitting here.
I didn't lose power for the last hurricane.
So I feel like it's blessed on many levels.
Anke: Wow, wow.
So basically, in short, you're saying you're in paradise.
Ellen: Paradise, yes.
Anke: I love it.
So now we met, um, in the most delightful circumstances
because we've just published.
Well, not just the two of us.
There were more people involved.
We're getting onto that.
But, um, My fur baby wrote this book and you wrote the foreword to it.
So that's in the project, you know, in the context of this
project, that's how we met.
And I would love to hear how did you hear about the project?
How did you, you know, what sparked you to get involved?
Ellen: Well, I tell you, I, I have my, my LinkedIn picture has a
picture of me with Murphy on my lap.
And this woman who must have been friends with Lonnie, Lonnie was
the brainchild behind creating this book that we did together.
And she wrote to me and said that she knew this woman, Sally
Good, who I've been working with.
on LinkedIn said, I know this woman that's looking for authors to be a
part of this book that she's doing about pets and it's called Pothers.
And I was just captivated from the moment I heard the word Pothers.
I'm like, what?
And coming from a dog's point of view and I'm always speaking.
I mean, Murphy, I usually am always saying what he's saying, you know,
I just I'll have a voice for him.
I just am always talking.
Murphy is my dog.
So that's how I found out about it.
And I contacted Lonnie from there.
Anke: Oh, I love that.
See, I have a similar reaction because, you know, I mean, you
would have seen it when you booked yourself in for the podcast, like
they're, You know, I call them their conversations with porcine humans, right?
So, you know, when I'm seeing porthos, like it does have
my attention 100 percent for
Ellen: sure.
I know, and I love the, I love the word possum too, you know.
Yeah,
Anke: and it's so, you know, it's so spot on.
So, what was What was your experience?
Because your perspective is a little bit different perhaps from, I don't know, from
the four of us writing, but you wrote a story as well, so you wrote the foreword.
So how does one go about writing a foreword?
Like, you know, that feels kind of hard for me as well.
I don't know, I've never written one.
Ellen: It was my first time, so it was just kind of like, I, you know, I was
given the number of words to use, you know, and so, and I, I've told the story
about how Murphy arrived here, which is really my belief that, um, that this woman
told me you can call your dog back in.
She told me she'd had three dogs in this lifetime.
And so I put a call out to the universe for one of my, I've always
had terriers, so I put out, put out there for one of my past three
favorite terriers to come back to me.
And two months later Murphy showed up on a porch in June of 2012.
And, um, it was literally locking eyes with him and we've
been inseparable ever since.
I think he was about two when he arrived.
I remember we had a drum circle that day and he just like
was just completely chill.
I have a yurt that we were doing drum circles in and he just
like, He chilled out like he, he was there only all the time.
Like he had always been there.
There was never like getting used to anything.
And I did make an agreement since he arrived off leash
that he could be off leash.
All the time.
I'm on, I'm in gravel road, middle of nowhere, you know,
as long as he came home.
And so he has always been, cause I think that freedom of being able to come and go.
So he just, He's usually like my shadow.
So it's like, if he's not arms distance from me, where is he?
And that's him thing to always be following me.
So
Anke: that's, I mean, you know, you think if somebody has, has trouble, you
know, it's almost like that whole idea of, of training a recall seems to be
like totally ridiculous in that context.
Right.
So it's like, that's not something you've ever had to worry about.
Ellen: Right now.
I mean, he arrived.
You know, at two, you know, potty trained, everything trained, just like it was,
it was like, it was so delightful.
It was such a magical connection.
And I, I really feel he has the temperament of a dog named Rasta that
used to work with me every day when I sold flour, I had a flour cart for four and a
half years on a street corner in Portland, Oregon, across the country from here.
And then, um, and he went to work with me every day and his temperament
is very much like Murphy's.
So is it him?
I don't know, but I love that story about the woman that told me this.
She said the dog, she's had the same dog three times.
Every time she saw him that he would play in his water bowl with his front paws
to confirm to her that it was him again.
And, but she said she always recognized him by looking in his eyes anyway,
but that was the confirmation.
So I was blown away.
I've never seen a dog play in its water bowl with its paws, so.
Anke: That's incredible.
That's incredible.
She reminds me of a book I read.
I can't remember, like, yeah, I don't know, it's a long time ago, but it was
basically, you know, several stories of a dog, of different dogs, you know, in
different, you know, like one grows up with a family of little kids, the other
one is, is just abandoned in the dirt somewhere, you know, the next one has
this, this, um, um, asshole of an owner who was kind of really harsh with him and
and so it's almost and you know you go all these and it's almost like one ends
and then it's like and it's almost like the same like you're kind of a little
bit irritated while you're reading it because you're a little bit like oh so
he just got dropped off school and now it's like something you know and then
throughout the book it becomes apparent that it's actually always the same soul
it's always the same dog Having like these different, different lives in
different kind of circumstances, that like really reminds me of what, you
know, just popped to mind when you were saying that it's so, so yeah, there's,
I don't know, it's an interesting one.
We'll never know for sure, but I think we'll know enough.
To kind of really feel it.
Ellen: So whatever, he's the most awesome possum dog I've ever had.
So that's like, I'm blessed and great.
He's 14 and healthy.
Still can walk three miles a day without, without any effort.
So I'm good
Anke: with that.
I mean, I guess having this, you know, you think when I'm picturing, you know,
and I've seen just photos of your space there and, and I'm like, well, okay.
If you're a dog off leash, they're coming, you know, with that agency,
with that, like, yeah, you get.
to do whatever the heck you want to do.
It was like, well, yeah, you know, not hard to see why
So it's a, seems to be like a heavenly life for a dog, but for people as well.
Right?
Tell, tell me a little bit more about what kind of retreats you run there, like
who comes there, what do, what are people looking for when they come to your place?
Ellen: I would say a lot of the people, you know, they put on yoga
retreats, meditation retreats.
Also, we do plant medicine retreats.
Um, there's a person that comes all the time for that as well.
And, you know, a lot of times it can be like family get togethers.
There's a lot of wedding venues around here, so a lot of times the, the bridal
party and the groom's parties will stay in two different houses and, or, yeah, it's
a, it's a great place, especially for kids because Literally, I'm on a gravel road,
so they can really run around and play without any, you don't have to have fear
about, are they going to be okay outside?
Anke: I love that.
And you were sharing something during the writing weekend we had that, that you've
had kind of dogs who came all sort of anxious from the, from, from city life.
And, you know, yeah, tell me how they
Ellen: experience it.
You know, I think we're so much like our animals.
And so if we are In a state of stress, if we live in the city and we're
stressed out and our dogs pick up on that and they just, they really
mirror, I think, our emotions so much.
And I literally have seen dogs come here and they're like all hyped up
and they're on a leash and they're pulling and they're la la la la la.
And, um, I used to have two other dogs on the property who were also extremely chill
like Murphy is, and I think the dogs would look at them and they were, you know, just
wandering, none of them on leashes ever.
And the dogs, I think, would just go, what?
Like, there's another way I can be in the world, because they didn't know that.
You know, they're in the city, they're on their leash, they're walking,
they're passing other dogs on leashes.
There's no freedom just to play and to be, and that they don't
have to be all anxious and stuff.
And I literally have seen dogs completely chill out and mellow.
And I have four dogs on the property right now, and I've told them to go and sit over
there, two of them are German Shepherds, and the other one I'm rescuing them from
the, there's huge devastation up in the Asheville area from the hurricane, and
they're from Black Mountain and they still don't have electricity or water and stuff.
So they've been here a couple of weeks now, and they have four dogs with them so
I want them to take them and just sit, I told her to sit by the vortex with them
and just see if they energetically just start mellowing out a little bit more.
Anke: Yeah.
I mean, it's, it's I think, I don't know, I started off like when I was
living in, when I had the first couple of dogs, I was living in the historic
part of Granada, in this little town here, and it was, you know, and you
know what it's like, it's beautiful.
And, you know, Mr.
Hypersensitive, uh, Kai, wasn't doing well, you know, and it took me a while
to catch on because he was just like, it's you saying like, Like, you know,
like a wire up his butt, the whole time.
He was like, you know, and so never, he could never, and he didn't
really, and that was the thing.
Like, I didn't even, uh, and it's funny, actually, like I
talk about that in the book.
It's like, I couldn't even.
I didn't even realize, I didn't realize and certainly he didn't realize that
there was a different way of being until we went on a holiday where we had
this house with a garden, you know, and there's a room and there were, there was
plants, it wasn't just like cobblestones and walls and, and it made just such a
massive difference that, I mean, that's the thing, it works for us, it works
for dogs, right, to kind of have that.
time and space to take in the environment and be able to move freely.
It's just life changing.
And it's almost like, you know, now I go back and that's the thing, like
I'm living somewhere where it's like super chill, super laid back and,
and, you know, nature and ocean.
And, and so I go back to Granada now and I'm like, well, I'm
feeling kind of all tense.
Like I, I like literally, I never felt it when I was there.
You know, if I go back to Granada or, like, bigger places, it's like Okay,
this is all right for a day or two, but I could not live here anymore
because I think you just sort of get used to a different energy and around.
So you, you do, do you do like retreats that are specifically for, you know,
people like stressed out dogs or stressed out people with dogs or something?
I mean, you could.
Ellen: I think that would be something that I should look into.
You know, I'm doing a woman's empowerment retreat.
That's a treat that I personally and a friend and I put on twice a year.
And so I have that going on, but I've, you know, I think of a dog one, a dog and
owner, you know, are you totally stressed?
Like come for the weekend and just, and just watch because, um, labyrinths
also are used for dog training.
And if you walk a labyrinth with the dog, it balances the, the
both hemispheres of the brain.
Cause you're going left to right and winding.
And that a lot of times they use, I've heard they use labyrinths
for dog training to help them calm and balance out their brains.
So that could be a, we could do a labyrinth walk with the dogs, you know.
So thank you for that idea, Anke, because I
Anke: think, I think, you know, I mean, there's, I think there's several kind of
things you can risk because one of it is this like, yeah, if your dog's stressed,
chances are you're not chilled out either, you know, so there's that, you know,
and the other part is, if you, you know, if, if I'm now going and thinking, oh,
yeah, that retreat, that would be lovely.
Yeah.
But now I have to find somewhere for the dogs.
So then all of a sudden, like, I probably won't go to the retreat because if that
means now I have to find like a kennel or a doggy hotel or somebody I trust.
And I'm like, yeah, I'm not easy with that.
So it's like, if, if there was a retreat where it says,
well, okay, you can come here.
To ground yourself, to do whatever the thing but like bring your dog
and and reconnect to nature and and kind of calm the whole nervousness
like I feel in that car so fast you can't you couldn't look twice you
know because it does It does give me
space to be with the dogs, not just to have the dogs around, but to actually
be with them and be with them in nature.
It like, it sounds like most delightful to me.
And I would guess that probably would be other people.
Ellen: I love it.
Well, I'm going to put that idea out there because I love that, you know, I
think that that I hadn't even thought of that, but I have witnessed it.
And I know people love to be able to go on vacation with their dog.
I mean, I love being dog friendly, because that's, I've always been a dog person.
I never had kids.
And I really, I just always, most people that travel, I'd say almost
everyone that travels with their dog, the dog is well behaved.
You know, you're not going to be traveling with the dog that you have
to worry about only all the time.
I mean, some people do, but it's like majority of people
traveling with their pets.
The pets are, they're well maintained, they're well kept, they're, you know, so
I've had no issues for, I've been here 18 years and I've always been pet friendly.
Anke: But I think like really having that focus on, you know,
so what's, what's an offer.
It's not the yoga, the, the, the, you, it's almost like what you
come here for is quality time with your dog, you know, in nature.
Yeah, I think it's a good idea.
I love it.
I guess you can always tack on a yoga class or like a meditation.
Like you can do these things, but, but almost like bring the, you know, the,
the, the objective, the whole, the whole thing, the reason people come is to
spend quality time with their dogs, you know, and that's like, if you're busy,
you know, busy city person, you know,
Ellen: I love that, Anke.
Thank you for that idea.
I mean, there's, you know, I keep looking at this because it really,
this collaboration with this book of meeting I mean, and I love the
intimacy of it being basically, is it five or six, six of us, right?
Yeah, with Lonnie,
Anke: Lonnie, you and, and, and our school.
Yeah, it was just six of us, which I thought was beautiful.
Ellen: I did too.
You know, at first I was like, Oh, we need to have more writers.
And I was like, no, we don't.
It's like perfect.
It's divinely perfect.
And, and everybody to me, everybody's energy just matched so beautifully
that it was just, it just wove this beautiful picture of creativity.
And every time I was on, you know, just tapping into the zoom
where everybody was, I just felt.
enlightened and, and just energized from just the magic that was
created by the energy of everyone,
Anke: um,
Ellen: that chose We felt that
Anke: too, totally, totally.
And it was almost like, you know, what I found really amazing was when, when
we met last on, on Saturday, right?
So it was like, I can't even, I looked back on my calendar and I'm thinking, I
had that first call with Lonnie like two weeks earlier, you know, it almost felt
like as if we'd been in this tight knit group for a long, long time, you know,
like it didn't feel like we were Yeah, it was that from stranger to family in this
like instantly condensed kind of space.
Yeah.
And
Ellen: I love when that happens.
And what was beautiful about it was like, we all felt the same energy of that.
It was like, it's like, okay, here we are.
Strangers, but not strangers.
We're family now.
We've been together five minutes and we're family.
Anke: Yeah.
I mean, you know, animals do that.
Like dogs and cats really help with that.
You know, I think that they have a lot, they have a lot to do with that.
I remember when I first got Leo, it was like within two weeks, I met more of my
neighbors than in the six months before.
Like nobody was interested in meeting me.
But when I had cute little puppy there, You know, boom, conversation, you
know, I think the connection where we had that golden thread of, you know,
love and lessons and, you know, loss sometimes, sometimes not, but we've
all had experiences of, of loss.
in some form.
So I think there was this really, that the stories were different, like we're
like extremely different when you think about it, you know, like the way we're all
different places, like really different types of personality as well, different
writing styles, which I like too, you know, and also the book's not that big.
If it's just, you know, you think you don't have to go through like 500 pages of
people waffling on about the thing, right?
So it's these short, yeah, it's like not this.
It's drawn out.
It's a really quick read and you can kind of get the tissues out really fast.
Ellen: It's a quick read and I think, you know, basically any dog lover,
any dog lover, animal lover, will be inspired and it will, it opens your
heart and you, it doesn't matter the length of it, it's just like, oh my god,
these are fantastic stories and I feel inspired and I love this book and I want
to share and give it to my best friends because any dog lover would love it.
I mean, just.
In my eyes.
Anke: Yeah, in mine too.
And my hope really is that, that people read through this and think,
oh, almost like I'll never look at my dog the same again, you know, because
that sense of, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, like they get a lot more than we give them credit for, you know.
So I think, yeah, if I had one wish for the book, it's like, yeah, I would want
people to look at their animals with.
With more,
Ellen: you know, a little
Anke: more respect, more, more, you know,
Ellen: more
Anke: admiration, perhaps.
Ellen: You said at one point, Anke, was that, um, that, you know, the
whole thing about that we, as humans, think that dogs should strictly learn
our language, but really looking at it is like, they're our teacher.
We get to learn their language and learn their cues.
And just because we're humans doesn't mean we're the most evolved race.
And they have a lot to teach us.
I mean, they are the epitome of what unconditional love
and forgiveness looks like.
And those are two absolute spiritual practices to me that is just
like, alright, you've got It's like, they're the great example.
Anke: Yeah, I couldn't agree
Ellen: more.
That in English, you know, dog is God spelled backwards, hello.
Yeah, no,
Anke: no coincidence there.
Yeah.
I mean, and that's like, look, this, this very blatant that, hey, they've got way
more to teach us than to learn from us.
That's at the heart, that's, that's, to spread that message.
That's why I created Soul Touched by Dogs.
That's where that, that's what that's all about really.
And I've never heard
Ellen: that and I love that.
I think that is just brilliant.
I do.
I just love it.
So,
Anke: well, thank you so much.
Where can people go and find out more about you and get in touch and, you
know, come to your doggy retreat.
Ellen: Um, you can look at my website, sacredgroveretreat.
com, but I can send you, if you want me to send you, I mean my, you
can send me a message on there says contact or send a message or whatever.
Or I can also, I'm on LinkedIn, Ellen Whiteside on LinkedIn.
And um, that's how people can get in touch with me.
And I'd love to have anyone come with their pet because I am pet friendly
and I'm having a special right now.
So if you, complimentary, whoop, complimentary night stay.
If you stay three nights, you get the fourth night free.
And on the back, which is hard to see, is the list.
It has a picture of all the different places to stay.
Anke: Oh, awesome.
Awesome.
Do you have a, do you have like this in a, in a, in an electronic
format or do I have that?
Well, can you send it to me?
Then I can include it in the shout outs.
Ellen: Okay.
I will send, I'll take a picture and send it to you.
Anke: That, that would be awesome.
Because then it's like, because I don't know how it's going to come
out on the, on the video, whether that's going to be clear and big
enough for people to scan in.
So if you have it, then we'll, you know, obviously the, the links, everything,
if you watch it on YouTube, it's going to be below and on the podcast, it's
going to be in the show notes, of course.
So we're going to make it easy, get in touch with Ellen and, uh,
you know, like take your time out in this magical, magical place.
Thank you so much for coming.
And I can't wait to connect with you again.
Ellen: Thank you so much.
It was such a pleasure to be here.
Thanks so much for listening.
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That's A N k E at Soul touched by dogs.com.