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, Katie.
I'm very excited to have you here.
Katy: Hi, thanks very much for having me.
It's a great opportunity.
Thank you.
Anke: Well, as we always do, let's go and start out with giving people like
the two minutes bird's eye overview.
So where in this lovely world are you based and what's your business
Katy: for dogs?
So, uh, yeah, so I am based in the UK, in the Midlands, just outside of Nottingham,
and I am a canine massage therapist, something not everybody's heard of,
but, uh, yeah, it's a great job to have.
I love
Anke: it, I love it.
I mean, to be honest, I had not heard of it either.
Before, um, I came across an ad, actually Facebook ad of like, Edward, Dr.
Ed, you know, and so I was like, Oh my God, what is this?
So when then, when we got in touch and I realized like, Oh,
so you've trained with him.
It's like, Ooh, really interesting now.
And so anybody listening, if you were on the Panic Turkey Summit, Dr.
Ed was on there.
So here you've got somebody who actually.
Uh, trained with him.
So I'm curious about how did you get started with that?
And then how, you know, what happened for you to say, well, actually, I'm
going to turn that into, into my,
Katy: into my work?
Yeah.
So, um, obviously I have a dog like a lot of people.
Most of the people actually all got into it because of their dog.
Um, my dog was aged four when she was diagnosed with
hip dysplasia and arthritis.
I was like, this, this can't be happening.
This isn't, you know, it's not the plan for my life or for hers, quite frankly.
You know, one minute we're doing agility and running around doing long walks and
then the vet's saying, well, that's it.
Can it?
You're not going to happen.
Um, so I started looking around to see what I could do to help
her as she kind of grew old.
This can be quick.
Oops.
Um, And I started looking at individual courses and I came across Canine Massage
and it was just, I remember kind of, it's almost like being in a Lion, Witch
and the Wardrobe movie and going through the back of the wardrobe and there's
this whole world out there of dogs and it's like, I didn't know it existed.
Up until that point I thought, you know, if the dog has a problem, you go to a vet.
I realized that there's a whole load more out there.
Um, so initially I studied with a.
uh, organisation in the south of England, called Galen Therapy Centre.
That is a very clinical based massage.
It's all around anatomy and physiology and learning all about the different
body systems, and how all the muscles and the bones operate and work together.
Um, and uh, yeah, so I, uh, I studied for two years for that.
Um, and then it was last year, I saw the advert for Whole
Energy Body Balance by Dr.
Edward Bassing Dwight.
I'm a healing vet, as he's known.
Um, and I thought, well, you know what?
I've done my massage qualification, but this really
fits with who I am as a person.
It's very holistic.
Um, it's, uh, the physical, the emotional and everything all rolled in together.
Um, and I just felt that that gave me my business and kind of decided then on
the direction that I was going to go.
So, until, uh, kind of end of last year, um, I'd been doing this part
time for a couple of years, running it alongside my marketing career.
Um, and to be honest, you know, I treated friends dogs and family dogs
and the odd dog here and there, but nothing really much had happened.
Um, and I decided I lost my marketing job again.
It's the joys of being in marketing, you're always first out when
there's cost cutting exercises.
Um, and I thought, you know what, I'm going to turn this business.
Into, you know, full time.
And I have to say it's one of the best decisions I've ever done.
Um, just being able to work with dogs every day is brilliant.
And it's been, what was it, November was I started, so about five months now.
And it's really growing.
So
Anke: what did you do differently from, you know, it's a side hustle.
When you decided, okay, this is going to be my main gig, what
did you start doing differently?
Katy: I put all my energy into it.
I think that was the biggest thing because I was, um, trying to still
have my marketing career on the side.
Um, and that was taking up an awful lot of my energy.
It was very stressful.
Um, was taking up a lot of my, not just my time, but of my, my, myself.
And I found that when I came to my two or three days with
the dogs, I was just exhausted.
Um, and so having that time then to just put all my energy into.
into doing the marketing, which is something I kind of know a little
bit about having had a career in it.
Um, yeah, it gave me, it gave me that motivation.
And I think before that I was holding myself back.
I was like, Oh, it's fine.
It'll just take off by itself.
And I actually had to step out of my comfort zone and go, right.
Yeah, I'm going to do it.
I love
Anke: that.
So, so are there, I mean, you know, you're the first one to know it's like,
okay, If you go out and say, well, I can help any dog with anything, that's
probably going to be hard, right?
So is there something that you focus on, you know, to a particular kind
of dog, a particular kind of issue?
What do people come
Katy: to you for?
So I have a variety of different, uh, dogs that I see.
Um, I see a lot of, uh, dogs with arthritis, dogs that are just
old age, slowing down generally.
Um, and it can really help them just to put a bit of spring back in their step.
Um, particularly if they're kind of middle aged, it helps them keep going a
bit longer without the veterinary meds.
And for the older dogs, it just brings a bit more comfort in their old age.
But in addition to that, it's, you know, dogs with injuries.
I had a dog in the other week that had just been bashed by a
pair of skis on a train platform, unfortunately, and it was like, ouch.
And it just took one session and, you know, young pup, and off she went again.
There's dogs like, uh, my dog that have orthopedic conditions like
hip dysplasia, spondylosis, uh, elbow dysplasia, things like that.
So I see a lot of those dogs.
Um, and that's very much kind of on the clinical side.
It's all these conditions, orthopedic conditions, and then the whole energy body
balance brings, as you know, brings in the other side of it, which is then working
with the reactive and the anxious dogs.
So you get dogs that are really, really hyper and can't switch off, um, and the
whole energy body balance massage really helps to, um, kind of get the dog's
parasympathetic nervous system to kick in.
And they then start to learn how to self regulate their emotions
so they can calm themselves down.
So for dogs that's anxious or reactive, they then start, yes, they might
still react to this dog or this person crossing their path, but they calm
down so much quicker afterwards.
That's
Anke: powerful.
Yeah, no, that is that, that's powerful stuff because people always
kind of like, oh, how can I, you know, distract my dog and whatever.
So it's like, if they can self regulate, that's, that's powerful.
I think, you know, going too, too much, much closer to the source of it or to the
Katy: Yeah, it's much better than just kind of putting a sticking plaster
on it to actually get to the source of the problem and help that dog.
And hopefully they're then living a happier life.
Yeah.
Anke: And, you know, and probably your owners will be, you know, more relaxed
too, like less on edge when it, you know, when you're, you know, I, my
first dog, he got bitten by, you know, a dog and then he was always like wary
of other male dogs in confined spaces.
He's fine on the beach or any space, but, but so, and that was
like as a, as somebody, me going with him, that wasn't always fun.
Like if I knew there was going to be like, Oh, then you're on edge already.
Right.
So, you know, if I know that he can handle the situation, everything,
you know, everybody benefits.
Katy: And that's, I think one of the biggest problems is.
is as humans, you know, we have to put ourselves in that calm
position because if you know, your dog just picks up on everything.
Um, they can't help themselves.
That's, that's what they do.
Yeah.
And that's what
Anke: we love them for, but you know, you also, you can't trick your dog.
I would say you can't trick your dog.
Right.
Do you find that, you know, when it comes to I don't know.
I think anybody who's ever experienced a massage, like, you know, will
appreciate, you know, how that calms you down and how great that feels.
Do you find that dogs, do you ever have, have you ever had a
dog who didn't like a massage or are they just like melting under
Katy: your hands?
It varies.
Some dogs come in and they just collapse and go, yep, you do whatever you like.
That's fine.
Other dogs are like, what do you think you're doing?
You're touching me.
I didn't give you permission.
And it's like, okay, this is going to be okay.
I don't get much hands on work in the first session.
I spend a lot of time in that first session talking with the owners, trying
to understand a bit about the history, the lifestyle, talking through kind of some
tips they can do at home and things like that, in the hope that the dog is then
kind of acclimatising to the situation.
Um, and it's quite often you start off very gentle, just with hands on,
not really doing much work, but just getting them used to your touch.
Because that intentional touch is something very different for the dog.
To just a stroke and a there, there, nice dog pat on the head.
Um, the dogs sense that there's something different about it.
And they don't always accept it straight away.
Um, but generally, um, I've never had a dog that didn't settle at all.
And when they do settle, they tend to settle into a much
deeper sense of relaxation.
So there might be, um, you know, appearing kind of calm on the outside.
But once you actually give them a massage, then you can kind of see that, you know,
the eyes drop, and the head drops, and the kind of, the breathing slows, and
they just collapse then, quite often.
And, um, most dogs, particularly after their first appointment, they go home
and they sleep the rest of the day.
So that's it, they're just exhausted.
Oh,
Anke: that's, that's, yeah, that's awesome.
Like, it feels like after sauna, you know, like it's kind of like, oh, and then you
just pass out for the rest of the day.
Is that, is that something, I mean, do you send owners home with like,
okay, you do this while you're there before you're coming back?
Katy: Yeah, so, um, very much it depends on the dog.
I send owners home with different things depending on the dog.
Um, there's a calming relaxation technique I show people, which I
show to most people, to be honest, because that would help every dog.
Regardless of whether they're reactive or not, and it's also
really good for your bond.
So I show most people that, some people I might show a couple of other
different techniques depending on their dog and what they're presenting.
I've sent some people home with exercises, just to kind of keep
their dog flexible and moving, or exercise for proprioception.
So it very much depends on the person, and it's trying to read that situation
as well and to understand What level that owner is going to go to, how
much time do they have, what is their setup like, um, and to kind of
suggest something that's appropriate.
Yeah, I
Anke: can imagine.
So I mean, is there something, um, like common myths you find you need
to bust all the time or assumptions that people have or things that they
think this is but it isn't or, you know, do you do some myth busting?
Yeah,
Katy: um, I'm not sure if it's myth busting, but a lot of things
that people just don't realize.
Um, like jumping in and out of a car.
For dogs, so many dogs do that all day, you know, not all day,
but, you know, do it frequently.
And then people just don't realize the impact on the dog, um, and
how, you know, yes, they can jump and yes, they're doing it, but it
doesn't mean that they should be.
And actually the pressure on those joints as they land, the pressure that goes
up through the front feet and into the shoulders, um, and when they're jumping
into this enclosed quite often without warming up, um, You know, it can cause
huge issues, um, and I have had dogs that came to me and we worked out that the
problem really was just the fact they were jumping in and out of the car, and once
we stopped that, the pain disappeared.
That's a big one.
Yeah, I think that's one of the common ones, that and, um, ball throwing, um,
the good old tennis ball, particularly the ones that have the, the chucker.
Oh, okay.
The dogs running at full speed, quite often they jump up in the
air and catch the ball and they twist and they turn and they land.
And they're doing all that at speed, so if you think about, if you slow it
down and actually watch a video of a dog doing it, you can kind of see the, uh,
the impact reverberate up the arms, um, or if they jump it, catching it to the
legs, sometimes in the air, sometimes they land on their back legs, um,
catching it, and that, um, yeah, huge amount of pressure through the joints.
It's also teaching a kind of an obsessive compulsive behavior, um, for a dog
that has that tendency to be anxious or reactive, it can make them worse.
That makes sense
Anke: and I can totally see because I get, I hear this a lot where people
go, Oh, you know, they're nervous.
So they need more exercise and people will be more likely to do more of
that, to sort of wear the dog out because you know, there's like, Oh, a
good dog, a tired dog is a good dog.
And I don't think that's not my experience.
Like that
Katy: doesn't.
I mean, a tired dog is generally a much better behaved dog, but it's better
to tire them out using their brain.
I'd be throwing a tennis ball.
them because they're physically exhausted but they're wired.
They're in that chase, that hunt, they're in their prey mode.
I know dogs aren't designed to do that continually, you know,
keep throwing the ball, throwing the ball, throwing the ball.
In the wild, dog will go out on the chase, they kill the, kill
the prey and that'll be the hunt done and they then rest and eat.
Um, so you're much better if you want to calm your dog
down to find some brain games.
Do some scent work, something like that.
Anke: Yeah, that makes, that makes sense.
There's the um, uh, what's it called now?
Sarah Fisher's, uh,
Katy: I don't recognize
Anke: that name.
Blanking on it now, for God's sake.
Um, you know, which basically sets up the um,
I don't know, something work and I totally blank on it now.
Oh, that's funny.
But anyway, so there's basically this, it sets up a space where there's like
a snuffle mat and different surfaces and different, um, Textures and you
just kind of let the dog free work.
That's it.
Free work.
Yeah.
So it's like you just kind of let them do on their own.
And that's what she's saying.
Like, you know, there's like, yeah, that wears them out.
Like, like a five mile line, you know?
Katy: Yeah.
That'd be much better for them than running, chasing a ball or,
you know, running a marathon.
It's getting them where there's the Lots to investigate, hidden places, different
surfaces, um, things to crawl in, you know, tunnels and things like that.
So, uh, yeah, that'd be a great way to calm a dog down and just, it gets
them to just start regulating their own emotions as well then, as opposed to
just kind of in prey mode the whole time.
Anke: Yeah, that makes, that makes so much sense.
So, you work with, like, you work hands on with docs, docs locally.
Do you also offer, like, online consultations, or could somebody
book a call with you and say, hey, what can I do, or how do
Katy: you operate?
Yeah, I, I've done a couple.
Um, mostly it is, uh, on, uh, In person consultations.
Um, but I'm growing my business.
Um, it's going in all sorts of different directions at the moment.
Um, certainly I've done a couple of online consults.
I've had people contact me 'cause their parents have sent them an
invite for an event I'm doing locally and they're like, oh, I did, is
there something like this around me?
Um, you know, I might do an online consult and they send me videos of their
dog's gait and their photos of their posture and we do a little assessment.
Um, and based on that I can give them some advice on, um, you
know, exercises they can do.
I can kind of talk 'em through a couple of different.
Um, so yeah, there's options for online consults as well.
Um, I'm also going out doing workshops as well.
Um, in the local area, so there's a lot of local stuff going on.
Um, and, uh, yeah, I'm hoping to do some kind of digital downloads
as well later on in the year.
Okay, that sounds,
Anke: sounds fabulous.
So where can people go and find out more about you, get in
Katy: touch with you?
Yeah, so I have a website, www.
timeforpooch.
com.
And I have a Facebook page, also Time for Pooch, um, and I will be starting up a
newsletter as well, um, in the next month.
Um, so if people want to drop me a message on my Facebook page or, uh, on
the contact form through the website, then I'll add you to my distribution
list and, uh, you'll get updates from me as to find out where I've been up to.
Anke: Awesome.
And so the link's going to be obviously, like, below if you're
listening through the podcast.
It's going to be in the show notes.
You'll listen to it or watch it on the, from the newsletter.
So it's just going to be right below here.
And by the time it comes out, your newsletter might be up.
So we put the links underneath and, um, get in touch with, with Katie
because your dog will appreciate
Katy: this.
Absolutely.
Don't let your dog suffer in silence.
Thanks so much for listening.
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Email me at Anke.
That's A N k E at Soul touched by dogs.com.