WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.789 --> 00:00:06.320 Welcome to the Soul Touched by Dogs Podcast, the show for dog lovers who 00:00:06.340 --> 00:00:12.000 see dogs not as toys or tools, but wise souls worth our respect and care. 00:00:12.580 --> 00:00:14.559 I'm an Herrmann, and I'm your host. 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:20.560 I talk to poor some humans, people who do great work for dogs and their people. 00:00:21.099 --> 00:00:23.360 So come and join us for today's conversation. 00:00:24.874 --> 00:00:25.654 Anke: welcome Jeff. 00:00:25.864 --> 00:00:27.464 I'm super excited to have you 00:00:27.464 --> 00:00:27.704 Jeff: here. 00:00:30.324 --> 00:00:31.154 Thank you Anke. 00:00:31.154 --> 00:00:35.164 I really, really appreciate being here and I'm also super excited to 00:00:35.164 --> 00:00:36.884 play with you, get to play with you. 00:00:37.164 --> 00:00:37.564 Awesome. 00:00:37.674 --> 00:00:38.024 Anke: Awesome. 00:00:38.584 --> 00:00:43.554 So before we start playing, uh, why don't you give us like the two minute overview? 00:00:43.584 --> 00:00:44.504 Where are you based? 00:00:44.994 --> 00:00:45.474 You know, 00:00:46.794 --> 00:00:47.464 Jeff: what's your business? 00:00:47.484 --> 00:00:47.944 What do you do? 00:00:49.544 --> 00:00:50.994 I am a U. 00:00:50.994 --> 00:00:51.214 S. 00:00:51.304 --> 00:00:55.164 based Connecticut, about an hour outside New York City, 00:00:55.194 --> 00:00:59.484 uh, based veterinarian and I... 00:00:59.999 --> 00:01:02.469 Don't do private practice. 00:01:02.469 --> 00:01:04.689 I do an online or what we're... 00:01:05.889 --> 00:01:13.459 Based in as an online community, um, trying to transfer information 00:01:13.469 --> 00:01:20.609 about molecular biology, individuality, and happiness in pets. 00:01:20.929 --> 00:01:27.659 So, instead of focusing on individual diseases, symptoms, and diagnoses, we 00:01:27.659 --> 00:01:34.429 focus on quality of life and happiness and, uh, the community that, that we're 00:01:34.509 --> 00:01:42.439 going to talk a bit about based on which is a marker for quality of life. 00:01:43.839 --> 00:01:44.139 Love 00:01:44.139 --> 00:01:44.349 Anke: it. 00:01:44.809 --> 00:01:50.879 So, I would imagine, so you're a veterinarian, so you went to med 00:01:51.119 --> 00:01:53.859 school, you know, you did your degree. 00:01:54.539 --> 00:01:56.709 What sparked the focus on 00:01:56.709 --> 00:01:57.699 Jeff: the work you're doing now? 00:01:59.089 --> 00:02:00.369 Great question. 00:02:00.369 --> 00:02:04.079 Um, I got my degree first in molecular biology. 00:02:05.194 --> 00:02:09.794 Penn Veterinary Medicine, and what sparked what I'm doing now is me. 00:02:10.894 --> 00:02:15.854 Because I have a chronic degenerative brain disease and found that... 00:02:16.544 --> 00:02:24.324 By focusing on the symptoms, as we do in medicine, I wasn't doing as well as 00:02:24.324 --> 00:02:31.614 focusing on things like getting out in nature, and feeling our joy, being happy, 00:02:31.624 --> 00:02:35.874 you know, like, uh, there's a gentleman named Norman Cousins, that wrote a book 00:02:35.884 --> 00:02:41.824 called Anatomy of an Illness, which is all about how he had this incurable, painful 00:02:42.244 --> 00:02:45.284 illness, that he basically left away. 00:02:46.614 --> 00:02:52.464 And it's now being shown in research and science that laughter and happiness and 00:02:52.504 --> 00:02:58.514 awe and gratitude are all things that make us better physiologically, but our 00:02:58.764 --> 00:03:05.064 heads and our cognitive dissonance and our uncertainty about the future and the past 00:03:05.064 --> 00:03:07.274 and get in the way, but not with them. 00:03:07.584 --> 00:03:10.904 So it's a joy to be doing this for years now. 00:03:12.114 --> 00:03:16.274 Super successfully with animals because there are very few animals 00:03:16.544 --> 00:03:21.394 that get in the way as much as we can get in the way of the animals. 00:03:22.694 --> 00:03:22.934 That's 00:03:23.144 --> 00:03:23.524 Anke: all. 00:03:23.574 --> 00:03:24.354 I just love that. 00:03:24.804 --> 00:03:26.684 I mean, that whole sort of a more 00:03:26.684 --> 00:03:28.994 Jeff: holistic approach, you know, I think 00:03:28.994 --> 00:03:33.174 Anke: it's kind of, it feels the only thing that really makes sense. 00:03:34.134 --> 00:03:37.954 Right, to just get away from the kind of little band aid and just kind of really. 00:03:38.714 --> 00:03:45.544 So how would you recognize, measure, like, happy and like, so 00:03:45.544 --> 00:03:46.904 how would I know whether my dog's 00:03:47.064 --> 00:03:47.414 Jeff: happy? 00:03:48.714 --> 00:03:49.134 Awesome. 00:03:49.144 --> 00:03:50.384 Thank you for that question. 00:03:50.424 --> 00:03:50.604 B. 00:03:50.604 --> 00:03:50.674 E. 00:03:50.674 --> 00:03:50.684 A. 00:03:50.684 --> 00:03:50.874 M. 00:03:50.884 --> 00:03:57.534 is an acronym for behavior, energy, appetite, and mood. 00:03:58.714 --> 00:04:02.144 And each one of those factors combined to give a B. 00:04:02.144 --> 00:04:02.234 E. 00:04:02.234 --> 00:04:02.244 A. 00:04:02.244 --> 00:04:02.424 M. 00:04:02.434 --> 00:04:03.134 score. 00:04:04.214 --> 00:04:04.324 B. 00:04:04.324 --> 00:04:04.394 E. 00:04:04.394 --> 00:04:04.404 A. 00:04:04.404 --> 00:04:04.574 M. 00:04:04.574 --> 00:04:09.334 score above 8 or above is the hot dog or a cat. 00:04:09.924 --> 00:04:13.854 Or person, because I know people that are now using this for themselves, 00:04:13.924 --> 00:04:22.834 um, means that they're in balance internally, and aligned, and connected, 00:04:22.924 --> 00:04:24.974 and happy, and having a good life. 00:04:26.354 --> 00:04:27.334 Stubby behavior. 00:04:27.774 --> 00:04:31.014 What does your dog or cat do when you come to the door? 00:04:31.014 --> 00:04:32.644 Does they want to be with you? 00:04:32.684 --> 00:04:34.564 Do they want to be off by themselves? 00:04:34.584 --> 00:04:36.544 Would they rather not engage? 00:04:37.174 --> 00:04:42.874 So that can lower or increase the beam, the Behavior, part of that score, 00:04:43.944 --> 00:04:47.474 energy, do they get up all the time, do they go to the door, do they want 00:04:47.474 --> 00:04:52.064 to go on their walks, do they tire quickly on their walks, do they like 00:04:52.124 --> 00:04:54.794 five ball throws, or will they go? 00:04:55.834 --> 00:04:59.354 Sorry, my own dog, uh, thinks we're going out to play ball right now. 00:05:00.384 --> 00:05:02.164 Archie, Archie, Archie. 00:05:06.264 --> 00:05:11.434 But he's a great example of focusing on that approach because he's had a 00:05:11.534 --> 00:05:18.664 bunch named diseases that if we just monitor the diseases but focus on being 00:05:18.754 --> 00:05:21.424 the disease symptoms tend to go away. 00:05:23.004 --> 00:05:26.454 You know the easiest part of being to measure is the appetite 00:05:26.684 --> 00:05:30.294 because you can measure how long you don't have the anxious to eat. 00:05:31.144 --> 00:05:34.334 We ate whatever you offered, they finished their bowl, so we 00:05:35.004 --> 00:05:36.794 quantitate as much as we can. 00:05:37.744 --> 00:05:44.704 But at the same time, we measure and quantitate internal things like kidney 00:05:44.744 --> 00:05:49.554 values, or liver values, or other tests, because the body manifests 00:05:49.554 --> 00:05:55.374 its balance both externally, by being, and internally, by eating. 00:05:55.704 --> 00:05:56.564 By measured symptom. 00:05:59.544 --> 00:06:01.504 Anke: Hmm, that makes, that makes so much sense. 00:06:02.084 --> 00:06:08.784 So, I remember when my dog Leo, like he crossed the bridge like two years ago, 00:06:08.784 --> 00:06:13.964 when he was like 10 years old, like quite a few years ago now, he all of 00:06:13.964 --> 00:06:15.844 a sudden like couldn't get up, right? 00:06:16.134 --> 00:06:20.449 And I felt that I took him to the vet and they go, well, 00:06:20.459 --> 00:06:21.779 we've never seen this before. 00:06:21.779 --> 00:06:23.469 We have no idea what we're doing here. 00:06:23.969 --> 00:06:28.799 And what occurred to me was Reiki. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:30.259 I don't know. 00:06:30.419 --> 00:06:35.969 I had no idea what I did is I bought a book on animal Reiki, you know? 00:06:35.999 --> 00:06:40.819 And I mean, you know, it wasn't that I didn't know how to feel 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:44.449 the, you know, I'd done yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, all that stuff. 00:06:44.449 --> 00:06:46.469 So I kind of knew what it felt like. 00:06:46.929 --> 00:06:50.169 And I thought, well, okay, what's different about And so 00:06:50.169 --> 00:06:54.979 anyway, I got this book and then I just kind of did what I like. 00:06:55.209 --> 00:07:00.579 Well, I'm happy to report that this dog recovered despite vet's prognosis. 00:07:00.579 --> 00:07:03.509 And he lived another almost seven years happily. 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:06.569 So yeah, there is so much. 00:07:07.799 --> 00:07:09.099 There's so much there that isn't. 00:07:10.059 --> 00:07:10.749 Conventional 00:07:10.749 --> 00:07:11.149 Jeff: knowledge. 00:07:12.869 --> 00:07:12.919 Is that? 00:07:12.929 --> 00:07:16.199 Yeah, and you brought up a really, really, really important point. 00:07:16.249 --> 00:07:22.449 There's individuality, there's happiness, there's nature therapy, but Reiki and 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:26.339 the energy, the body works by energy. 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:29.019 When you're alive, you have energy. 00:07:29.059 --> 00:07:31.419 You're not alive, you don't. 00:07:32.864 --> 00:07:36.864 The car, the gas tank is empty if you don't have the energy, so what 00:07:36.884 --> 00:07:42.594 Reiki does is harness that universal energy that we know is all around 00:07:42.594 --> 00:07:47.444 us, thanks to Einstein, you know, talking about the E equals MC squared. 00:07:48.704 --> 00:07:56.054 And all the studies since then, um, Harnessing that energy is a way to address 00:07:56.484 --> 00:07:59.594 symptoms that can otherwise be addressed. 00:08:00.794 --> 00:08:06.474 And that energy is also the most sustainable and beautiful and 00:08:06.484 --> 00:08:12.974 easy to re employ energy, because that energy is also seen in love. 00:08:13.714 --> 00:08:19.614 Love is energy, and we often talk about love as the most sustainable 00:08:19.624 --> 00:08:25.494 form of energy, and our unconditional love with our animals is gonna 00:08:25.724 --> 00:08:29.234 heal them, and it does heal them, like, like your dog's story. 00:08:31.364 --> 00:08:31.814 Anke: So... 00:08:33.074 --> 00:08:36.804 You were talking about Holistic Actions, and obviously the link's 00:08:36.844 --> 00:08:39.584 gonna be below here, wherever, you know, if you're listening, it's in 00:08:39.654 --> 00:08:43.264 the show notes, if you're on the, on the blog page, it's right here. 00:08:43.644 --> 00:08:45.474 Um, how can people get 00:08:45.514 --> 00:08:46.494 Jeff: involved in that? 00:08:48.594 --> 00:08:51.464 Well, the easiest way is go to holisticactions. 00:08:52.684 --> 00:08:56.554 com and sign up for the free one on one course. 00:08:57.194 --> 00:08:59.664 That gives you the basis for... 00:09:00.174 --> 00:09:02.664 You know, the method that we just spoke about. 00:09:03.284 --> 00:09:06.734 If you want even more, then you can sign up as a community 00:09:06.974 --> 00:09:09.454 member to help their sponsorship. 00:09:10.194 --> 00:09:18.064 Digital resources, we have weekly webinars, uh, there's a 24 7 Q& A forum, 00:09:18.134 --> 00:09:22.244 so if you have any questions you can ask on the forum, and myself and the other 00:09:22.244 --> 00:09:28.674 Vets and other community members will chime in, and I apologize for my voice, 00:09:28.714 --> 00:09:34.959 but My brain and my respiratory muscles don't, they're not connected real well. 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:39.739 So, what's one thing 00:09:39.979 --> 00:09:43.369 Anke: you would want to leave people with, if there was one thing 00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:45.109 you wish people understood, what 00:09:45.499 --> 00:09:45.759 Jeff: would that be? 00:09:47.339 --> 00:09:49.904 One thing is that there is... 00:09:50.614 --> 00:09:53.114 Always another. 00:09:53.894 --> 00:09:57.344 There's more that you can do that there is no one right answer 00:09:57.344 --> 00:10:01.224 to get outside to see nature. 00:10:01.229 --> 00:10:07.794 The beauty of nature, which basically is all that our pets need to heal, is 00:10:07.794 --> 00:10:13.574 to get out and sniff and engage and, you know, be happy, happy, happy, happy. 00:10:14.789 --> 00:10:15.499 Love that. 00:10:15.599 --> 00:10:16.129 Anke: Love that. 00:10:16.129 --> 00:10:17.609 There's nothing more to add. 00:10:17.769 --> 00:10:19.099 Thank you so much. 00:10:19.169 --> 00:10:21.529 And I can't wait to have you back, to be honest. 00:10:22.069 --> 00:10:25.549 I think there's so much more we need to talk about, so I really 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:26.799 look forward to having you back. 00:10:27.939 --> 00:10:28.399 Jeff: Thank you. 00:10:28.409 --> 00:10:28.959 Thanks so much. 00:10:28.979 --> 00:10:30.169 Thanks for having me. 00:10:32.678 --> 00:10:33.908 Thanks so much for listening. 00:10:34.428 --> 00:10:38.728 If you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to subscribe, and leave a review so 00:10:38.828 --> 00:10:40.608 other dog lovers can find the show. 00:10:41.398 --> 00:10:44.888 If you haven't already, head over to soul touched by dogs. 00:10:45.318 --> 00:10:50.888 com and sign up for weekly doggy cuteness tips, recommendations, and personal 00:10:50.988 --> 00:10:53.358 stories to warm your dog loving heart. 00:10:53.358 --> 00:10:57.088 And if you know a pawsome human you think I should interview, 00:10:57.508 --> 00:10:58.648 I'd love an introduction. 00:10:59.128 --> 00:11:00.958 Email me at Anke. 00:11:01.228 --> 00:11:05.463 That's A N k E at Soul touched by dogs.com.