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, welcome Ivy.
I can't tell you how much I look forward to this conversation.
Ivy: Me too.
Anke: So yeah, a little Asia is our start today, but before we talk about
Asia, let's talk about Ivy for a second.
So where are you based?
What's The day job, you know, give people like the two minute, but it's
Ivy: Ivey.
Sure, um, well, I'm Ivey Wolf Turk, uh, I'm a certified professional coach, uh,
workshop facilitator, uh, inspirational speaker, and a champion of freedom.
And, um, I live in New York, specifically in Long Island City,
right across the river from the UN in the Empire State Building.
And, um, I'm multifaceted in that I have many buckets, uh, that I coach in
both for individuals and for groups.
And I work with people to really support them in moving from the life or career
that they have to the one that maybe they haven't yet even dared to dream.
And that's done, um, in an individual coaching way and in a group format, and,
um, I have two very specific audiences.
Um, I've developed, um, an organization called Project Liberation, which for
the last 10 years has served women who are coming home from prison and taught
them emotional literacy, really fostered emotional intelligence and self worth,
and over the years it occurred to me it shouldn't take, um, cement walls and
bars to for a person to find their worth.
And so I'm in the process of creating a liberated life for people
who feel stuck or in transition.
And stay tuned because it's evolving and will be launched first quarter of 2024.
I
Anke: love that.
I love that because it is so true.
Like, you know, prison can take a million different forms, can't it?
Ivy: We find our way, you know, being imprisoned is another way to say stuck.
And as one who has experienced real prison, we'll save
that for another podcast.
I know what it is to have limited movement and freedom or the perception
that one has limited resources and movement and freedom and one's
greatest adversity can really become one's greatest curriculum for growth.
Mind Tour has, so.
Anke: Definitely, it definitely has.
So, So, since we're here to talk about soul touched by dogs, and you
clearly have a soul that's been touched
by
Ivy: dogs.
I do, and if you would give me a moment, the soul of my dog is
growling, which she never does.
She must know that we're speaking about her.
So I'd like to bring her into view.
I'm just going to get up and get her.
I
Anke: would love to.
I would love to.
Please bring her.
Ivy: Because she is quite a personality.
She's super cute.
Um.
Thank you.
is probably hungry and angling for a goodie at the moment.
So give me one moment and we will meet Miss Asia.
Never stop looking forward.
Come here, you little munchkin.
We're going to introduce you on the podcast.
Say hello.
Anke: I was hoping we're going to see this little sweet pup.
She's
Ivy: so cute.
So this is Asia who came into my life very serendipitously at
a time when I was in mourning.
I was, um, would you like me to talk about this of how, how her soul sort of.
I would love you to.
Yeah.
Okay, so she, um, I had had Lukey, um, who was a Maltese poodle, family dog, um,
with us for almost 14 and a half years.
And in the last year of his life, um, He took ill.
He had a heart thing happen, and it was a downward spiral that both my daughter
and I, um, my son was living abroad, so he wasn't really involved, so it, we really,
um, almost bankrupted ourselves to find a solution for this, this heart ailment.
And it worked for a while, and then, um, actually, on the Jewish holiday
of Yom Kippur, when technically the book closes for the following year,
he spit out his pills and couldn't move, and basically, it felt to me
like he was saying, Mom, I'm done.
And I watched his body expanding.
I ran through the streets of New York to the vet and she looked at
me and she said, We've won a lot of battles, but we've lost the war.
It's time.
He's dying.
And so, um, Luki died that day and it was a grief that I never, ever
could have understood, uh, prior.
I don't know if I was hallucinating, if I just somehow believed.
That he was never gonna die, you know, I was, I mean, I was an experienced
dog owner at that point, almost 15 years later, but somehow had never
grappled with the death thing.
It was devastating.
It was as if a part of me had been ripped out and I'm a very emotional
woman and had experienced grave.
a human loss in my life and somehow this was different.
It was, it, it was gripping.
And my daughter, um, also, cataclysmically sad, said, Mom,
we're never getting another dog.
And I said, I know, I mean, you know, we can't.
Well, fast forward a few weeks.
I'm at a charity event.
I'm given, um, an opportunity to buy some raffles.
I do.
Many of the people around me are winning trips all over the world.
And what do I win?
But an evening session with a woman named Psychic Cindy.
Now I'd never spoken to a psychic before, this was kind of like, okay.
And I'll fast forward, I get on the call and the woman says, he's
been trying to get in all day.
And I said, Oh, I'm so sorry.
Like if You'd like I can call you back and reschedule and she said, no, no,
no, no, there's a little dog on my lap that wants to send you an angel.
He's very impatient and I'm thinking, okay, this is twilight, Sony.
Anyway, she starts to tell me that there's an object on her dining room table.
Oh, hello.
Um, that he's insisting she photograph and send to me and that item.
is a candle that looks like two ghosts holding the candle.
And she sends the photograph and says, does this mean anything to you?
It didn't.
I mean, a ghost, two ghosts holding a candle?
No, it didn't mean anything to me.
Okay, the rest of the call was as bone chilling.
My father came through, my nephew Vera came through.
This was really quite a first psychic experience.
If one was not a believer, one left that call.
Really questioning.
And two weeks went by and the phone rang and it was a friend I had not
seen or spoken to in two years.
And she said, I've, aside from catching up, I've rescued a little dog and I
thought Lukey might be getting old at this point and it would be nice
to have a little young energy around.
And so I said, Oh, Lukey just died.
I can't even talk about it, you know, and we, she said, well,
that's more reason that you should.
Have a dog.
The only thing is this little one bites and I'm working with him and I said, well,
that's not going to work because I'm about to become a grandmother in a few months.
Can't have a newborn and a biting dog.
She said, come out and meet him.
I, I, I think you should.
Okay.
Went out to Long Island, met the dog, and she said, well, I guess you can't
take Ghost home because he bit me.
Not, not a big bite, just, and I went, what did you just call him?
She said, oh, I named him Ghost.
Okay, now I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm almost hyperventilating because now the angel
that Lukey sent is Ghost, the biting dog.
So I tell Tina the story, her eyes are rolling, and she said, All right,
I'm going to really try to train him.
You know, he was traumatized, blah, blah, blah.
Okay, a few weeks go by.
The baby is born, and she said, she calls and says, Okay.
Lukey has not given up.
Ghost is still biting, but Ghost's mother had a hookup with
a chihuahua in the backyard.
Ghost's mother is a Maltese, and from the backyard hookup, there is a
litter, and they, it's the same trashy family, and the doggies are like
muddled in bubblegum and leaves and mulch, and I'm grabbing one for you.
I said, Tina, like, she said, this is Luke, this is Luke's
soul is sending you this gift.
This is Ghost's half sister and I'm sending you a girl.
Well, never stop looking forward because this is my baby who I got.
Tina kept her.
Until she was eight weeks old, we, you know, we couldn't bring her into the city.
And this little being is the most loving, kind, smart companion.
And of course, right after that, the following March, the pandemic hit and.
She has been my constant companion.
She has become the best friend of the baby.
They've grown up together.
Tali and Asia are dearest and best friends.
Um, Asia is just, she's She's determined, she's strong, she's
smart, she loves to go shopping, she loves to eat, although she's picky
and has quite a sophisticated palate.
Um, she's resilient.
Um, this past year, um, there was a rat infestation in New York City along
the riverfront and we didn't know.
It's a place that we walk every day.
And, um, somehow she must have licked or eaten some rat poison and became
violently ill when I finally, you know, vomiting and pooping blood.
I mean, when I finally got her to the ER, um, they said we didn't know, you
know, we don't know if she can make it and she resiliently came through it.
Um, really forced me to look at readjusting her whole gut biome from the
poisoning and putting her on probiotics and changing her food and going way more
holistic than medical model, which I am personally, um, for me as a human.
And now she's on the most wonderful, natural, fresh food.
You know, the universe provided, they opened an outlet right down the
block from us, so we'd go there and we'd get everything fresh, um, or
freeze dried, you know, from fresh.
And she's really healthy, I mean, you can see she's lean and, and strong.
So cute!
Really, really, um, present, you know, she understands human words, she, um,
It's almost like she just gets it.
She knows when we're going to the subway.
She knows when we're going on the ferry.
Um, she loves other dogs.
It's a piece that people
Anke: often underestimate, right?
So it's that piece because they don't have language, you know.
You know how there's this saying when people always say,
Oh, I wish they could talk.
And I'm like, they don't need to.
You know, they have a million ways to communicate.
They don't, you know, they don't need.
words to understand what's going on.
They don't really need words to communicate.
If we pay enough attention to, to
Ivy: listen, you know, If you're really tuned in, no different than with a spouse
or a friend or a client, if you're really tuned in to listen, to really bring
your curiosity, okay, to really, um, pick up on the unspoken body language.
You really have an opportunity to convene with a dog in a way
where you have the freedom of no words and an unspoken language.
No judgment, although she'll judge something.
For example, when she sees a suitcase come out from under the bed, she gets really
nasty, like starts walking on my feet, like following me around, um, that may not
sound nasty, but it's almost like, I don't want you to go, I don't want you to go.
She's like gripping on.
The last trip I took was a visit, a quick visit to visit my daughter in Mexico
City, and I went to the bathroom, and when I came out, Asia was in a suitcase.
She had jumped in the suitcase and was just burrowed away.
You know, you were supposed to take me, and now you're not, like, boo hoo on you.
So, it's really quite remarkable what they know, and how they figure out.
Um, what's important and, you know, the comfort at night, you know, Asia
waits for me, um, to like finish whatever I'm doing in the evening.
She knows when the light goes off in the living room that she turns on her
belly as if to say, okay, bedtime.
Um, and you don't get to growl because you think you deserve a goody now,
although I will give you one because you have been wonderful and I know you have.
Um, you know, I'm going to walk with you to, to the goodies.
Um, so, you know, she, she then gets into bed and she lays down and she completely
waits for me to settle in, to get my final position, and then she spoons me.
And she lays there, you know, I'm a pretty peaceful sleeper, but she
lays there spooned in all night long.
You couldn't hope for a better companion.
And you know, especially when it's cold and that warmth of
her little body is, is in there.
She's just, it's quite remarkable.
The knowing of, of, of her, her, it's her soul.
Like she is my, my, my best girlfriend.
Anke: See, that's why I wanted to have this conversation because
it's not like just the doll, right?
Or it's, there is that, there is that, that connection that, that, um, you
know, and there was, there's, there's another episode on, on this show where,
you know, where there's A coach who actually works with men who find they can
be themselves around their dog and their struggle with the people in their lives,
you know, like that kind of perfectly makes sense because they are there for us
and have like, there is that connection.
If you allow it, there's that connection that is pretty hard to do,
kind of like achieve with other human beings, you know, because they just
don't have all the monkey mind BS.
Ivy: No, and you know, there's another benefit of having a friend dog slash dog.
Um, I've gone through a lot of adversity, um, and some illness this past summer.
And, um, you know, When you're, when things are upended and you're in that
first moment of not seeing the opportunity and the adversity and you're feeling a
little sorry for yourself, Asia always reminds me how a, I woke up that morning
and how fortunate I am to be alive.
And then is so, um, complicit.
in getting me up, getting me out into nature, into um, really appreciating
um, the day, you know, and the evening, you know, like we just had the most
magnificent full moon last Friday and I'm, you know, I was engrossed, A
friend was visiting and I was engrossed in a conversation and Asia nudged me
like as if to say, Mom, I need a walk.
Um, which is another thing, no words, just looks at me, nudges a little
bit, like she, I know when she's hungry, she has a way, I know when
she, it's time for, you know, walk.
She knows when I'm spelling O U T because I'm stalling.
Like, it's just a language.
And we went out and she paused at at a very different spot than we
would normally walk and looked up and there was this harvest moon.
It was the most magnificent, powerful, light filled moment
and she just directed me to it.
So I believe she knows a lot more than I even know she knows.
I know she knows when I'm sad, when I'm crying, she'll appear
out of nowhere and lick my tears.
She's a very tuned in soul.
And my soul has been touched in a way that even my children who at
first, you know, were like, Mom, how could you get another dog?
Luke is dead a year.
And it was like, wait a minute.
He's not, Luke was not my Jewish husband.
And I'm not even religious.
That's like an orthodox thing.
Like, come on.
And, you know, They've all fallen in love with her.
I mean, it's just assumed as my children have moved abroad, one set to Berlin,
one to Mexico City, it's assumed.
Well, did you get Asia chip?
Did you get Asia shots?
Did you, you know, and I'm having a conflict now because Europe
requires a second chip and a rabies shot a month before.
You actually arrived in Germany and Asia had her rabies shot, like to
give her another dose, like, I'm thinking maybe we should just leave
her home for a week and not schlep her
Anke: through this.
I think so, yeah, but that's like, yeah, no, I think like we could kind of, I
think that that's a whole, that's a whole, that's more of the topic, I think
this whole idea of, um, yeah, traveling, that's the whole point, yeah, definitely.
Well, thank you, thank you so much because I think You know, like, we've often had
these conversations where, you know, when you sort of, you're out with friends and
you kind of want to go home because you feel like the dog's been alone for so
long, and I think a lot of people don't get that, you know, and that's, I think,
one of the reasons I even wanted to kind of create this, this space or whatever you
want to call it to, to share these stories so that if, if somebody's listening and
go, well, I'm that person who kind of, you know, connects with my dog on, on a
level that's well beyond what, you know, traditionally you might've been taught
that, um, yeah, you're onto something.
You're not wrong.
You're not ridiculous.
It's, uh, I think.
There's so much to see and I'm really grateful that you've come
and shared and even like got a little Asia on on screen so
Ivy: that was wonderful.
Thank you Anke.
You know you and I have shared this passion uh through our professional
relationship through you know the last couple of years and um I've watched this
being born and I think you, you are on to something major that, A, you're passionate
about and what you're finding is that there are those of us who, yes, have been
made wrong, like, oh, the dog will be fine, come on, you're going to give up
going to this nightclub or that thing, or you're not going to stay at the party?
And it's like, Okay, you can think I'm crazy.
Um, I'm not fanatical, you know, but leaving her more than a couple, you
know, of hours or not having somebody hired to come relieve her, so she's
sitting there holding in a discomfort, like, so, you know, I, I have an arsenal
of trusted and wonderful dog sitters now, and I'm not stopping my life.
It's professionally important and humanly important for me, you
know, to be able to meet a friend, go to a movie, have a dinner.
Well, that's sometimes too long a stretch.
Yeah.
But I make sure that she's cared for no different than I wouldn't
leave an infant unattended.
Exactly.
And Asia is not an infant.
She's four and a half.
But she doesn't deserve to suffer.
And anyone who doesn't understand that, oh well.
They can
Anke: just go have a nice life, right?
Well thanks, thank you so much and I'll
Ivy: talk to you soon.
Thank you for your mission, Anke.
It's beautiful.
Bye.
Thanks so much for listening.
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That's A N k E at Soul touched by dogs.com.