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, Tessa.
I'm very excited to have you here today.
Tessa: Thank you for having me.
I'm excited about that too.
Anke: Awesome.
Awesome.
So, well, let's start out as we always start out.
Let people know where in this lovely world you're based and
what's your business with dogs?
Tessa: I am based in Nova Scotia, Canada, which is, uh, for the last seven years.
Before that, I originally I'm from the Netherlands and there after that in
Norway, so I have traveled a little bit, but I'm here to stay and um,
um, my business, I started here and my business is called Puzzle Dog.
Anke: Well, you like it cold then, don't you?
Tessa: I like, yeah,
Anke: I always kind of scrape around the cold, cold edges.
Tessa: I really don't mind winters, no.
Anke: That's funny.
So Puzzle Dog, bye!
Well, I'm thinking puzzle.
I'm thinking dog.
So how did they come together?
What does it mean?
Tessa: Yeah.
I think many, many people talk these days, talk about, um, a canine enrichment and,
uh, most people are familiar with that.
But, um, um, my puzzle,
Puzzle craziness roots from a long time ago when my dog Puck was still
a puppy, um, or like six months old.
And I started to do puzzles with her using the Dutch method herschenwerk.
So, and herschenwerk is an, uh, Translated, it's just
brain work to make it easier.
It's a method where we are really looking at connection and and at Making a puzzle
session as beneficial as it can be.
And, um, that's how I came to the name Puzzle Dog, where I help people, um,
introduce that method with, um, to, yeah, to do puzzles with their dog.
And it's mainly, um, homemade puzzles, but, um, of course I love the store bought
puzzles as well, so we use those too.
Um, and, and, and that's where the name comes from, and it's just, so it's all
about mental, mental stimulation for dogs.
Anke: That's so cool.
It's such a cool name.
It's like, it's kind of like, it's almost like you can't unsee it.
Now, so I'm interested in a bunch of things.
First of all, what's the main benefit of mental stimulation for a dog?
And, Like, how does it actually work?
Because in my mind, I looked at your Instagram account, right?
And I'm like, seeing all these bits and bobs on the floor there.
And I'm like, oh, that looks like Ace Free work, right?
So what's, what's the
Tessa: difference?
The, the Hashaware method is, is not what you see on my Instagram right now.
That's, uh, uh, That is a method where you just work with one puzzle or one thing
to solve and where the, where the dog and the owner are both involved and where
you work together and so you're, that's a thing that is, um, about bonding and,
and the, I think, Activating the Seeking System, so releasing all those happy
hormones, making the dog feel calmer, growing confidence, all those benefits.
What you also see with H3 work, you also see with, um, with doing
puzzles the Herschenberg way.
What you see on my website is my sensory room, which actually after I, I, I
started out as, uh, with Herschenberg, but then of course studied more.
So I did a lot of A3 work courses, um, with Sarah Fisher, and then I
became a dynamic dog practitioner.
Um, and with all that knowledge, my, uh, My sensory room was developed,
which is a mixture of everything I know.
And that's what you see on my Instagram.
So that's,
Anke: so that means it's not surprising that it kind of looks
a little similar, but it's, it's basically, so, I mean, let me kind of
Repeat back to what I'm hearing here.
So the difference between like Ace Freework, the idea is like you set
all these different things up and the dog goes in there and you're only,
and the whole point is that your dog can just potter around by themselves
and your only job is to observe versus what you're saying in the puzzles.
It's like, You are actually there, literally, like, you're
kind of doing it together.
It's like, if you, you're not just sending your kids in the playroom,
you actually play with your kid.
Tessa: Actually, in the sensory room, I do send the dog, the
dog out and, and, and observe.
But with Hersheywerk, so when I do one puzzle at a time, I am there.
But if I set up my sensory room, it is more like a free work, but In
Ace Freerunner, they also do, uh, interaction games, like counting
games, those kind of interaction games with the dog, and I don't do that.
So, I stay away from, from, from the dog.
I really let them be on their own.
Anke: To figure out the puzzles.
Do you, have you ever had a case where like, if a dog's just not interested in
the puzzle or, or like, how do you, like, do they know what to do with the thing?
Like, if there's something on, on the floor, like, do they know what to do?
Tessa: No, no, but we, we get it.
It's a little bit mixed up, of course, now.
When I have, um, uh, my Hairstromeric puzzles, I'm there.
So I have only one puzzle between me and the dog and we can work on it together.
So I start extremely easy.
And that's actually the power of Hairstromeric, where we do it in
tiny little steps, look at the dog.
What can you handle?
What can you solve?
When do you get frustrated?
Uh, do we need to take a step back?
Do we need to take a step forward?
Can you go faster?
Um, and, and because The human is so close, um, you can really look at the
tiny little signs the dog gives you and then you're able to step in when
needed and back out when needed too.
But it's, it's really what, what you will see if you, if you would look at,
My, the first videos I took with my dog Puck, um, we were communicating in big
words to say that like, like, we needed a lot of things to communicate and now
it's like her tiny ear is like wiggling or her, her body says something and I know
what she means and it's the same for her.
Fresh record on my phone.
She knows she can start and in the earlier days, I told
her you can you can start now.
And so we had in those ten years we do this together.
We have.
optimized our communication in such a way that we are able to read
each other in the, in tiny letters.
Anke: Oh, I love that.
I love that.
And I mean, that makes, that makes, I mean, it feels, it makes a lot of
sense because in a way what you're just describing, it sounds like, oh, so you
were setting your dog up for lots and lots of little successes along the way.
And And so the little dopamine hits, but I think you also get to
know each other and understand each other on a whole different level.
And that would translate outside of the playroom as well, don't it?
Tessa: Yeah, immediately.
Yes.
You know each other so well that you, and you are also so focused on
on that communication.
So even if you don't know what your dog tells you yet, because it's
something new, then you know that they are telling you something.
So you are open for that communication once you have learned to look for it.
So, and that translates into everything in life.
If we are in the mood of always training our dogs and always telling them what to
do, um, then our focus is not that much on what they communicate back to us.
Yeah, that makes sense.
And, and, and with Herzberg, it's their, their thing.
And we, we are literally sitting on a, uh, a couple of square meters and,
and, and communicating with each other.
And, and that's the beautiful thing about it, that you are really,
will really be able to learn to, to get to know your dog better.
And I have had people that have an amazing bond with their dog
already are like, I didn't think it would become better, but it did.
Anke: Wow, wow, that's incredible.
So what do people, do people usually have specific.
Outcome in mind, like if somebody comes to you or it says Tessa,
can we do some puzzle dog work?
I want to do a puzzle dog with my dog.
Like is there usually, is that, is it just because of curiosity or do they
come and say, hey, can this help with X?
So what does usually inspire somebody to come to you?
Tessa: Most of the time it's people that are interested to learn more, um, to
get more of the benefits, maybe because their dog is always tearing stuff apart
or is just throwing things around or, um, They don't know how to make the session
relaxed and calm and in a way that they are actually learning from each other.
So they struggle with setting up a puzzle session.
But I also guide people who have senior dogs, for example, that are, um, changing
their ways in life and that are, uh, yeah, harder to understand because they
were, used to be like this and now all of a sudden they see changes going on.
And I, I created a program for that.
And also for dogs that have physical issues, like they have, um, had surgery
or they have Something that stays there.
What is, what is, um, yeah, making them not be able to do a lot of
walks or, or less physical exercise.
And, um, people always say, yeah, you just have to do enrichment with those dogs.
And I have something like, oh, but you need to do that safely because you can't.
Can actually re hurt a dog when you just give them a treat ball on the slippery
floor and let them figure it out.
Yeah.
Anke: So, I mean, are there different kind of gadgets or tools or, you know,
like how would you say if I'm now going and like, okay, look, you know, Mrs.
Goofball Leia, you know, I would love to see what she does because she's actually
quite like, usually in normal life, you always think, boy, that dog's too.
Too clever for our own good, right?
So if I'm thinking, hey, we want to do a puzzle, like, where would I start?
Like, what do I need?
Where, how do I go about it?
Could I do it on my own?
Or would I need, kind of, would I need you to help me set it
up so I don't do it wrong?
So, what would you say?
How to get started?
Tessa: The best thing to get started is I gave you a link to a little mini course
and that actually describes how do you set up, how do you structure your session,
and what materials can you think about.
So, um, That little, that will help you a lot to just get started with your dog.
My number one material to use is just a towel.
So, um, if people want to get started and, and, um, um, I always tell them
just grab a towel and don't start with the famous towel roll because you'll
probably see your dog just, um, biting holes in it or shaking it or whatever.
And that's because you didn't give the manual.
Um, Um, and, and so I like to have the towel flat on the floor with a
tiny little bit wrinkles in there, just sprinkle some treats and
let the dog just sniff those out.
And then you start to scrunch it up more and more and more.
So the sniffing becomes more and more intense.
I like with the Hirszenberg method, you like to stay under the high excitement
threshold, strong emotions, what, whether they are happy or Frustrated or angry
or whatever they are, strong emotions don't help you when you want to think.
And, um, so when you are a little bit frustrated, you are really
in the mode to solve something.
But if you tip over the edge, It doesn't help anymore.
So, uh, that's where, that's where I try to look at where is this dog?
How does this dog feel?
And do I need to make it more difficult or do I need to make it easier?
Anke: That makes sense.
That makes sense.
So you see in your experience, so how often does somebody like kind of, is that
something you do every day or do you think like, oh, you know, every now and then in
conjunction with something else, or how do you, what, what would you recommend?
Tessa: It depends on the, on the, the schedule of the humans themselves.
I always say do something what fits you, because if you do it, uh, if you, if you
think I have to do this daily or I have to do this twice daily or three times
a week, then it's the have to, which takes the fun out of it for you yourself.
So it needs to fit in your own schedule.
Um, and, We, uh, we developed a, uh, uh, uh, a system that every coffee
time and tea time, we are demanding puzzles in this household, but that's
just how we do it, and I never tell people that they need to do it the same
way, because if it doesn't fit in your schedule, it's not going to happen, and
it's not going to be fun, and you're not going to be able to just be there.
Anke: Yeah, that makes sense.
So how long is a session?
Like, I would imagine it wouldn't be that long.
Like, you're not sitting there for two hours, banging all about.
Tessa: I would say anything between 5 and 20 minutes.
Yeah.
Anke: And so is that true?
Is that like, I heard that the, you know, that like sort of when, when dogs
like sniff and are engaged like that, it tires them out more than a long walk.
Is that your, is that your experience as well?
Tessa: It tires them out in a different way.
So the one is the physical, uh, fatigue and the other one is mental fatigue.
So, um, I, I wouldn't replace one with the other because they dogs need both.
Uh, you want a strong and healthy body as well, but in on a rainy day, you
surely can do an extra session or, or whatever, just to, uh, make sure you.
Get some fun activity together.
Anke: Yeah, so it's, it's about more than anything about the
bond, about the communication, about understanding each other.
It's about the dog being able to, I don't know, like, relax and
kind of self regulate in a sense.
And, and basically everybody's having a bit of fun with it.
Tessa: Yes, yeah, and that's what you want to try to do, and a great example
is like, for example, the adolescence dogs, where we humans are having a
time that it's hard to, to just stay positive at times, right, because those
brains go all over the place, and it's hard for us to not get frustrated with,
with a lot of our adolescent dogs.
And then a herschenberg session, where you don't ask them to do
something where they have to.
where they have to do something.
So then you can just find out what does work for this dog and how does
he, is he able to relax a little bit?
And, and the human can just be with him and enjoy that too.
And, and actually also see, Oh, I do have a great dog here.
We get out on the other side as well.
Anke: That's so true.
That's so true.
Actually, it's funny because I literally spoke to somebody yesterday who
said, you know, of course, I've got a lovely, whatever the dog was, can't
remember, but it's like, well, but it's still like in that teenage phase,
you know, like it's the right nutcase.
Yeah.
Tessa: So that
Anke: would help a lot then.
Tessa: Yeah.
And those are the moments that you, it's sometimes so hard to see the fun dog you
thought you had, because it's, it's, it's.
Can be so such a struggle to deal with them.
And then if you have a, uh, that you use the way I use, then you can just
start to see those 10 minutes in a day that you really have an awesome
dog and that you will, that you eventually will get out of it again.
Anke: Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
So you mentioned the little mini course that I've of course seen.
Um, let people know where they can, I mean obviously the link to the mini course,
we're going to pop that in the show notes.
Where can people go to get in touch with you to find out more about your work?
Tessa: Um, the best way to find me is on, uh, on My Facebook page and of
course on my website, puzzle dog.ca.
And I also have the Instagram account, which is called Puzzle Puck because
Puzzle Dog was taken and, and I always call my dog Puzzle Puck as a hashtag.
So that's what in Instagram became
. Anke: That's awesome.
I love it.
Well, thank you so much.
This was delightful.
I'm gonna almost like, oh, I can't wait to see what Mrs.
Goofball layer does with that.
Tessa: Me, me too.
Send
Anke: me a video.
I will, I will.
Thank you so much and I'll have to talk to you again soon.
Yes, thank you.
Thanks so much for listening.
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That's A N k E at Soul touched by dogs.com.