Some dogs find being handled difficult.
And for guardians who are trying to support them, that reality can feel confusing, limiting, and quietly heartbreaking.

In this episode, I am joined by Lucy Tyrrell, a Galen Myotherapist and founder of Pawsitive Touch, for an honest, grounded conversation about consent-based bodywork for dogs — particularly dogs who are touch-averse, reactive, sensitive, or carrying trauma in their bodies.

Together, they explore what it means to truly listen to a dog’s nervous system, how to move away from the idea that care requires compliance, and how guardians can support their dogs without pushing past their boundaries.

As a mama of a dog who finds handling challenging, I know this episode will help other dog mamas who share the frustration of wanting to build a supportive care team, and feeling that some complementary therapies may not be accessible or appropriate for our dogs right now. Fortunately, as Lucy talks about positive and practical ways forward.

This episode is for you if:

• Your dog struggles with being handled by others
• You’ve felt unsure or conflicted about hands-on therapies
• You want to support your dog’s body in a way that feels safe and respectful
• You’re curious about consent-based approaches to care
• You want to learn how to do less forcing and more listening

✨ Stay tuned until the end of the episode, where Lucy shares details about a special online workshop designed to help guardians learn powerful, practical, consent-based massage techniques they can use themselves to support their dogs at home.

This conversation offers a different way forward — one rooted in trust, agency, and meeting the dog in front of you.

To connect with Lucy and learn more about her upcoming workshop on Sunday, 8th February at 12pm UK time, email her at: lucy@caninetherapy.co.uk

To find a Galen Myotherapy practitioner near you:

https://www.galenmyotherapy.com/team

For more information on the Galen Myotherapy Distance Support Programme:

https://www.galenmyotherapy.com/dsp

Connect with me!

Website: https://mysticdogmama.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com

Come join my free Facebook group, FETCH First Light. It’s my sanctuary where soulful dog mamas like you find clarity, confidence, and connection https://facebook.com/groups/fetchfirstlight

Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease, or replace medical guidance. Please speak with your veterinarian.

In this rich and soulful conversation, I’m joined by Anja Žekelj, founder of Wigglebeat, to explore what it really means to heal our dogs, and ourselves, when we move beyond fixing, forcing, or striving for perfection.

Anja shares her journey of working with dogs and the evolution of her Herbal Ball Therapy, a gentle, deeply intuitive modality that supports the nervous system, circulation, and emotional well-being of dogs - especially those who are sensitive, aging, or navigating recovery.

But this conversation goes far beyond any single therapy.

Together, we talk about:

• What it looks like to follow intuition and inner guidance when caring for our dogs, and how to tell the difference between fear and true knowing
• The challenges and shadows of the holistic dog world, including pressure, comparison, and the subtle belief that we should be able to “do it all right”
• Why healing is not the same as fixing, and how acceptance can be one of the most loving and confronting acts of care
• The emotional complexity of supporting a dog through change, decline, or uncertainty
• Anja’s deeply personal experience of caring for her senior dog after a stroke, and what that journey has taught her about presence, grief, trust, and letting go

If you’ve ever felt caught between your heart, your intuition, and the overwhelming noise of “shoulds” in the holistic space, then this episode is for you.

To connect with Anja and learn more about her work, including her upcoming Herbal Ball Therapy workshop, visit her website:

https://wigglebeat.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wigglebeat

Connect with me!

Website: https://mysticdogmama.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mysticdogmama

Come join my free Facebook group, FETCH First Light. It’s my sanctuary where soulful dog mamas like you find clarity, confidence, and connection

https://facebook.com/groups/fetchfirstlight

Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease, or replace medical guidance. Please speak with your veterinarian.

This episode is a little different.

It was recorded outside, on a quiet winter dog walk with Lucky. No polish. Just presence.

As the Winter Solstice arrives I wanted to mark what’s ready to be released, and what’s quietly asking to be carried forward.

In this episode, I share:

• A simple, grounded Winter Solstice ritual you can do with (or without) your dog
• The guiding word I’ve chosen for 2026, and how it emerged not from force, but from feeling
• Reflections on rest, darkness, and the wisdom of not rushing the light

Instead of New Year’s resolutions or becoming a “better” version of yourself, this is about declarations.

It’s about honouring the in-between.
Letting the dark do its work.

Come meet me here, at the threshold.

Connect with me:

https://instagram.com/mysticdogmama

https://mysticdogmama.com

Come join my free Facebook group, FETCH First Light - my sanctuary where soulful dog mamas like you find clarity, confidence, and connection

https://facebook.com/groups/fetchfirstlight

Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease, or replace medical guidance. Please speak with your veterinarian.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by all the things you “should” be doing to live a low-tox life, for yourself or for your dog, this conversation is going to feel like a deep exhale.

I’m joined by Alexx Stuart, founder of Low Tox Life and someone who has spent over a decade exploring what it really means to reduce our toxic load - physically, emotionally, environmentally, and spiritually. Alexx has interviewed more than 450 leading voices in health and wellbeing, but what I love most about her approach is how permission-giving and grounded she is. This isn’t about perfection. It isn’t about throwing everything out or hitting some imaginary benchmark of purity.

It’s about presence.

It’s about starting exactly where you are.

In this episode, we explore:

• Alexx’s personal health journey and how it led her to found Low Tox Life
• The most impactful first steps for reducing toxin load for you and your dog
• Why “start where you’re at” is the foundation of sustainable change
• The emotional and mental toxins that often go overlooked
• How to navigate the destabilisation that can happen when your worldview shifts
• The surprising patterns Alexx has noticed after interviewing more than 450 health and wellbeing experts
• How supporting your dog’s health can become a doorway into deeper self-awareness
• Simple, practical, non-overwhelming changes you can make today

If this episode resonated, please share it with a fellow dog mama who’s craving a simpler, gentler, more conscious approach to supporting her and her dog’s wellbeing.

Connect with Alexx Stuart:

https://lowtoxlife.com

https://instagram.com/lowtoxlife

Connect with me:

https://mysticdogmama.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com

Come join my free Facebook group, FETCH First Light. It’s my sanctuary where soulful dog mamas like you find clarity, confidence, and connection https://facebook.com/groups/fetchfirstlight

Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease, or replace medical guidance. Please speak with your veterinarian.

This episode is an invitation to rethink what “clean,” “healthy,” and “balanced” actually mean - for our dogs, our homes, and the wider living systems we’re part of.

I sit down with Joe Flanagan, founder of Ingenious Probiotics, whose journey into the world of beneficial bacteria began in the most unexpected place: temperature control and air quality. What unfolded from there is a story that reaches far beyond products or protocols. It’s about remembering a way of living that honours life instead of fighting it.

Together we explore the anti-bacterial paradigm so many of us were raised inside, and what really happens when we wipe life away… and the ways Mother Nature inevitably fills the vacuum we create.

We touch on:

🌿 Why bacteria aren’t the enemy, and how they actually support balance on every level
🐾 Dogs as our early warning system (the “canaries in the coal mine” of our modern environment)
🏡 Viewing the home as a living ecosystem, not a battlefield
🧴 The quiet harm of chemical cleaning products and the pressure to sterilise everything
💧 How probiotic cleaning supports harmony, not domination
✨ Why animal lovers are often the ones leading the ecological shift
🌍 Wholeness as a practice

💗 Making choices from love rather than fear, for ourselves and our dogs

What Joe shares isn’t about buying another thing. It’s about a deeper remembering:
*that nature is not something to overpower,
*that our homes are living systems,
*and that our dogs are guiding us toward a more life-affirming way of being.

If you’re longing for a gentler, wiser, more connected approach to health - for yourself, your home, and your dog - this episode is for you!

Connect with Joe Flanagan:

https://ingenious-probiotics.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ingeniousprobiotics

Connect with me:

https://mysticdogmama.com

https://instagram.com/mysticdogmama

Come join FETCH First Light - my sanctuary where soulful dog mamas like you find clarity, confidence, and connection https://facebook.com/groups/fetchfirstlight

Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease, or replace medical guidance. Please speak with your veterinarian.

In this final FETCH First Friday of the year, I’m coming to you solo with a gentle winter reflection for you and your dog.

There are some exciting developments unfolding behind the scenes, and even though I’m here alone this month, I’ll be sharing more with you soon.

Inside this episode:

• Winter as a Sacred PauseWhy the darker months call us to slow down, rest, and tend to our inner roots, and how our dogs naturally model this seasonal wisdom.

• The Water Element + Kidney Support (TCM) Simple ways to nourish the water element in both you and your dog, including warming foods, broths, lifestyle shifts, and energetic themes of the season.

• A Season of ReleaseAs we move from a 9 year into a 1 year (and toward the Year of the Horse in February), this is a natural time to acknowledge what we’ve shed, and what we’re still ready to let go of with gratitude.

• Not “New Year, New You”Why I follow the seasonal wheel instead of rushing into resolutions, and how January can become a month of deep rest, clarity, and seed-planting.

This episode is an invitation to enter winter with softness, presence, and trust — in yourself, your dog, and the slow magic working beneath the surface.

Connect with me!

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mysticdogmama

Website: https://mysticdogmama.com

Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease, or replace medical guidance. Please speak with your veterinarian.

In this second conversation in a series with Deb Matlock - a spiritual ecologist and guide in embodied, Earth-rooted spirituality, and the founder of Wild Rhythms - we move beyond the idea of having one power animal or soul dog and into a more expansive, reciprocal relationship with the wild world.

We explore how connection is our birthright, why your dog is walking beside you on your unique spiritual path, and how every being in your life carries its own medicine.

Together, we dive into intuition, ceremony, meaning-making, and practical ways to open the door to the more-than-human world — without cultural appropriation and without getting lost in rules.

If you’ve ever wondered how to deepen your spiritual relationship with your dog, the land, or the beings you meet along the way, this is your permission slip.

Topics We Explore:

• What “empowered spirituality” really means
• Why our dogs walk with us on our personal spiritual paths
• Rethinking power animals, spirit animals, and soul dogs
• How to honour your own ancestry and lived experience
• Why seeking just one special guide can limit your spiritual growth
• How to validate your own intuitive experiences and simple, practical tools to check in with your intuition

Mentioned in this episode: Emily Esfahani Smith, The Power of Meaning

Connect with Deb Matlock

Website: https://wild-rhythms.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wildrhythms

Connect with me!

Website: https://mysticdogmama.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com

Come join my free Facebook Facebook group, my sanctuary where soulful dog mamas like you find clarity, confidence, and connection https://facebook.com/groups/fetchfirstlight

In this episode, Deb Matlock, a professional nature-based spiritual life coach and a nature connection practitioner and educator for more than 25 years, and I explore what it means to live in deeper relationship with the more-than-human world. We talk about wild rhythms, junction points, and the moment we’re living in - a moment when old systems are falling away and new forms of kinship are calling us forward.

Deb shares how her childhood bond with her dog Jenny, and a lifetime of connection with animals and the outdoors, led her into environmental education, life coaching, and nature-based work. Together, we look at kinship as re-membering - bringing the members back into a world shaped by extractive models - and what shifts when we understand “community” as all beings, not just humans.

We explore communication with other species, reimagining ceremony, and creating the kind of inner spaciousness where wisdom can land. We sit with the hard, beautiful questions too: What does it mean to be human among so many beings? Why are our particular dogs with us? How do we bring our wild soul forward and be of service to the highest good each day?

We also touch on how AI might offer new perspectives on interdependence - and how empathy, when allowed to lead, changes everything.

This episode is an invitation to remember that there is no real disconnection, only the perception of it - and that every relationship, especially the one with our dogs, can guide us back into the wild web we’re already part of.

Connect with Deb Matlock

Website: https://wild-rhythms.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wildrhythms

Connect with me!

Website: https://mysticdogmama.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com

Come join my free Facebook Facebook group, my sanctuary where soulful dog mamas like you find clarity, confidence, and connection https://facebook.com/groups/fetchfirstlight