When behaviour begins in the body

When a dog struggles with anxiety, impulsivity, or reactivity, the conversation almost always starts with training.

But what if behaviour doesn’t only begin with what we see on the outside? What if part of the story begins inside the body - in the gut, the nervous system, and the nutrients that shape them both?

In this episode, I’m joined by fellow canine nutrition consultant and behaviour professional Sam van Eggermond for a fascinating conversation exploring the emerging connections between nutrition, the gut microbiome, and behaviour in dogs.

Sam’s journey into this work began in shelters and rescue environments, supporting dogs with complex behavioural challenges. Over time, she started noticing patterns. Many of the dogs struggling most with anxiety, impulsivity, or reactivity were also dealing with digestive issues, sensitivities, or diets that simply weren’t supporting their physiology.

Those observations sparked a deeper investigation into nutrition and the gut microbiome - as well as a critical look at some of the research shaping behaviour advice today.

In this conversation, Sam brings both curiosity and nuance to a rapidly evolving field. Together, we explore how behaviour might sometimes be a biological signal as much as a training challenge, and why supporting the body can be an important part of supporting the mind.

In this episode we explore

• Sam’s early work in shelters and rescues, and how it shaped her approach to behaviour and nutrition
  • The patterns she began noticing between digestive health and behavioural challenges
  • How nutrition and the gut microbiome may influence stress, mood, and emotional regulation in dogs
  • Why some studies on diet and behaviour deserve closer scrutiny
  • Questions guardians can begin asking when their dog is struggling with anxiety or reactivity
  • The vision behind the UK Centre for Canine Reactivity and Aggression dedicated to supporting dogs with complex behaviours, and the guardians who love them

To learn more and connect with Sam:

https://www.ukccra.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/ukcaninereactivity/

https://www.instagram.com/feedingcaninebehaviour/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576355878714

Connect with me!

Website: https://mysticdogmama.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mysticdogmama

Come join my free Facebook group, 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.

Around 80% of the world’s dogs are free-roaming, living in streets, villages, and communities alongside people rather than inside homes. Yet much of what we believe about dog welfare, safety, and rescue comes from a Western model of dog ownership.

In this episode, I’m joined by Vanessa of Spicy Dogs, a certified canine behaviour consultant based in Sri Lanka who helps adopters of village and street dogs understand behaviour through the lenses of ethology, trauma awareness, and co-regulation — building trust rather than control.

Together we explore the complexity of street dog lives, the tensions that arise when Western rescue impulses meet different cultural realities, and the deeper question: what actually makes a good life for a dog?

In this episode we discuss:

• What daily life looks like for street and village dogs
• Why the narrative of constant suffering can miss the richness of their lives
• How language and labels shape the way we see “street dogs”
• When rescue helps — and when it can unintentionally cause harm
• What can change when dogs are removed from their cultural and ecological context
• How different cultures understand dog welfare
• What street dogs might teach us about living alongside dogs rather than controlling them

This is a thoughtful, sometimes uncomfortable conversation that invites us to loosen our grip on what we think dogs should be - and see them through a wider cultural and ecological lens.

To connect with Vanessa:

https://instagram.com/spicydogsbehaviour

Connect with me!

Website: https://mysticdogmama.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mysticdogmama

Come join my free Facebook group, 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.

What if the future of dog care isn’t about better obedience…but about deeper safety?

In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, I sit down with Dr Laura Donaldson and Annie Phenix to explore their new course, Transformation and Healing: New Paradigms for You and Your Dog - and the larger shift happening in the world of canine care.

We begin by honouring the late Sarah Fisher, whose work invited us to learn from our dogs rather than simply lead or manage them. Her legacy threads through this entire conversation.

This episode challenges the long-held paradigm of compliance in our relationships with dogs. Instead of focusing on obedience and suppression of behaviour, we explore what becomes possible when we centre:

• Deep safety
• Emotional wellbeing
• Agency
• Resilience
• Trust
• Social support

We discuss what it means to become trauma-informed in our approach, and why that shift is transformative, not additive.

We explore:

✨ Why compliance has shaped traditional dog training - and why it’s time to question it✨ Dogs as somatic beings (and how we’ve forgotten that we are too)✨ The intelligence and wisdom of all life forms - and dismantling the “humans at the top” worldview✨ Getting curious about behaviour instead of correcting it✨ The links between pain, nutrition, and behaviour✨ The power of a collaborative care team (vet, behaviour professional, nutrition consultant)✨ Becoming your dog’s advocate - and how that often becomes the path to advocating for yourself

We also speak to something many of us feel but rarely name:

Your dog may be your greatest teacher.Your “difficult” dog may be your healer in disguise.

At the heart of this conversation is love - the kind that truly witnesses. The kind that listens. The kind that believes healing is possible.

Because we can heal from trauma.And so can our dogs.

And how embodied, courageous kindness is what moves us forward.

If you’ve ever felt there must be another way to be with your dog, then this episode is for you.

Join Dr Laura’s and Annie’s course, Transformation & Healing: New Paradigms for Our Lives With Dogs, here:

⁠https://laura-s-school-1f3f.thinkific.com/courses/transformationhealing?fbclid=IwY2xjawQAV3lleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETJqQzdOVUcyOXdIeVdqeDlqc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHg6HnXe2NeStkigpItMingJ2som3QK1q4b0pJ6ON7I0dCHT2xJ_SBOkZojfb_aem_x3TJVAo1bWFCVqDgbLRE4Q⁠

Join Annie’s free group The Canine Trauma Clinic here:

⁠https://community.caninetraumaclinic.com/invitation?code=G6686B⁠

Connect with me!

Website: ⁠https://mysticdogmama.com⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com⁠/mysticdogmama

Come join my free Facebook group, 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.

What if the longings you feel, the questions about leadership, intuition, service, and responsibility… are not random at all?

What if the being guiding you into them is the one lying at your feet?

In this profound and wide-ranging conversation, I sit down with Kiki Keskinen, founder of Witch School Canada, to explore what it means to become a woman who can trust herself in a time when the world is asking for new forms of leadership.

Together we wander through history, lineage, and the living, breathing practice of embodiment.

We talk about witches — not as aesthetics or trends — but as women committed to deep listening: to the land, to ancestors, to other generations, to one another, and to the animals walking beside us.

And yes… we talk about dogs as familiars, initiators, and mirrors.

Because again and again, they ask us the same sovereign question:

Who am I?
And where are we headed together?

Inside this episode, we explore:

✨ how the conquering of the wild is intertwined with the conquering of women
✨ what feminine leadership looks like as old systems unravel
✨ the role of the crone in our particular moment in history
✨ expanding our understanding of motherhood (hello, Mystic Dog Mamas)
✨ the medicine of discernment
✨ learning to serve rather than control
✨ why trusting yourself is a practice
✨ shapeshifting as a skill we urgently need right now
✨ and simple beginning exercises to strengthen your intuitive muscle

This conversation is both philosophical and practical, ancestral and immediate.

It will meet you wherever you are on your path - whether you’re just beginning to sense your intuition or already feeling the call to lead, to protect life, and to participate in healing our relationship with the Earth.

Your dog may have brought you here.

Let’s listen.

For more information on Witch School Canada, please visit https://witchschool.ca

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.

Our dogs have a way of ushering us into the exact lessons we need.

In this episode, I’m joined by psychologist and resilience specialist Dr Kate Lund to talk about what happens when the life we imagined falls apart — and how we build something meaningful on the other side.

Dr Kate shares the story of her childhood diagnosis of hydrocephalus, the many hospitalisations that followed, and how her dog Peanut helped her cultivate courage, hope, and orientation toward possibility. Those early experiences inspired her life’s work supporting paediatric patients and families navigating illness, trauma, and profound change.

We discuss why resilience is not toughness, positivity, or spiritual bypassing. It’s the set of skills, supports, and perspectives that help us optimise within the reality we are living.

You’ll hear:

✨ What resilience actually means in real life
✨ Why we must move through difficulty, not around it
✨ How strengthening our own resilience changes the way we show up for our dogs
✨ The surprising ways dogs demonstrate resilience every day
✨ How Dr Kate supported her own children through the terror of a lost puppy
✨ How that experience led her to partner with her therapy dog Wally serving families at a children’s hospital in Seattle
✨ Practical ways to build confidence and agency in kids and dogs
✨ What it means to “find a new normal”
✨ Why dogs so often arrive exactly when we need them most

I also share how Lucky has continually invited me to become more resilient — especially in the moments I doubted myself most — and how recognising his resilience changed our relationship.

If you’ve ever wondered how to stay open-hearted while the ground beneath you shifts… this conversation is for you!.

Connect with Dr Kate Lund: https://www.katelundspeaks.com/

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.

What if our cats aren’t here to be “managed” — but to initiate us?

In this episode of Mystic Dog Mama, I’m joined by Pam Roussell of Purrrfectly Holistic - holistic pet health practitioner and devoted Cat Mom, for a conversation that invites us to slow down, listen more deeply, and rethink what health really means - for our animals and for ourselves.

Pam shares her journey from the fitness industry into holistic pet health, shaped by her own healing and profoundly catalysed by the loss of her beloved cat, Snow Bear. His passing became a threshold moment — one that called Pam into a deeper relationship with intuition, energetics, and the wisdom of the body.

Together, we explore the medicine of cats - why it’s time to bring cats fully into holistic health conversations, and what they can teach us about curiosity, mysticism, and conscious care. We talk about the importance of getting to root causes rather than treating symptoms, the unique stressors many cats face (especially indoor cats), and how emotional, energetic, spiritual, and physical health are inseparable.

This is also a conversation about agency - becoming your pet’s health advocate, trusting your intuition, and how learning to advocate for your animals inevitably helps you step into deeper advocacy for yourself.

We touch on the shadow side of the holistic health world, the danger of “doing everything right,” and why asking why matters more than ever. Pam also reflects on the spiritual significance of ailments, the different roles cats and dogs play in our spiritual development, and what the astrological shifts of 2026 and beyond are calling forward in how we think about health, healing, and support.

Pam also shares gentle, practical insights for supporting your feline companions, along with her own daily practices with her cats - grounding this expansive conversation in everyday devotion.

If your cat feels like a teacher, a mirror, or a guide in your life, this episode is an invitation to listen.

Learn more about Pam’s work: https://purrrfectlyholistic.com

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.

Dog waste is one of those everyday realities most of us would prefer not to think about. We bag it, bin it, and move on. But what if the way we currently deal with dog poo is part of a bigger environmental and cultural problem? And what if it could be approached differently?

In this episode, I’m joined by Cllr Gill Thomas, a local councillor in Stroud and for litter and clean environment who is exploring an early-stage, experimental initiative to rethink how dog waste is handled - including the possibility of composting it safely and responsibly.

Gill brings a background in the creative arts into her work in local politics, and that perspective shapes how she approaches complex, often uncomfortable issues. Rather than defaulting to enforcement or blame, she’s asking questions about responsibility, systems, and what becomes possible when curiosity leads the way.

In our conversation, we explore:

• Why dog waste is more than just a nuisance - and its real impact on the environment
• How creative problem-solving can open new pathways in governance
• What it means to take initiative without having all the answers
• The early conversations Gill is having with scientists and researchers
• Why pilot projects matter, and how local experiments can inspire wider change

This isn’t a polished solution or a finished programme. It’s a live inquiry into how we care for shared spaces, how we relate to waste, and what regeneration can look like at a very local, very human scale.

If you’re interested in conscious dog guardianship, environmental responsibility, and how meaningful change often starts with the things we’d rather not see - then this episode is for you.

To connect with Cllr Gill Thomas:

facebook.com/cllrgillthomas

Email: cllr.gill.thomas@stroud.gov.uk

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.

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.