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The Dogs Who Found Her: What Anka Taught Me About Listening to Our Pets.. · Every Pawprint! Every Story!

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, good morning or good afternoon, depending on where you are at in this day and age.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Dan Popovic.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of Every Pop Rint, Every Story.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just real quick for you new listeners, what this episode is about is pretty simple.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: We invite friends in, special guests in, like the one we're gonna have today.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited, super excited about that, just to really talk about the pets in our life, you know, what they mean, that you know, that human-animal bond.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we do talk a little bit about pet loss.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully in these shows, you you'll get to laugh.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: We do talk about some funny stuff.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: You may cry, because right, we do talk about that, and that's that's part of life with pets.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: But hopefully uh along the way you feel supported no matter where you're at in your journey with your pet and and get inspired as well.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: But enough about me, enough about me talking.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to welcome Anka to the show from Germany.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Anka, welcome to the show.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for having me.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm super excited to be here.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I I am too.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And just for the listeners, we we met fairly recently, but I feel like at least I'll speak for myself.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've been following you, you know, via Substack and just the fun, amazing stuff you're doing, the content you've got uh Soul Touched by Dogs.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I will make sure the listeners of this get tied to you and every amazing stuff that you're doing.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but uh yeah, so I'm just excited, I guess as a shout out for Substack, not that I was going in that direction, but hey, what the heck, right?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that is over.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: But um as no, so we'll jump into.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: So you had a uh a little fur kid a second ago just walking behind you before we even started.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Who was that?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that was Miss Ada.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like this one here.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she's under my desk now, she's curled up in her little bed.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: So if you see the screen kind of moving, like sometimes if she moves around, like the whole screen starts moving.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, so she's she's one of my two girls that I have now.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: She's um 13 now, so it's one of those, you know, where you go like, you know, like she's still going strong, so she's not uh frail in any way, but uh, you know, apart with some white hair understand, so you kind of notice, but especially when you look at all the photos, but she's still you know going strong, and she's been yeah, she's been an amazing, amazing dog.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, I think she was my first um dog that didn't come traumatized, you know.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: She came, but I mean, like my first dogs were a little like the first three were found in the street, like not even a rescue or anything, like literally wandering around the streets.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so she was about four months old, you know, but totally happy go lucky.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like she wasn't like the other two were a little bit like scared of male voices and cars and broomstick and anything.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: She was like, I'm cute and you know it.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, so and she's she's never lost that, you know.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: So she's never had like a bad experience with another dog or like anything, so she's never lost that, you know, happy go lucky way, which is just wonderful.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's amazing.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And what was her name again?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: You said Miss Ada?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Ada, like I'll call her Miss Ada or Miss Missada.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's I it's like Ada, Ada, and it's actually Ada in Spanish, it's like spelled with it H, and it's like a fairy, you know, fairy godmother kind of like she doesn't look like a fairy, really, like she looks like a tomboy, basically.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, that's her name.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, no, you touched on it because I love asking that question too, how the name came to be, and you know what what made you choose that name?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I actually didn't choose the name, my partner did.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like, okay, and he's Spanish, and he's and when she first came, it was like, oh my god, like a little fairy kind of thing.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what made him think of it, but he loved the name, and I alright, there you go.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay, very you know, yeah.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think she's lived up to the reputation, you know, so she's definitely, you know, the expectations with a name like that are pretty high, and she's lived up to it, like she's been so balanced, you know, like she's not she's not timid, but she's also not all over the place, like sort of really stable, and and um, you know, and and the two boys, she met the two boys, and she's actually yeah, like Kai also knew everybody, but uh because Leo never got like my first dog never got to meet the last one, but the other kind of knew everyone, and everybody loved her, like she knows how to make everybody adore her, and so she's definitely does she have a yeah, no, that's how does she have a um how do I ask this question without sounding really crazy or does it like a favorite favorite mom or dad to go to, or does she kind of share herself equally with both of you?
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think well, given the choice, you know, when the door is open and they can be wherever they're they're right here with me in the office.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: There's the answer.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: So if she's even in here because I had meetings before, and she was actually scratching at the doors, like, let me in.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: She wants in to be at your feet, right?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, how many others did you say there are?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: I've got one more now.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: I've got uh a Spanish Mastiff.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: She's for you know, a 120-pound dog, like big chunky, big chunky monkey, and uh she's just yeah, she's the only dog where I actually know where she came from, you know, because um, like the other three, as I said, like the other three were literally found roaming the streets, and this one was you know from you know somebody we know, and they had like a litter, and okay, there's a whole bunch of Mustard puppies and they need homes, right?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, but at least with her, we know where she grew up.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's the only dog where I actually know the the actual actual birthday, you know, we know the parents, we know where they where she grew up, and so it was kind of like almost weird, you know.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm so used to getting these little bundles where you like don't know what your story is, and with her, we actually know.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: So um, that's interesting because I definitely want to talk about that, like you said, and the dynamics of those stories, lessons learned.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: But um, what what is her name that we were just who we just Leah?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Leah, Leah.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: What uh she's not named in honor of Leo.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Leo was the first dog, and so she was named in honor of him.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Very cool.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's the girl version of Leo.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: And the funny thing is they never met.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like Leo passed, and she arrived probably, I think, a couple of years later.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: And um, given they never met, they have a few traits that they like and totally different breed, right?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Leo was a little like, you know, a little Podenko, more sort of like I think a Korgi would probably the cloth be the close, he'd probably feel insulted, but a Korgi would be the closest known breed to what Leo looked like, you know, and she's like big, big, chunky, long-legged mustard.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: So they breed-wise, they don't have anything in common, really.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, temperament-wise and the stuff they do, they're very similar in a lot of ways.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's some of the stuff that that reminds you of Leo?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, for example, both of them like uh like cleaning and licking Ada's ears.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like Kai, the other dog didn't do that, but they both like it and she likes it.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like she'll come and she'll put her ear there.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they both have incredible inner clocks when it's coming, like, okay, it's time like it's time to eat, and they don't miss a beat.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, right, you know, the other two dogs is like, yeah, okay, when the food comes, the food comes, whatever, but but they will not like Leo and Leia both like they will let you know, you know, and they'll come and they'll like, hey, I've been telling you, right?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's time to eat, and they don't get the time off, you know.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, very cool.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then so the two today, do they get along pretty well?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, they're one P two Ps in a pot.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the the the older one, Ada.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think she literally kind of raised the puppy because you know, like she was like nine.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: She was nine when the puppy arrived, you know.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so the and if it was funny because the first couple of days she's like, What is this thing?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, take this thing away from me.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: And and it was like Kai, who was more like, Oh my god, oh my god, a puppy, right?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then she nipped him in the butt a couple of times, so he then was like wary of the puppy, and then two days in Ada goes, Oh, and then she took the puppy on.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it was literally, you know, I have so many little videos where you know, all the little puppy, like the games and the like poodle and then biting, you know, all the puppy craziness.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like she took all of that, like she played with the puppy and she never got upset with her.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, she kind of walk away and put on, like, come on, it's enough now, you know, whatever, but always gentle and and you know, never run out of patience.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I've got videos where like the puppy like sits on top of her and like you know, whatever, and and you know, and she was just like the most almost like as if that was the puppy she never had, you know.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: And and so now the other one is just bigger, but they still play and they still, you know, and they eat together, like there's no not ever a little.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: And here it's funny because I don't know what like in Spain, there's a lot of those, like I don't know, in Germany you'd say bauern Weisheiten.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's like these these kind of little sayings or these little things people know where everybody just takes them as a given, you know, and and so one of them is that female dogs often don't get on, you know, and I'm like, not what I'm seeing, you know.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like not what I'm seeing.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: They, you know, they I can have like literally their food bowls on next to each other, and there's never an argument over anything.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: They've never there's never once been a moment where they've been in each other's faces over anything, really anything.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it's good, I can't.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: The young one's four years old now.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I can't say I've had that same experience because we we've got you know and we'll save that for another day or episode, but yeah, we've got two females and they've kind of gotten into it from a resource garden perspective during food time, but that's yeah, uh, but that's awesome to hear that they and then because that as I was listening to you, the other thing I was thinking about, yeah, you've got the puppy comes in at uh I don't know, nine pounds or something, and you know, Miss Ada's there.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's like I got this tiny thing now.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Four years later, it's like, holy crap, he's twice my size.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: What do I do with this?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: But you haven't seen that change with her, that it's just it it's the same little puppy.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'll play with with her whether or not I want to, right?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, now she just has to be kind of more and she plays her well, like it's because you know, when you have your 120-pound dog coming playing, when she tackles you, you go down, right?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, you just have to, you just have to be careful, like, you know, when she like comes around and we like she can run run around the house, and when she comes full speed, you better go out of the way, you know.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so Ada knows it, and she'll give her the side, you know, she kind of knows how to how to avoid her to not be tackled.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so she's um yeah, she, I mean, the thing is they've also been together every single day.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, so you know how what it's like when you see all of a sudden this big dog, you know, but every single day she, you know, she doesn't grow to that big overnight, you know.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just been this gradual process and they just got used to it.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, so but they're still yeah.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: And it's funny because even the bets, when I remember, like, you know, the mastiffs, they sort of said again one of those, you know, wisdom thingies that I don't find to be true, that they say all masters, like they are not pets, like you can't have a master as a pet.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, no, like they're too vicious, they're too because they're bred to to fend off wolves to protect the sheep, like they will fight, you know, and they are, you know, apparently they can take a wolf down, right?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: So they're not, they're not uh and they're big.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: So and every was like, oh, and I remember taking uh Leia to the vet, you know, at four months old.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: She needed her baby shot or something, and so and she loves the vet because she goes, Oh, I get treats there, and I you know, like, you know, I'm just kind of like everybody's gonna fuss over me.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: So she loves going to the vet, and I remember the vets coming, and and he goes, Oh, you know, and he was like a little bit just she's fine, she's good, and he goes, Yeah, well, she's still all right, she's only four months old.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: You wait, you know, and I'm like, mate, she's actually nicer still now, because at four months old she was still a puppy, she could, you know, you know, she still had sort of she'd get more excited over stuff, you know, and so now she's actually more more balanced, more you know, chilled, and she's got that big dog chill.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Where it's like, right, yeah, whatever, what are you gonna do?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right, you know, so so she yeah, she doesn't have to she, you know, she doesn't have to prove anything, and so she's just doesn't care being barked at or whatever.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: So and none of that what the wet vet was saying, like, oh my god, or she's gonna like no.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right, yeah, like you said, I guess maybe it's yeah, that preconceived read thing, and they're gonna be big, and we get the same thing with Doberman's, right?
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um so how do they do they travel well together?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Have you been on trips with them?
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't gone very far with the big ones because you know, like it's a whole like taking the little little boys.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: We went to, you know, a couple times went to Germany.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I remember like with Leo and Kai, I think they've been to about 14 countries kind of thing, you know, just driving all through Europe.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, you start in Spain and you have France and then you go to Switzerland, and then we went to Luxembourg and then Liechtenstein, and then we went, you know, like Germany, and then oh, we went to Holland and we went to Poland and then Hungary, and you know, like we cannot just on the way there you go through Slovenia and whatever.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: So they've been to like 14 countries, and um, you know, but the big one like Ada doesn't like the car much, you know, and also like a big three-day, four-day trip with those big dogs is not that easy because even if you have um, okay, you know, like throughout France, for example, there's like a lot of hotel chains that are dog friendly, yeah, but they don't think about a 220-pound dog, right?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Or two, two dogs.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the other one isn't that big, but you know, she's still like a shepherd size, you know, so she's she's still a bit like why come with these two horses, you know, and a lot of them were like, Oh, yeah, you know, dogs are welcome, but we want little dogs, right?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: So with big dogs and you know, everything's kind of harder.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: So we haven't traveled that far with them, and Ada doesn't particularly like the car.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: So interesting.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: But what so doesn't like the car?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what what is she what is she doing?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, she's just restless, she's not as bad.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, Kai didn't like the car either, like he would literally throw up basically when it gets when we slow down below 100 kilometers an hour, he'd get restless.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: She's not that bad, but he kind of you could and she's kind of like up and down, just doesn't settle, you know.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: So she's definitely not so I've not wanted to take her, you know, and in that age now I kind of don't want to kind of drag her through yeah, that makes sense and experience a long experience of something that she doesn't enjoy.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, keeping her safe and happy place, right?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now remind me that what was the story again on how she came to be a part of the family?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: You you found her on the side of a road?
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like I mean, well, we we were living in in Granada, which has like you know, in the historic part of town.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it's all kind of on a hill, right?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so, and there's all tiny little roads and cobbled stones.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's not really there's not a lot of places where cars can even fit, you know, and so like my house was like there, and then just across was a little like a little corner shop kind of thing, you know.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: We're sort of standing there, and all of a sudden some people walk up and they have this little puppy trailing after them, and all of a sudden the puppy came back, and it was like, okay, what are you doing?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: Right, it's like, hey, your people are going.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then it turns out that these weren't there, weren't her people, right?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then so after a while, we sort of got her something to drink, and then she wobbled off again, and so she walked off, and then okay, so she probably goes after people now, and then a few minutes later she came back, and there she was again, right?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then she just didn't leave, and so you know, and it was raining.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: We basically put her warm and gave her something to eat, and sort of a little bit waiting to see whether somebody would come for her, because in the shop people knew that that she was there, so but nobody ever came for her.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting, and so we we don't know, you know, it's like with the other two boys, like we don't know exactly how she came to be, we have no idea how she came to be there.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: We don't know whether somebody has sort of abandoned her or whether she ran off and didn't find her way back, or you know, we have no idea.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, she definitely didn't look as if she'd been uh out by herself for a long time, yeah.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: But um we really have no idea.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so she didn't have a chip either because that was the first thing that you know what I did is like took her to the bed and see if she has a chip and belongs to somebody, but um yeah, none of them had a chip, and and so yeah.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Listening to that story, it's almost sounds like she just kind of picked and found you, and she's like, All right, this is my people.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um she came and checked you out first, right?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Left, came back, is like, well, hang on, no, maybe she left, and she's like, No, no, no, I feel pretty comfortable with her, I want to be with her.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Did you get that?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Did you get that feeling?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, I think so.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, yeah.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, Kai was different, like he was literally, you know, some guy actually kind of flagged me down on the street, and he says, Please, you've got to help me.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: So he was um the second one, he was tiny.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: He was just like literally, he was maybe six weeks old, you know, like tiny, tiny puppy shouldn't really be.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: He should have been with his mother, basically, you know, right.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: And uh and I remember kind of walking down the hill and I see this guy coming from a distance, and I'm like, oh, that one.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so he was a bit known, and that, you know, like, yeah, not somebody that I had a lot to do with and wanted a lot to do with.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: And and um, but we knew each other, you know, and he'd seen me and he got, you know, and he flags me down, and I just like, oh shoot, I have nowhere to kind of avoid him out.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and he goes, Oh, you've got to help me.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then he opens his jacket and he had this, then all of a sudden I'm seeing these like eyes look at me like this tiny little like, what on earth?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was a cat initially, I thought it was a kitten.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: He was so tiny, and and he goes, Oh, you won't believe what happened.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: He says, I play the guitar on the street, and he says, I'm standing, I'm sitting at this on this corner, and I this guy comes out of a house or out of a whatever doorway, and like drunk and kind of like furious, and he says he's got something in his hand, and he's just trying to kind of like like swinging to smash it to the ground.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: And he says, And I see this is like a puppy, oh my god, and then he just put the guitar down, like, hey, wait, wait, wait, like if you don't want the puppy, like don't like give him to me, you know, I'll have him if you don't want him, but just don't hurt the puppy.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so he basically took the puppy off this drunk guy, and um, and then he goes, shoot, now I have a puppy, like I play the guitar on the street, like, and he literally said to me, He says, like, you've got a dog, please, you've got to help me.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he says, I I don't have the life to to have to have a dog, you know, like I play the guitar on the street, right?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: So, and I'm like, okay, well, I don't think you have the life took off the puppy.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I took him, but I'm like, okay, like and my first impulse was, we're gonna find you home.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because I had never in my life, you know, I had Leo, Leo was about six, you know, and I thought I had never even considered the idea of having more than one dog, you know, like I have a dog, like I can't, you know, like I can't, like, what do I do?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I have I already have a dog, like it didn't occur to me to have two, you know.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so the initial reaction was, oh, let's find him a home, you know, and the poor little sword was like so small, and he was just looking at me, and and I look, I remember looking at him was like, you know, I don't particularly like the bloke, but it's certainly not your fault.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, I'm not gonna punish you.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, it took him and initially thought, well, let's see, you know, let's tell people and let's ask around.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: And and it was really funny, like with every day that somebody came, it's like, oh, can I see the puppy?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: I want the puppy.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, okay, you know, what do you do for work, right?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like, do you because there's a lot of students in in Granada, and I'm like, I will not give this puppy to a student, you know, unless the student has a very good, you know, can convince me that they will not run off and say, Oh, I have a I have a semester Erasmus, and I'm gonna go to you know, Kentucky over the summer, and now the puppy kind of doesn't fit into the life.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like students use don't have the life for for a puppy and um and so it was literally with every day that um exam got a little tougher you know and then the guy actually the guy from the shop he said oh i'll have him i've wanted a dog you know and so we thought oh well if he stays exactly directly across the road that'll that'll be fine that that'd be cool and yeah he had he took the dog on a maybe on a Thursday on a Friday and on the Saturday he says oh god you know he comes in the morning or something and I'm like but what about like and he goes oh just I got I just got home from a party and I'm like what do you mean you came home from a party like it's like midday or something and I'm like what about the puppy and he goes oh yeah no I left the puppy in a in a crate in the shop and I'm like you did what like when did you leave the house like you left like 24 hours ago you know it's like bring that puppy back like you're not having that puppy you know and then that was it that was it you got a name and he stayed yeah okay um wow that's a fascinating story I mean um so how how long did he how long did you have him tell how old was uh I had Kaya had him 13 years oh wow okay yeah and Leo 16 and a half yeah oh wow so you've had okay so you've had some good runs um so with with Kaya did you ever do like a figure out what kind of breed he was or did you know right off the gate when you got him no it's funny I literally posted about that on Substack I think yesterday okay that's funny I that was really funny because I remember I found a photo of him as a puppy and I remember when I took him to the vet the vet said oh oh well that looks like a black labyrinth I'm like okay interesting you know no he's got big pores or whatever like okay this is a black lab and then every every neighbor you know what it's like everybody has an opinion and everybody everybody agreed this was a black lab right absolutely you know and then people would say oh well his gums are all pink or whatever and it's like oh this is a pure bred black labrador well if you'd seen him when he grew up like I don't know probably can't there you have him like you know well it's kind of it was like a shrunken Labrador like you take a Labrador and shrink him down to half that was kind of kite you know so everybody was wrong about the breed I don't know what exactly was in there I never bothered to test because I'm like doesn't matter like you know it's my wee boo bear and I don't care so you know I didn't sometimes I think like he had a lot of Podenko in him sometimes I thought he could have a little bit of greyhound in him but um I never bothered to check so great what when you say greyhound from from the aspect of what speed or barking or uh no just the shape the shape of his like the hinds like and the the the back legs the shape of that and he was like you know when he until like pretty to a pretty advanced age like he was fast and a jumper.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like he would you would say like I'm tall right and he would he would like literally there'd be a wall next to me like this and he'd jump up on that like with no runway whatsoever.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like incredible you know the way he jumped and the way he ran you know so I and and the shape of the you know the thighs like the the way and the the way that the back the butt is sort of round and to the tail it's like very much like a greyhound.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: So and that very like long snout as well so you could definitely have a bit of that okay interesting very and like but I never checked okay and like you said there was you you you you got this one or all of them I think you said you've gotten just with these amazing fascinating stories and just hadn't really never had issues they just kind of acclimated in in with the home in your environment right well it was interesting because um Leo wasn't so keen when the second one came in you know okay they never they never had um you know like they had they had occasional little kind of like you know so but they never kind of did anything like nobody ever kind of you know uh used the teeth on the other or like something they never hurt themselves but but Leo you could tell he was initially is like and it was really interesting because when he when the puppy first came Leo was like take this thing away what is this you know like he was not you know he wasn't like Ada who was like okay the puppy will better take her he was like hmm you know do I have to put up with you he wasn't all that you know all that all that excited about the puppy and and he like for quite a while you know there was like okay I will tolerate you but I don't particularly like you know so that was always and Kai was always like oh my god Leo oh my god Leo and he was all over him but Leo goes stay stay away like I don't like you know okay it's bad enough that you're here you know but I don't have to be nice to you sort of thing so he was always a little standoffish with him until until we moved away which was really interesting because I'm thinking like Kai was such a sweetie and I'm like how can you not like him?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like you know why do you have to be such a old grump and then when we moved away from Granada into a space like a different like a village where you know where we had you know space like you know like land around and like a big garden and and the whole place was like quieter you know all of a sudden Kai was like because he was extremely sensitive with like noise sensitive and I'm like he would have been on edge like the entire time and I just didn't know it really at the time because it was like that was baseline that was all I knew and that's all he knew right so and I didn't realize until we went to Hungary on a holiday that there was a whole other dogs inside that dog you know one that could actually relax and be all chilled right because the moment he was out of that kind of environment where you know the walls were all so close together with so many different noises and smells and he would have been an information overload the entire time you know and you kind of don't really notice it until it's until that's away you don't have then all of a sudden in the where I live now all of a sudden Kai was there legs up chills anything and next thing you know Leo didn't mind him at all you know like they actually got on really well and like for the last like you know whatever five six years that they had together they were actually you know just fine with each other because and I'm thinking oh so he never disliked Kai he would have disliked that nervous energy that he brought you know so but then that kind of I I didn't really learn that until we moved away and I saw the change.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that yeah that's that's fascinating I was gonna say isn't that fascinating because it's like I mean it's similar to us right I mean we could be highly stressed depending on the environment we are in and it's like it's the same with them and to your point you don't know it until the change happens.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's fascinating.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh Leo right I said that right right okay good so that was the first one.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah that was the first one yeah what's the yeah let's get to that story because I know man we're getting close to getting close to the end unfortunately sorry a lot of great stories here no no this is great how did yeah what's the story on how he became family well that was actually really quite simple um it was funny because I remember when I first moved to Spain and I started my own business and I thought like oh I can finally have a dog you know I've always wanted a dog but there was always like okay if I work in a corporate environment and even as a kid my parents worked I'm out in school studying whatever you know like we don't have a life where a dog a dog would be sitting alone at home all day and like nobody wanted that right but so now I was in Spain I had my own business I was gonna work from home and I'm like yeah this is working like this is gonna work so I don't have I'm not gonna have to find a job in six months' time so I can actually have a dog now and I remember a friend's daughter who always goes like she wanted she was nagging her mom for a dog and she was always going like so Auntie Anka when are you gonna get a dog and I remember always saying to that kid I said like I don't know you know I don't want to go to a breeder like choosing and buying a dog just somehow it didn't feel right and so but I thought like I'm scared to go in a shelter like what am I gonna do if there's 40 dogs in there how do I walk out with one you know what I do what about the other 39 you know and I can't take them all so I'm like I'm I'm scared to walk in there you know just like how will I choose like that's kind of felt like information uh like sort of emotional overload like couldn't even and so I and I say always said to the kid it's like my dog will find me you know and then one day my parents were here to visit and so we parked the car we are up to walk home and we walk along this there was a like a sort of a little street where all the Moroccan tea houses and all the Moroccan shops are and I remember seeing this little like yeah Mr like tiny little puppy uh sitting there in front of one of those Moroccan shops and I'm like that's weird because Moroccans usually don't like dogs like they stay away from dogs and you know with their religion they're just like whatever they think they're but they don't like dogs right and so I'm like that's weird and so I asked the guy and it was like didn't realize you had a dog and he goes well no it's not my dog he says like we just kind of give him some water that's why he comes here every day you know and so and then we look there my dad looks and I'm looking and and he looks at me and so oh didn't I always say my dog like looks like my dog found me right so and I basically and he says yeah take him home he says I know that nobody's coming for him because he's been coming here for quite some time that he comes here every day and we just give him some water and and um and so yeah I took him home and um and I remember like he comes in and the first thing he does I had this like leather poof thing and he collapses on that and he sleeps and I have this photo when he sleeps I'm like it looks like I don't know whether he's ever felt safe enough to sleep like that you know and then my mum in the meantime goes oh now shit we have a dog like like this morning we didn't have a dog now we have so she goes oh I need to find like a harness and a leash and whatever and so she went and then she goes oh let's let's take the puppy for a walk you know and I remember we opened the door to take him for a walk and he goes like this oh my god like he literally goes like this and didn't want to go out you know and so he was like oh shoot I thought I finally had a safe place right and and so yeah and then I had I took him to the vet there was no chip no nothing and he was about four months old and um yeah and then well I had a dog there we go right and I never like for the first few weeks I was worried that somebody might come and claim him you know that I might walk along the street with him and all of a sudden go oh that's my dog like what are you doing with my dog but nobody ever came nobody ever came and it was really interesting because when he crossed the bridge he literally waited for my parents to come because my parents arrived like on the 20th of August and he passed on the 22nd and my parents were with him uh you know were with us you know like I'm just getting what Taylor literally as if he'd waited yeah that's amazing and and he was six sixteen right sixteen and a half yeah that's amazing um yeah that's a that's a cool story so was it was it was it natural just kind of old age and peaceful hopefully yeah yeah he wasn't really I mean he had sort of started to decline a bit you know like when you're kind of like oh you know but he didn't you know you know there wasn't anything kind of he didn't have a cancer or anything you know he was just sort of slowly slowing down and and it was literally like he was almost because he he kind of like all like oh yeah can I he's getting better you know and then my parents arrived and then and he went you know and um and literally to the point that you thought like as if he'd waited for them because they were there when we when we found him right yeah and um and I mean he you know my parents come every year so he'd seen in between but it was literally like he could have gone the week before like no he waited for my parents to arrive you know he wanted to say goodbye to your parents yeah that's amazing you know however we interpret it but it was kind of remarkable that he literally hung on yeah to yeah to wait for them.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: How how long amazing stories um in in in the finding in talking more about what what you do um soul touched by dogs love that so obviously your soul has been touched by dogs so that's kind of that that is it right yep yeah no I know it started out as a you know like a side hustle like side not even side hustle in the sense like it's just a passion project you know because obviously you know what it's like when you have a dog then you meet a lot of other people have a dog and you see a lot of things you see you know and I don't know like the amount of times somebody here in Spain would you know I will go and uh you meet somebody and they have a dog and obviously I have to fuss over the dog and and they go oh oh you really like that you really like the dog why don't you take him like at the first time I the first time somebody did that you know I I thought it was a joke.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: I started laughing and I'm like no oh no that was not a joke you know and I'm thinking like how can you look into the eyes of a dog and not feel anything like and say well are you just take him kind of thing because he's too big now or too whatever or too much of a bother and so I just wanted to share even that whole journey from oh today I have a dog ta ta and now what right and and that whole journey of figuring out how to you know how to give that dog what he needed and how to make sure life worked for both of us right and there was so much conflicting advice and so much oh you know when your dog pulls you need to do XYZ you know like none of that stuff works when you have like a a a street puppy who's in survival mode you know right it's like oh you just turn around like yeah no you're just gonna be both frustrated and it won't work like a lot of the stuff is kind of always assuming that you have a a dog with a normal nervous system right so and and there was this like I don't know what the experts say often didn't make sense.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know you get a lot of crap from people around who give you unsolicited advice and like oh you've got to do this and you've got to do that and whatever and to you know to find your own way of doing things and learning to trust your own judgment and learn enough so you can actually trust your judgment.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: So that was um you know and now funny enough like now there's whole Instagram accounts about sniff walks you know and I'm like funny that's what I naturally did.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know I always kind of thought like the walks for you like of course I'm gonna let you sniff and everybody know you must make that dog walk with you whatever.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so now trainers come to to the conclusion now they start talking about well how beneficial it actually is for a dog when they get a little bit of autonomy and can actually sniff some stuff.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: So there was a lot of things where like oh yeah no I was right all along but you know you get you get pushback because it's not the you know and to to support to kind of have a place where people who's a little bit like me go, a lot of this stuff makes no sense but am I crazy or like whatever you know so that was really the initial idea to and to to talk to experts from different fields to understand more and to learn more about so I could understand my dogs and dogs in general so I could be the advocate they needed you know because we couldn't trust the advice you get you know and blindly easily right so and that's how this all started and and so now it's basically turning I I met somebody else who's exactly like me you know like tech background and crazy about dogs and so we've built Planet Calm where we literally offer you know services and support for people who want to understand their dogs better and understand and have um you know somewhere to go where there's trusted experts and trusted resources and and where things are looked at in a more nuanced way not just like oh dogs do this like no you know every dog's different and how you are and how your dog is you know there's when different personalities come together that plays a role and just take a much more holistic and nuanced approach and so we're just literally in the process of launching that.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well we'll I'll have to yeah as I as we wrap this episode up I'll you know as you do with yours I'll I'll definitely put some content in the article and and share and you know connect people to what you're doing and your podcast you know and and the Substack as well.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah we'll definitely one last as we close um and I think you kind of touched on it a little bit just a second ago but gosh what what for for like listeners of this show I mean what advice maybe advice isn't the right thing but you know what advice would you give them with their pets or or maybe it's more what what has the experience you've had with with your kids your fur kids you know how had how has that experience inspired you and and made you a better person?
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well there's two things that jump to mind I mean for me personally these dogs have taught me or brought out a level of assertiveness that I never knew I had in me and that has rippled out in the rest of life so that has been very beneficial.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the biggest shift has been to look at them not as a being to be taught or to be managed or you know to be to be navigated or taught or you know like educated or you know uh but more as a being to learn from.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think they have a lot more to to teach us than we have to teach them if you care to listen.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_00: I do not disagree with you there.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: I love that's a great way to I love thanks um no the assertiveness was a really a good one too.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah you're that that's that's yeah awesome I no I appreciate it uh you know I'm so thankful to have have connected with you um so don't go anywhere just yet but yeah for the listeners of this show um you know like comment restack uh in the comments of this in the art the following article we'll put all kinds of information about Anka Souls Touched by Dogs learn about her follow her and get more involved with uh the soon to be released this new technology platform I guess right yep awesome I mean it's pretty much ready to go so perfect so we'll get that out but yeah so that that concludes our wraps up our show for the days but yeah Anka thanks for being on the show thanks so much for having me