Soul Touched by Dogs

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, Colleen.

I'm super excited to have you here.

Colleen: Hi Anke.

Yes, I'm, yeah, I'm
also pleased to be here.

Thank you very much for having me.

Wonderful.

Anke: So before we dive into our
favorite topic, um, why don't you

give people the bird's eye overview?

You know, like, where are you based?

What's, what's the day
job if you have one?

Business, you know, what
do you do with and for

Colleen: dogs?

So, uh, my name's Colleen,
but you know that already.

Um, I live here in the Southwest France,
um, but I'm originally South African.

Um, so I've, I've traveled quite
a bit and lived in quite a few

countries before I've settled here.

Um, I don't have a day job.

My animal communication business.

Is my job, um, only since last year, um,
I guess we'll come onto that in a bit,

but I am able to talk to animals, uh,
which is, which is a fantastic privilege

and, uh, blows me away every day.

Every day.

I

Anke: bet.

I'm curious.

Well, I mean, I'm curious about
a lot of things in that space.

Um, so the first piece I would love
you to unpack a little bit is, is how

did you, how did you notice or how did
you recognize that this is something

That you were able to do and that
it's something worth leaning into.

And it's kind of riding on the
back of like, is this learnable?

Colleen: It absolutely is learnable.

Um, so yes, I, I always say that
I would love to tell people that I

spoke to animals, you know, when I
was a little girl, but it didn't,

it didn't happen that way for me.

It was about four years ago.

Um, I was doing a Reiki, if you're
familiar with Reiki, I was doing a Reiki

distance session with a cat in America.

And I was kind of deep in the zone
and all of a sudden this really

crystal clear image of some tall
bay windows and curtains and a, and

a, and a, you know, a seat by the
window, a cushion popped into my head.

Um, it gave me such a fright that I
remember thinking, oh gosh, maybe I

was dropping off to sleep, you know,
and I was a bit embarrassed and I

thought, oh gosh, you know, put yourself
together, Colin, pull yourself together.

And I don't know what prompted me, but
when I was reporting back to the Cat's

Guardian afterwards, I just mentioned
casually, oh, the weirdest thing happened

while I was mid session, and I described
the scene, and she said to me, oh my

god, Colleen, that's our lounge window.

And I went, what?

She said, that's our lounge window.

So I tried to act as
nonchalant as possible, like,

oh, okay, well, no problem.

And I got off the call thinking,
How on earth did that happen?

What, you know, and I remember
going to Google and typing in, you

know, can animals talk to people,
thinking I'd lost the plot completely.

And of course, this whole thing came
up on interspecies communication,

and it absolutely is a thing.

And I remember just throwing myself into
websites and books and newsletters, just

gathering as much information as I could.

And I eventually did a A course
which gave me some framework,

um, and, and that was it.

But it is absolutely a learnable
skill, much like learning the

piano is a learnable skill.

Some people, everybody can learn
to play the piano, just some

people find it easier than others.

Hmm, that's,

Anke: that's fascinating.

So, so do people perceive the messages
in different ways, like visual versus

sound, or like how, you know, how do
I know if I'm perceiving something,

how will I know that this is coming

Colleen: from the animal?

Everybody seems to have a primary
way of receiving the information,

and animals also have a primary
way of submitting that information.

So sometimes animals, for me, Most
of the time for me personally,

I get images and moving images.

So I kind of see things, I see the
animal doing something in my head.

Much like if I said to you, can you
imagine a chair on a sunny beach?

You know, you could
picture that in your head.

It's, it's a bit like that.

You see something in your mind's eye.

And I know some people are more
about smells and sensations.

Some people are more about emotions,
um, but I think for me, it's primarily

images, but I have had tastes and smells.

Um, that was a rookie mistake.

I asked an animal what
their food tasted like.

I don't know what I was thinking.

I guess I've forgotten.

I guess I forgot that these things
come through in various ways,

and I just remember thinking,
Oh, Colleen, never do that again!

I

Anke: don't care what you
ate, I don't want to know!

Colleen: But yes, so, you know, people,
you know, you might receive images,

um, I, you know, someone else might
receive emotions, so it just depends.

But you can build them, you can
also practice and improve them,

so that they're all sort of on
an equal footing, if you like.

Anke: It kind of, to me, it's, it's
sort of, I don't know, like my mind goes

towards like, okay, is this like learning
to notice and trust your intuition?

Colleen: Yes, absolutely, absolutely.

And I, and I've learned so many
times you need to trust the absolute

first thing that pops into your head.

Because the problem with us having
analytical minds, and it's happened to me

in a communication session with animals,
I'll get something, and instead of going,

right, that's it, write it down, I'll
go, oh no, it can't be that, because

that doesn't make any sense, because
it's a dog, and why would a dog do that?

You know, and then you're analytic.

So now I just, I just jot it down.

And sometimes, you know, you jot something
down and you think that makes no sense,

but I'm just going to go with my gut and
then you feed it back to the person and

they go, Oh my God, how did you know that?

And I go, you know, so you've got to
just trust that the animal's giving

you that information and that's.

That's how it is.

And so,

Anke: so how, you see, I'm
totally fascinated by this, and

so how, how detailed or like what
kind of stuff will you receive?

Will they, you know, what is it that,
so you have a session that means like

you kind of go and you tune into.

into that animal?

And then what kind of
stuff are they telling you?

Are you asking things, are they telling
you kind of telling you something?

And, and yeah, so how detailed is that?

It's,

Colleen: it's kind of a
combination of, of three things.

So what I tend to do is I tend
to first connect with the animal.

And I say it's kind of like sitting with
someone and getting a feel for their,

for their energy, much like we have a
chat, you know, before the podcast stuff.

But then you get a kind of a sense
of What the other person's like.

So I sit with the animal and
that's when I get a feel for their

personality and their character.

So I normally put that first for people
and at least that gives people the idea,

wow, okay, actually you have connected
to my animal because I'm able to

describe their, their personality traits.

And then I encourage people to give
me questions because it's, it's best

with a framework because otherwise
an animal might spend an hour talking

to me about what happened to them
with their previous owner, which is

going to have nothing to do with the
lady that they're with at the moment.

So I tend to ask the questions
that way and I always end off

with a question to the animal.

Is there anything you want to tell us?

Because, obviously, I've
bombarded them with questions.

They might have something that they're
burning to say, like, please, can

you stop giving me that dog food?

It's horrible.

Or something like it.

And the questions range from
really everyday things, you know,

how do you like to give love?

How do you like to receive love?

Why do you bark at the postman?

You know, those kind of,
like, everyday things.

But they can also be quite deep.

So I work with a lot of animals that
are about to transition, and we discuss

when they feel ready, what signs
they'll give when they're ready to

go, if they want help transitioning.

Um, so they can be quite,
they can be quite deep.

Um, and then with animals and
spirits, because I can also talk to

animals and spirit, that's quite,
sometimes those messages are quite.

sort of profound because they're kind
of giving messages about why they

came into people's lives and you know
what they taught people or what they

felt they learned from people and
things like that so it's it's kind

of a big combination of everything.

Anke: So what is it that
people come to you for?

Like, you know, so there's people,
okay, if the dog's kind of sick,

you'll go to a vet and if there's some
behavioral issue, go to a trainer,

you know, like what does some, what
do people in general or, you know, is

there a pattern or, you know, what's
typical, what's a typical thing, what

are the typical things that people come

Colleen: to you for?

I would love to do an analysis.

Actually, I thought of doing one for
the end of the year for my business

over the year to see what, you know,
what types of things came up the most.

Um, but I haven't done that yet, alas,
but the type of things, you know,

generally people just want to know their
animals on a deeper level, because when

you know your animal on a deeper level,
you're able to relate to it better.

You know what it wants, what
makes it happy, etc., etc.

Um,

I think it's important for people
to feel that it's a bit like going

into a relationship, isn't it?

If you don't understand that other
person, it's difficult to have that

relationship and learn to love each
other when you don't know each other

on that, on that sort of deep level.

So, yeah, I forgot where
I was going with that.

I

Anke: might have to have you back.

Yeah.

I think the other thing I'm
sort of curious about, like

in your own journey, right?

So you had this kind of situation,
like in the Reiki session.

And so how was that for you to start
trusting, like, and also like, how

do you know that what first popped
to mind that that really came from

the animal, like how, you know,
obviously if there's an owner who

says, Oh my God, this is our living
room window, like then you have that.

you know, immediate confirmation, which
obviously would be like a confidence

boost where you're like, oh, okay, so
this, I'm not making this up, right?

So there is actually something there.

Yeah.

Did you, was there anything else other
than like positive feedback from people

who go, oh my God, yeah, that makes,
it doesn't make sense to you, but it

makes sense to me where you go, where
you then over time learn to trust

those things, or was there something

Colleen: else at play?

No, it was really learning to trust
and, you know, It was so hard.

I cannot even say.

I did loads of case studies.

I bombarded friends and
family for months on end.

Anyone who had an animal before I went
professional because I was just like,

you know, I can't, I can't charge money
for this if I have any doubt that I'm

not actually speaking to the animal.

And time and time again, Because you're
able to, you know, because you, I'm able

to describe the animal's personality
for starters, which, which didn't

help with friends and family, because
obviously I know the animals, right?

But when a complete stranger comes to
me and I go, Oh, you know, your animal's

really cheeky and he likes to, I don't
know, nip your ankles at night when you're

trying to watch TV or something like it.

And you know, sometimes
it can be quite specific.

Um, and then it's just learning
because quite a few times.

And in fact, it happened to me just this
weekend when I asked an animal something

and I got something in my head, but again,
I was like, no, that that's too obvious.

That's no, no, that's too obvious.

That's something I'm making up.

And I didn't, and I didn't say it.

And, but what I do now is when I give
the information to the people, I say.

This is what I got, but I dismissed
it because I felt it was too obvious,

so at least that way then, if it is
something that resonates with them, and

in this case it was, thank goodness.

Um, but I think it's just It's, it's
experience and knowing that time and time

again, being brave enough to go, oof,
okay, I've got a picture of a big, large

globe of golden light around the animal.

I have no idea what that means, but
let's just put it in the document

and see what it, what it is.

And then the owner says, oh my
gosh, every night when I go to

bed, I ask for a golden sphere of
protection around me and my animals.

And I was just like, oh my God.

And it's just, it's
just learning to trust.

It is, it is hard.

And every time I send off a document,
if I'm just doing an email reading

for someone and I send off the
document, you just like, send.

Trust, trust you're on your path.

Trust you're on your path.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So

Anke: people then like, they can
basically book a session with you.

I mean, it can be remotely
obviously, but you know, like

they don't need to be there.

So it's not like I have to kind
of, you point my webcam to my

dog, so I can send you a photo.

Colleen: That's right.

Yeah.

Some people do work sort of live.

Um, but I've said that doesn't, for
me, that's not always a reliable

use of, of both of our time, because
sometimes animals take a long time

and I could be sitting there for
10, 15 minutes waiting for response.

And of course, if you sitting there
twiddling your fingers, you know,

so yes, I work early by photo, but
that's also great because it means.

You know, it could work with
people all over the world.

I just need a recent photo.

Otherwise, I find I can read kind of
old energy, if you know what I mean.

So it needs to be a recent photo.

And I just, I use that as the basis.

And then, you know, I, I, I sort
of, I have all the questions.

I have the picture of the animal up
on the screen, all the questions,

and I literally ask, I sort of direct
the questions to the animal, and

then I just type whatever I get back.

You know, the animals show me, I
don't know what they're doing now,

they're running in some long grass
or something, and there's something

yellow that they're chasing, or
I don't know, you know, whatever.

And then I type up the document and I send
that, and then people have the option,

either they can just have the document,
Or we can have a video conference where

we go through the document together,
which is more fun because they get

to ask questions like, that's right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Did they also show you that?

And, you know, so, uh, yeah, that's great.

Anke: Amazing.

It's, it's, I find it fascinating
because at the end of the day, like

it does make sense, like even for.

you know, even for like an engineer's
mind, you know, on an energetic

level, it makes perfect sense.

Like it's not, it's not kind of hard
to trace, to sort of follow, even

though we can't always trace back
every individual message, you know, in

that, but that, that we can predict.

With them energetically, like
there's no doubt about that, right?

Absolutely.

So it's not hard to, hard to lean into.

Yeah.

So where can people go and, you
know, book a session, find out

more about you, connect with you?

Colleen: Well, it's very exciting.

Just on the 1st of December.

I know.

I launched my new website.

So it's www.

ColleenKersey.

com.

Um, I did have a business name beforehand
and then I've, I've done like a recent,

a whole kind of rebrand and nice new
shiny website, nice new shiny logo,

but all the information is there.

There's different types of
sessions that people can book

depending on what they want.

So general or transition or
rainbow bridge or even bespoke.

So I can do kind of vet visits and
international moves and, you know.

People bringing babies home
and kind of talking to animals

to prepare them for that.

Um, and you get discounts if
you book more than one session.

Because that's a good thing.

If you have multiple dogs.

I

Anke: mean, that's actually,
that's another thing.

Like, I think I need to have
you back because like, there's

so much more to talk about.

Would somebody usually have one
session or do people come and say, I

have one every month for the same dog
because I have different questions

or what's, what's typical there?

Colleen: There's, there's a few
people who, who come regularly.

Um, there's one lady who
has quite a few rescue dogs.

So she, she has regular sessions so we can
see how the dogs are adjusting to their

life and, you know, life around them.

Mostly also when people have elderly
dogs, when they're starting to notice

that The dogs are kind of really
struggling, then we have regular sessions

just to check in and make sure that
the animal's comfortable and it has

everything it needs before the inevitable.

So it really depends on
the the circumstances.

And also if there's, if there's
somebody like, I have had a couple

of cases where they've brought like
a new dog in, you know, then they'll

check in with the original dog.

How do you feel about
this new dog coming in?

And then we'll check with the
new dog and how things going.

So yeah, it just depends on the household.

Yeah.

Anke: I love that.

So we, yeah, the website, I can
highly recommend it because I

saw your post the other day.

Check it out.

And it is wonderful.

So, and I, you know, if you're listening,
it's going to be in the show notes.

If you're watching, it's going to
be right below this video or above.

I don't know.

I can't remember, but it's going
to be right next to this video.

So you won't have fun.

You won't have a hard time.

You don't have to go, you know, very
far energetically to connect with me.

So so much.

This was awesome.

And, um.

Yeah, I hope a lot of people check
you out and get in touch because the

more we can understand our animals,
like the better we are as people and

the better we can have, the better
the life that we can have with them.

Colleen: Yes, I agree.

I agree.

Thank you very much for that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for listening.

If you enjoyed the episode, don't forget
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And if you know a pawsome human
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I'd love an introduction.

Email me at Anke.

That's A N k E at Soul
touched by dogs.com.