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 back, Dr.

Ed.

Lovely to have you here with me.

Dr. Ed: Thanks so much for
having me back on your show.

It's always good fun and
I'm really happy to be here.

Anke: Me too, me too.

I'm really happy to have you.

So for anybody who hasn't heard
you on my show before, let people

know where you're based and, you
know, what's your business for dogs?

Dr. Ed: So I live in regional
Victoria in Australia.

I'm about an hour and a half's
drive from Melbourne at a

little village called Tarradale.

Um, I'm a holistic veterinarian and
I'm the founder of the whole energy

body balance method, which is a
modality for pets, people, and horses

that integrates therapeutic touch,
neurofascial, neurofascial bodywork, um,

intuitive perception and energy healing.

Anke: Mm.

And I, I still remember the day I
stumbled across your work and it was on

Facebook and, you know, and it was, and
it was about si silent pain in pets.

Yes.

And that got me because it was so, it was
like, yeah, you're so good at hiding it.

Right.

So what if we had a way to,
to actually detect that?

So it is really, really powerful work.

And I've been like in your
world ever since I've had you

on my summit, and so now you.

written a book about it.

I'd be curious to hear,
like, what inspired you to,

to write, to write the book?

Dr. Ed: Here it is.

Anke: Look at that little face.

Dr. Ed: Find and heal your pet's silent
pain, learn how to hear your pet's

silent cries for help, never again
miss hidden pain, anxiety and trauma.

So I,

I woke up, I got woken up to the fact
that there is hidden pain in the necks

and backs of animals when I was only
about a year and a half out, graduated.

And um, then when I started feeling
into what is With an idea that I

might be missing something, so I got
more curious and was exploring more

deeply and more intently, I pretty
quickly found, um, that I'd been

missing a heap of neck and back pains.

So that's what I started off with,
really focusing on the spine and um,

after some years I started noticing that
there's all these soft tissues, all these

neurofascial tissues throughout the body.

And, um, realized that, you know, the
spine, though it's probably one of the

most important parts of the body, it's
not the only thing that needs help.

And then reaching out from that, I also
then started thinking about emotional

silent pain, which is anxiety, trauma,
things like that, which again, a lot

of animals have rumbling away under
the surface and the humans just don't

really understand the signs to tell them.

So, um, yeah.

That the animals are trying to tell
the people that they've got problems.

And, um, I also had chronic
fatigue, um, for quite a long time.

So, I came down with chronic fatigue
about four years after I graduated,

I think, and was unwell for decades.

And I also then got into the whole thing
of, of energetic silent pain, because I

had a lot of pain, not just physically,
not just mentally, emotionally, but

through the energy systems in my body.

So, that's what has led me to to create
the whole energy body balance method.

But this particular book is really focused
on bringing awareness into the world of

the undeniable fact that around 50 percent
or more of animals have significant

pain that is undiagnosed, missed,
that they show little or no signs of.

And this book's got a whole lot of
information in to learn about what

the problem is and how to pick up
the red flags, the subtle signs that.

A lot of people miss or don't understand
and, and there's some core skills in here

to, to help you learn how to feel in the
body to find silent pain and, and some

touch to help with anxiety and trauma
and, and some other touch to help with

releasing at least the superficial layers
of pain and tension out of animal bodies.

Anke: So it kind of seems to be mandatory
reading for any, any pet owner, really.

And, and I would almost say
in, in veterinary school, you

know, because I mean, that's
usually the first thing, right?

If I'm thinking that, that there's, and
that's been a big journey for me to kind

of realize that, you know, Yeah, vets
don't always have all the answers, right?

So you go there and you get the
wrong advice or they don't know

or, you know, so I mean, this
stuff, like, they should know.

Dr. Ed: One thing I'm going to say is
that vets only know what they've been

taught and they're highly skilled.

They have a lot of information and
they In nearly all cases, though I have

met a few stinkers in my career, in
nearly all cases, vets are devoted to

giving the best advice that they know
with their understanding and with the

knowledge that they have for animals.

I don't, no way am I ever going to join
in with, um, Being unkind to pets in

any way because I know how stressful
and difficult their job is, but there

is a yawning gap in knowledge and skill
when it comes to silent pain in pets

across the board in pet owners, in pet
professionals, whether it be groomers

or trainers or rehabbers or physios or
Um, breeders or people showing dogs and

competing in agility and right through
to veterinarians there is this complete

lack of understanding of the prevalence
of and the seriousness of silent pain

as, as a very large problem that has
really serious impacts on well being.

And a lot of the animals that I work
with, we give them bodywork sessions

and suddenly they're a new dog and
they're playing like they haven't played

for years and they're I don't know,
sometimes naughty things like digging

holes that they haven't done for ages.

Um, and I had one greyhound I worked
with who literally at the ripe old

age of 12 became a naughty puppy.

He never had any of these.

He started getting into bins and chewing
things up and tearing things up and having

the best fun of his life when we set him
free from an immense amount of silent

pain and trauma from a long racing career.

So.

It's still not taught at vet schools.

I was working in a clinic, oh,
probably 18 months, two years ago.

I had a spell of about a year and
a half working in a vet clinic.

We had a number of final year vet students
come through and I told them about

this and they go, oh, that's awesome.

I've never heard of it.

And they're just about to go out
into practice, so I can be reasonably

confident that even though bodywork,
massage, physio, rehab, these hands on

therapeutic touch kind of modalities
have become much more prominent in

veterinary science over the last 10
years than ever before, there is still

overall in the profession a big, big
knowledge and skill gap because sorenpine

Not all animals show the red flags.

I mean, I've got a long list of red flags,
which you'll, you'll read about in the

book so that you can see them and go, oh
my goodness, my dog's doing those things.

That's a problem.

That's, they're trying to
tell me they're in pain.

But, um,

to really consistently and effectively
discover this kind of soft tissue neck

and back pain, the only way that you
can do that is to pee onto the body.

to palpate through the tissues, to
bring pressure and connection into

the pain and tension, and then be very
sensitive to the animal's non verbal

communication while you're doing
that because you get a sore spot and

they go, Oh yeah, it's sore there.

And that's what I've discovered.

You know, I've been really fortunate.

I've had a lot of fortunate
circumstances and situations and,

um, you know, an early mentor in Dr.

Tom O'Hearn, who was a vet who'd worked
out this way of working on horses necks.

And that's what got me.

Well, I thought, horses have swan
eggs, what about dogs and cats?

And that led me into actively exploring
the body in a, in a whole deeper,

more curious way than I had before.

And very quickly finding pain and tension.

And then when I found pain
and tension, I wanted to do

something to help these animals.

So I started playing around with pressure
and touch and movement because there

were no modalities available to learn.

You know, 25, 28 years ago when I
started doing this, there's a wealth

of different kinds of things you can
learn with your animals these days.

Massage, body work, energy healing, animal
communication, um, all sorts of things.

But when I started out, I think
I'm lucky that I grew up on a,

on a cattle farm and you just, If
there's something that needs doing,

well, you gotta find a way to do it.

And I think that I'm fortunate to have
that kind of patterning and background

as well, so that when I came to finding
these animals with pain, well, I just

thought, well, I'll do something.

I'll try something, see what happens.

And pretty quickly, we saw animals
responding to even my early Um, pretty

basic attempts, and the work has evolved
through thousands and thousands of animals

over many, many years, teaching me what
works for them, you know, telling me don't

do that, that doesn't, oh, that pressure's
just right, and you know, you might try a

different type of movement or connection.

And the animal will melt, and I go,
oh, that worked for that one, we

might try it for another few, and
if it works consistently, then it

becomes a teachable, repeatable skill
that becomes part of the modality.

Anke: I think the key piece I'm taking,
there's so much hope in this, you know,

one is to almost simply accept that you
can't just hand over or outsource the well

being of your animal to somebody else.

Because they don't know your animal
and they might not even know the base.

So it's like you can't just go,
Oh, the vet said he's all right.

You know, so it's almost like we
know now that that's not enough.

So we have to take that, that
ownership and that advocacy and, and.

You know, and do something
and learn about it ourselves.

And, and it is beautiful when they kind of
like, oh, they go soft and, and, uh, and

melt into, into, into your, look at him.

Oh, look at that face.

Dr. Ed: Oh, I

Anke: haven't seen them in so long.

Dr. Ed: Here's Jen.

Our little bit over one year old Whippet.

Jem's very sad because we lost
our beautiful pet last week

to a snake bite and Fred was
Jem's best friend in the world.

Now Jem has been ratty and mad and has
peed on the couch and has been super

demanding of attention because she's
got lots of big feelings and she doesn't

quite know how to deal with them.

So I've been using the whole energy
body balance work, relaxing touch

and energy healing and things like
that to help her through this.

And yeah, I absolutely, the more that
people can become empowered to work

with their animals, with healing touch,
with healing energy, all these different

kinds of things, it doesn't mean that
you're not going to have a vet, but

it means that you can do a whole lot
with your animals that otherwise.

You couldn't and your animals, you
know, they might, they might be

at home when you're at work and
sleep when they jump off the couch.

They might be playing and have a, have
a bit of a crash with their friend.

They might just sleep in a funny
position and wake up with a quick

neck like I think every human on the
planet has that feeling of waking up

and stretching and something going ping
and it's like, Oh my God, that hurts.

And, um, with my animals, you know,
I get my hands on them all the time.

And.

That means that I pick
up hidden pain rapidly.

It doesn't stay there to get worse and
to cause suffering and I can do something

straight away to make a difference.

And I think that's the beautiful thing.

Not only that, this kind of work
is incredibly strengthening of your

relationship with your animals.

The whole modality is a
relationship first modality.

Everything we do is focused around.

Working with the animal, making the animal
feel safe and secure and able to relax and

allow us to engage with pain and tension.

Some animals it takes, you know,
a few weeks or a month or two to

teach them to, to allow therapeutic
touch with painful areas.

So let me back down on my bed, please.

I've been working with a traumatized,
um, anxious reactive dog with quite

high levels of pain, especially in
this dog's lower back, and it's taken

me three or four sessions to get to a
point where I can actually treat it.

even rest my hand on the lower
back for any period of time.

It requires

Anke: a lot of sensitivity then, right,
to really take in the reaction that

comes back, to not just kind of go and,

Dr. Ed: you know.

Absolutely.

But I find that people know they're
animals and they tend to learn

how to have this adaptive touch.

So your animal does something and
you, that's the communication and

you communicate that you've heard
them by changing the quality of

touch that you're engaging with.

So it's not to learn.

If you're willing to put time
in and, um, practice and learn,

it's, it's actually really simple.

Anke: I love the simplicity of it too.

So if, if a dog, for example,
that dog you just described who

has, you know, was like, I don't
really want to let you there.

So how do you go about, you don't
have sessions, but you sort of

gently get closer, or how do you go
about, um, teaching them that it's

safe to let you touch that area?

Dr. Ed: Well, with this particular
dog, I started off by getting the

owner to be holding and cuddling
the dog while I started working.

So holding the collar and the
front end and comforting the dog

while I do some gentle touch to
a level that they can tolerate.

And then I, I teach the person how
to do a particular relaxing touch

skill and get them to do lots of that,
or at least some of that every day.

And then each session builds
more trust and connection.

In the most recent session, um, This dog
would get up on the couch with me and we'd

actually be able to do some meaningful
kind of really engaging with pain,

intention, touch for a period of time.

Then she'd be like, Oh, I
need to get off the couch.

That's a bit much.

No, you can't rearrange me
and ask me to stay there.

That's too much.

And then we'd get back on the couch
and then we'd get back on the couch.

And after three or four rounds of
that, I could actually start to,

when she got down, pop her hand over.

the other side of her lower back and ask
her to stay with me and not, not scoot

her back end around and get distressed.

And she ended up being, being able to
allow that, which was a huge step for this

dog because she's got a really serious
traumatic history and a lot of pain.

So it's a, it's a start, it's a gentle,
slow process of building trust through

letting the dog know that you're really
deeply listening to their responses

and responding to their responses.

Anke: And I think that alone creates
a lot of safety already and I think

that alone is already helpful.

That the dog learns to understand that
you're actually listening because I guess

when you, if you look at the world through
a dog, it's like, yeah, you know, humans

are probably the weirdest things for them
or just don't get it a lot of the time.

Dr. Ed: Yeah.

Look, I think humans in general are
not great at understanding dogs.

Yeah.

and communicating with dogs because
we behave like monkeys, because we are

monkeys really, we're primates, and
we, we have a very different kind of

physicality.

Um, you know, we hug each other,
that's a primate, and dogs don't like

to be hugged, but humans want to hug
their dogs, you know, and let's just

assume that dogs are going to feel
like Monkeys do, and they're very, very

different, but it's not hard to learn.

How to, um, interpret and understand dogs
body language and communication and, and

shift our human expression just a little
bit to be something that makes more sense

to dogs and, and their kind of social
structure and, and how they, they tick.

And I, we cover a lot of that in the
whole energy body balance work too,

in terms of talking about how to be
a good, plain, strong, benevolent

leader with your dogs and how to.

express healthy boundaries around
personal space because that's something

that dogs do in between each other all
the time, but humans um they don't,

and that can contribute to anxiety
and then anxiety can contribute to the

actual body pain, soft tissue pain,
so it's it's really important to Learn

how to understand your dogs better.

And I think that this work also does that.

Anke: I love that.

I love that.

It's because it's all connected.

It's not just, because you said it
before, it's not just physical pain,

it's emotional pain, even energetic pain.

So it's all, it's all interconnected.

So it's not, you can't just kind of
like, Oh yeah, no, just kind of poke on

that sore muscle and then you're good.

So I think that overall, um,
Understanding and connection.

I just love that holistic approach.

That's why you're holistic, right?

Right?

Because, you know,

Dr. Ed: I think one of the things that,
that has influenced a lot of what I do is

too, that when I was a kid, I had a lot
of social challenge and difficulty because

I'm, I am definitely on the spectrum.

And I was not able to understand a
lot of the whole social weirdness

that neurotypical people have.

And, um, I really

think that that, that I've always
found it easier with animals to

understand and communicate with
animals and work with animals than

I have been able to with people.

Which is a funny thing, really, but it's
certainly contributed to me being able

to, to, to, to you know, hopefully educate
other people how to do all this too.

Anke: Well, it's, it's really like
building, building the bridge, right?

Because it's almost like you're
sitting sort of in, in the

middle with your understanding.

You understand this side,
you understand that side.

So you're like the translator between,
between people and their dogs, right?

It's, yeah.

And then because there is that
big gap, so it's really a needed,

needed space in between to, yeah.

Because you see it so often, you know,
is there something, If you could say

one thing that people that so like
most people do wrong or misinterpret

about, could you pinpoint one thing
or is it, is it, is that not a thing?

If you say like one thing that people
kind of misinterpret in their dogs or, or?

Dr. Ed: Look, I think, I
think there's a few things.

One is that people just don't
really understand or, or put

any effort into learning.

dog book, or animal speak I call
it, in terms of what Animals are

expressing through their non verbal
communication and animals are incredibly

skillful non verbal communicators.

When you think about humans, um, you know,
we are, we are largely non verbal too,

but we think when we're totally verbal.

We forget about the non verbal thing, but
people are getting a lot of unconscious

information through the non verbal thing.

But if you can.

Um,

just start thinking about what
is your dog trying to say?

What are they trying to say to you
in terms of their little changes

in expression and their body
language and their posture and,

and all those kinds of things.

And there's some, if you, if you
go looking for books on, um, body

language and, and that sort of thing
with dogs, there's actually some

really, really good resources, but.

People, I think, misinterpret a number of
things when it comes to dog communication,

which is probably one of the reasons why
people get bitten more than they should.

But I think the biggest, I
honestly think that silent pain

is probably the biggest blind spot
of all that needs to be remedied.

And, um, I'm hoping that everyone
listening will tell all their friends

about this because it's a huge problem.

And like I said, at least every
second animal I get my hands on.

There's significant pain in the
body that the humans are like, what?

Really?

Anke: Yeah, that's massive.

That's not just every, you know,
once in a while, like it's literally,

you know, every second dog.

That's incredible.

Yeah.

Is there, is there, is that,
like, what about younger dogs?

I have a young one and I have
one that's getting older now.

So is there, is there like a, I mean,
I would assume that's the thing.

That's my question.

My first assumption goes, Oh,
it'll happen more with older dog.

Is that true?

Dr. Ed: It does happen more with dogs.

There is no doubt of that because soft
tissue pain, urofacial pain builds up

incrementally in layers in the body
with all the incidents and traumas

and wear and tear of life over time.

So there's no doubt that by the
time you get to an animal that's

9, 10, 11, 12 years old, you can
just about guarantee that they'll

have reasonable or significant
levels of silent pain going on.

It's not so common in younger animals, but
you can still get The odd younger animal

that can have really severe silent pain.

I had a 14 or 16 week old Rhodesian
Ridgeback puppy come to see me, must be

a year or two ago now, and this puppy
was showing worrying behavioral signs.

Um, Anxiety, Potential Aggression,
and I've got to tell you it

was a monster at that age.

It was huge.

Um, when I met this puppy and got my
hands on it, it had severe whole body

soft tissue pain, neck and back pain.

Now was that a birth
injury or something else?

I don't know.

Did it get dropped on its
head by one of the kids in the

family where the puppies were?

I don't know.

But the, and this dog
too, when, when I, I was.

Being as gentle as I could, but it showed
signs that it was going to bite me.

It didn't like that.

We did a series of treatments.

I think on the second treatment,
this puppy decided that screaming

at the top of its voice might
stop me touching its orbit.

So our ears were almost bleeding after
90 minutes of this dog screaming its

head off, and it had the loudest,
most piercing scream I've ever heard.

But, you know, about, About 80 minutes
in, it gave up screaming, thankfully,

because I wasn't going to be able
to stop until it stopped screaming.

Um, and we did a series of about four
or five body work, whole energy body

balance sessions, resolved the pain,
and that puppy went off to train

up as an assistance dog with their
autistic daughter and is now out.

everywhere, going to shops and
helping this girl navigate the world.

So we hadn't found that real chance of
behavioral euthanasia for that puppy if

we hadn't discovered that hidden pain and
resolved it through therapeutic touch.

And therapeutic touch is really the
only way that you can resolve this

kind of soft tissue pain because When
you give pain relief, well it might

make the animal feel better, but
it's not getting to the root cause.

You've really got to get into the
tissues and use touch and movement in an

intelligent and sensitive way to release
that pain and tension out of the body.

And you often release a whole
lot of anxiety and trauma out

of the body at the same time.

So you often don't just see physical
changes, you often see really

beautiful, profound behavioral changes.

Anke: Wow, so it almost feels like,
well, this should be a standard part

of what you're looking at when you
have an anxious dog, when you have

a, you know, a stressed dog or with
behaviour, even aggression issues.

Well, you know, that would definitely
be one of the things to look at.

You know, maybe there's some pain
underneath and there's probably,

in most cases, maybe it would be.

You think like, well, it should
probably be the first thing you look at.

Dr. Ed: There's nearly always pain
involved with, with dogs with anxiety.

Absolutely.

And Um.

There's some particular qualities of
therapeutic touch in the whole energy

body balance method which cause a very
strong body level relaxation response

and that really is the foundation of how
I treat anxious animals and we have seen

some incredible, incredible results.

Behaviour modification through
relaxing touch, because you use the

relaxing touch, a lot of these animals,
their nervous system is over here in

overdrive, should be over here in the
kind of green zone, healthy relaxation,

but a lot of anxious animals, their
baseline is actually on the aroused

side of neutral, away from neutral.

Every time you use touch to bring the
whole animal's being into relaxation,

you're actually training and teaching
them how to do that regulation process.

And when they relax in the face of
a trigger or something that they've

decided that's terrifying, even
if it's just a sausage sizzling in

a pan, which I've had a number of
dogs freak out about, then they're

starting to learn that, wow, I relaxed.

Maybe that thing's not so scary.

So over weeks and months, you can have
a, a mental relearning things as well.

Anke: Actually, this, this whole, like
this, this dog of mine, the one who

just passed in April, he was You know,
he came, well, like super traumatized

and I, I lived in this area where it
was, you know, like historic part of

town and, and I didn't see the thing
is, I would imagine just like vets.

I've not met a vet whose
intentions, I doubt it.

Like, you, I mean, it's always clear
that they are to help the animals, right?

And.

And I was kind of that dog owner
as well, you know, I did my best

and I wasn't there to, to make
my life, my dog's life difficult.

But in hindsight, I realized that actually
living where I was living in this historic

part of town with tiny little alleyways
and, and, you know, and tourists and

groups and bicycles and cats and dogs.

And it was like, and like, when I
looked at it, I saw some, there was

basically one sentence that changed.

You know, everything in a sense.

It's like,

my only job is to help my dog relax,
and all of a sudden I looked at it,

threw the lens off, and I'm like,
that dog has sensory overload 24 7.

You know, and he couldn't, and I remember
then when I moved away out of town

into a quiet place, next thing I know
this dog lays there, belly up, and I'm

like, I've never seen him like this.

And so it was in hindsight
that I realized that this dog

had never been able to relax.

At all, you know, and
it's like, Oh my God.

And I didn't even know.

And I think that's probably
what's behind all of this.

Like, you don't even know, like now I'm
kind of a lot more aware than I, like

now I'd see it, you know, but then I
didn't know, you know, I just took in

a puppy that somebody else was about
to kill off and so now I'm like, okay,

I've got another puppy, wasn't the plan.

So here I go, you know, and he just
sort of lived where I was living until I

realized that he wasn't doing well there.

Dr. Ed: Yeah, that's a pretty
common thing to see as well.

Um, dogs have got incredibly
sensitive senses and, and if they

are not habituated and socialized
well, then lots of environments

can be really challenging for them.

Anke: Yeah, but it's that, it's that
learning process on both sides, you know,

that, that understanding each other.

And I think it's so beautiful to, to
have that tool and that actually helps

with that process and really, teaches us.

So I just love it.

So we're gonna definitely want
everybody to buy, to buy the book.

It's a great read.

I have it.

So, so definitely pop the link
and where can, if somebody

goes, Oh my God, I'm hooked.

I really want to be the best person
I can be for my, for my dogs.

Where can they go and
find out more about So,

Dr. Ed: um, there'll be a few links.

You'll see a link where you can
get a print version at Amazon.

You'll see another link where
you can get a digital version.

And there's a couple of special little,
um, Forces and things that you can add

on to just the digital version of the
book that you won't find anywhere else

that are pretty cool on in that one.

You can go to thehealingvet.

com to learn more about my services and
I am available for zoom consultations

worldwide as well if you want to do
work one on one with an animal that

has got any kinds of challenges health
behavior whatever or just wanting to

do the best possible holistic kind
of life plan that you can and you

can go to wholeenergybodybalance.

com to check out the modality.

And we have home and practitioner
trainings for web bodywork for pets,

which really focuses on the hands
on side of things, and also for web

energy work for animals, which is
more about intuitive development,

energy healing, that kind of thing.

Anke: Love it.

Well, thank you so much.

Highly recommended.

So I've got my hands into all of that.

Highly recommend it.

Thank you so much for coming and sharing
about your work and the new book that

we want to get in everybody's hands.

So thank you for coming.

Dr. Ed: You're welcome.

It's an absolute pleasure
to be on your show.

Thank you so much.

Anke: Thank you.

Thanks so much for listening.

If you enjoyed the episode, don't forget
to subscribe, and leave a review so

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And if you know a pawsome human
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Email me at Anke.

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