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.

Hello and welcome, Stef.

I'm super excited to have
you here with me today.

Thank you very much.

Can't wait.

Looking forward to it myself.

And I always find it funny because
you're, well, I'm giving away, I always

ask people where they are, but like
you're sitting in Berlin and it's really

funny because like, oh, you're like
an hour's drive from where I grew up.

I always find that, find that fascinating.

So let people know where, where
you're from, you know, I've given

away where you're based and let us
know what's your business with dogs.

Well, first of all,
thank you for having me.

Second of all, isn't it a wonderful
description of the world where I'm

now an hour from where you were born.

I'm Scottish living near Berlin and
you were born in Leipzig, I believe.

Yeah.

Now living in Spain.

Uh, so that's just a wonderful
sign of what the world's all about.

And here we are chatting together.

Uh, so, uh, And what was your question?

What's your business with dogs?

What are we talking about?

Dogs.

Right.

Dogs.

Yes.

So we had this idea, first of all I was
in the British Army for 29 years and

had a full and exciting and busy career.

I retired at 45 and my wife and I had this
plan that we were going to go to Bulgaria.

We were going to live there.

We're both skiers and
we like the outdoors.

Uh, so we were going to live in an
apartment there and, you know, go in the

mountains in the summer and the winter.

It was then that we realized
that the, the huge street dog

problem that they had there.

Uh, and we, we are dog lovers and we, we
took our dogs with us when we went there.

And we, we were faced with this dilemma.

We can't, we can't have our dogs living
in luxury, surrounded by all this

struggle and suffering in the streets.

We can't ignore it.

And we, you know, we don't want to leave.

So we still got an apartment over there.

So we, we thought we've got to be
able to do something about this.

But we, the way we got into it, actually,
before we made all these decisions,

we Uh, I was over there for a few
months and there was a building site

next to where our apartments were.

The guard dogs there had puppies.

Every day I went past, no English,
no Bulgarian, just waving to the

guys there and saw the puppies there.

And then I, I said to Nicole one
day, my wife, who was back in Germany

at the time, wouldn't it be great
if we took one of these puppies and

would it, would it be okay for us to
possibly have one of these puppies?

And I got a Bulgarian friend to
ask the workmen, is it possible,

and they went, sure, no problem.

And I was like, oh,
that's so kind, naively.

And I'd noticed that there'd been ten
puppies, but now there was only six by

the time we took the puppy that we did.

And I said, so, so did other
tourists take the other dogs?

And they said, no, they
just get killed on the road.

And I thought, oh my goodness.

I cannot phone Nicole and say,
I took one of the puppies.

Oh, and the other five are
just going to die on the road.

So I took all six puppies.

Uh, and I, and I thought I'll take
them and get them to the vet, get them

checked out, get them all their, their
vaccinations and warmed and everything.

And then I'll take them to
the dog shelter in Bulgaria.

And that's my next life lesson is.

There are no humane alternatives.

Don't assume anything, right?

So now I'm in my ski apartment with my
two adult dogs and six puppies, with

zero experience of bringing up puppies.

So that was a baptism by fire, which
we got through for a few months.

Nicole came over for Christmas and then
we both drove back together with puppies,

re homed them in Germany, and we were
like, great, that's a good job done.

Don't want to do that again.

So we were out in April and, uh, I
came back in to the apartment and

Nicole said, don't go in the bathroom.

And I'm like, well, why would I
not want to go in the bathroom?

Don't go in the bathroom.

So I went in there, five puppies in a box.

And she said, you started it.

And I was like, oh God.

And I went, okay, listen,
we know the routine.

You've got contacts with the vets.

We know how to do the paperwork, get them
all vaccinated, all these kind of things.

Uh, and we got them back to Germany.

And we went, right, okay.

So, and then we were out there in
July and we're sitting at, uh, dinner.

And so people come up and said, are
you the people who rescue puppies?

And we were like, are we?

I don't think so.

And that, that's when we decided,
look, we actually do know what to do.

So we got ourselves trained up.

We got ourselves registered.

And Authorized and everything like that,
and that was 12 years and 1, 500 dogs ago.

So, uh, and, and me being hyper sensible,
I said, well, okay, we can do it.

But we do it as a hobby.

We won't let it take over our lives.

And now, it's the best
mistake I have ever made.

It's a common cliché, but we
don't rescue dogs, dogs rescue us.

It's our whole life, our whole passion.

Our daughter grew up with animals, and
she even qualified this year as a vet.

So, we've even got our
own vet in the family.

Our entire ethos and everything we
do is focused around the animals and

we wouldn't change it for the world.

I love that.

I love that so much on so many levels.

And to actually even have your daughter
inspired to, you know, to become a vet

so she could do that professionally.

I just love it.

Now, There's a couple of things that I'm
curious about because, you know, I live

in Spain, so, you know, having dogs not
treated the way, as a German, I think

they should be treated is fairly common.

It's one of the reasons I even started
Soul Touched by Dogs because I, The

narrative needs to change, right?

So, but there's also, like, there's not
that many, like, at least where I live

or have lived along the last 20 years,
it's not so much of a street dog problem.

You don't see a lot of dogs
running around the street.

But I've recently heard some people,
some sort of dog trainers talk about

that street dogs who are growing up
without a family, that they're actually

struggling when they come into families
because they're just sort of used to

having that agency of their own life.

Do you have, like,
what's your take on that?

So it, first of all, every dog
is different, you know, and the,

the dogs that we tend to Uh,
uh, or, or satellite charities.

So just, just let me explain
the, the structure that we have.

So we're based in Germany and we have
like a logistics hub, a baseline,

baseline here, but we support
the small charities in Bulgaria.

We have.

a small group of people
who are out there doing it.

So, and they tend to be
finding younger dogs.

Uh, so, and younger dogs
are much more rehomeable.

So they will keep the dogs for four
months and they will be fed and vaccinated

and treated, chipped and passports.

And then we publish them
on our Facebook page.

We have 6, 000 subscribers.

We have a, We have two Facebooks.

We have a public one and we have a
private one for all of our owners

because we re home 1, 500 dogs.

And we, we still consider
our dogs to be our dogs.

And if, if one of, if, if circumstances
change with an owner, we have it in our

contract that the dog comes back to us.

You might see Sally in the back here.

She was away for four years.

Uh, and then her owner got so ill
she couldn't take care of her.

So we took her back and we
decided we would, we, she, she's

what we call a resident rescue.

So we, we have six dogs, uh, who we
feel, we don't feel comfortable enough

with their, their past treatment and
everything that they would be, we'd be

comfortable putting them into a, say, a
non professional household with, Young

children, they're very reactive, they're
Angsthunde, as we'd say in German, you

know, uh, so we, we, we've got them here.

So, but the main, uh, the main dogs
that we transport from Bulgaria

to Germany are younger dogs.

So they've always grown up in a, within
a few weeks, in a social environment.

So we don't have that.

That said, every dog is different.

Occasionally we, and we have one
dog in our compound here who, Fred.

Fred is a street dog.

Three years old.

The most beautiful animal, uh, on
the planet, but born for the street.

Not come, you know, you can give him
a warm, cosy box, he's not interested.

He wants to be out and, and we're,
we're blessed with having so much land.

We've got 10, 000 square meters here.

Uh, in Saxon Anhalt.

Uh, and my dogs are about to
go a bit crazy because I can

see the posts turning up soon.

That's alright.

It's a dog podcast.

So, Fred is a classic example of the
kind of dog you're talking about.

He's a lovely character, but he's
used to having his own autonomy.

So we've got a huge compound.

And he's out all day, you know, patrolling
the limits, sniffing, lying around,

and, and where we are located, we get,
we get various different birds and

pheasants and deer coming by, so he's
getting stimulation and, and we walk

him every day and, and all that, but
he, he's never going to be a house dog.

Because he, he just pees where
he wants to pee, you know?

And, and he doesn't, but, you know,
there's, there's some dogs, and I always

make a promise, I know I'm going off on
tangents right here right now, but there's

some dogs who are designed for sofas.

You know, they need cuddles, they
need warmth, they need the easy life.

And our most recent dog was a dog called
Alice, who was rescued by a friend of mine

who's a member of my coaching community.

He lives in the Pyrenees, and
he drove all the way to Berlin.

to pick up Alice and the two
of them are like soul mates.

He's such a kind, gentle
soul, lives on his own in the

Pyrenees in a little village.

And Alice was, I always promised
Alice in the mornings when we went

to the compound, you're going to
spend the winter on a sofa in front

of a log fire, just getting cuddles.

You know, she's that dog.

And it's my favorite story in the world,
because, We now get regular updates of

Alice and Jason on the sofa in front
of the log fire in the mountains.

And he sent a video yesterday
of her playing in the snow

and all that kind of thing.

So we take each dog as an individual
and we re home that dog as is.

But Fred isn't going anywhere.

The most domesticated he would
go to would be probably a farm.

You know, somewhere where he
has his, you know, outdoor.

He's, he's got really thick fur,
beautiful kind of English setter,

speckled, ginger and white.

Uh, and he's, he'll never be happy
inside of four walls, you know?

So the short answer to your question
is, we will take the dog and give

the dog the needs that that dog has.

I love that.

A sofa or free range.

Well, that's, I love that.

I love that.

And so, do you find Um, do you find
it hard because like, so here there's

often this, you know, dogs that get
rescued here quite often get sent over

to Germany, to, to England because it's
just easier to find homes for them there.

Because here, I remember a friend of
mine who, like a neighbor who had, well,

there was a litter, you know, and they
really struggled, you know, to, to find.

Good homes.

There'd be plenty of people like, oh
yeah, I'll have the dog, you know,

but then they just have them chained
up in some courtyard somewhere.

So if you want to make sure they have
a good home, it's not that easy, right?

So do you ever find if you bring
dogs back in Germany, is that

hard or is it easy to follow?

Do you have a wait list for
people to, to adopt the dogs?

Like what's the situation?

So what we have is a very active community
of, like I say, 1500 dogs rescued.

We, we, it's written into the contract
that that dog still, unless it stays

with you, it has to come back to us.

Uh, and we also, cause
we do this for a passion.

We love our dogs.

They become our dogs.

So we have a community of owners.

Uh, and so we've got a kind of closed
Facebook page of owners who are

also members of the public group.

And they understand the
passion that Nicole and I have.

They know that we, we run it efficiently.

Uh, with business processes to make sure
that everything is uh, accounted for and

all the processes are followed correctly.

So they enjoy being part of our community.

So when we post something into our
Facebook group saying we've got new dogs,

then they work as an exponential network.

So they will, They will reach out to their
family and friends, and we have what we

call, uh, repeat offenders, and failed
fosterers, all those kind of people.

You know, the ones who say, oh, I can
look after her for a few months, and

we're like, okay, can we have her back?

And they're like, no.

She's going to have to stay,
you know, that kind of thing.

So we, we have our own community
and 6, 000 people who are only,

who are already dog people who are
only interested in recommending to

family and friends and people that
they would trust as well, you know?

So it's a kind of mutually supportive
environment where we, we very

rarely have actual issues with,
and we do for controllers, we do a

home inspection, we do contracts.

We do meet the dogs if they've got other
dogs and they've got children, see.

They have to come to us and
we, we watch their interaction.

They think, they think they're choosing
the dog, but we're actually doing a

kind of an assessment of actually,
you know, I don't want one of our

dogs to be living with those people.

We trust you with our dogs, right?

Precisely, you know, so, so we have that
whole atmosphere about how we do things.

And over the years, over 12
years, we've built, as I say, 6,

000, Uh, 6, 000 followers, and
they're, they're very active.

You know, if you go onto the Facebook
group, you can see we, we're running a

Christmas, uh, sponsorship program at
the moment for the dogs in Bulgaria,

because we've got small satellite
charities looking after them, and this

is like expats living there, and they're,
they've got their house, and they've got

a yard, They've got some puppies there,
and they live domestically in the house,

and the people that we work with, we've
vetted them, we've been there, you know,

they're friends of ours, you know, we
support them, so what we do is we offer

a certificate program where you can
sponsor for 20 euros a month, you get a

certificate so that you, for Christmas,
you could give that gift to someone.

You know, you know, we buy
presents because we have to

and everyone's got everything.

So it's such a unique, beautiful
thing to get a certificate to say,

you're going to support Little Lily.

Here's some pictures of her.

Uh, for the winter, and that's a
massive boost for our people in

Bulgaria, because we can say to them,
your, your winter fuel bills, your

winter food bills, any veterinary
bills, they're covered for the winter.

Because a lot of them are working
on passion, enthusiasm, they're,

they're retired people, you know,
so they don't have a huge budget.

So, uh, that, that's something that
can be seen on our Facebook as well.

You'll see the certificates.

So our, our community
is incredibly active.

For I love that because it's always
about trust, you know, I think that's

the on both sides, you know, so
it's like, because I remember when I

had, you know, like I had my little,
little hustle there that, that,

uh, and I had all these shelters.

And it was just like, yeah, here are
pictures of misery and the PayPal link,

you know, so where there is just that.

So you managed to really
build a community around it.

So where you know, there's,
there's people you can trust,

they know they can trust you.

So it's transparent and open.

And I just, I just love that.

That's why we don't actually
advertise because we, we, we don't

want to compete with the RSPCA ones.

And like it is, it's misery because we,
we want people to do it for the love.

Not out of the pity, you know, so and as
we say we've built an organic community

of dog lovers So we don't we don't
pump out ads and everything like that.

The community is kind of self supported
We're always more interested in other

people coming in but but they come
into the community We don't just

want faceless donors putting money
into an account It's about, hey, you

can see your, your money being used.

Just go in the group every, every day.

There's new posts going up of
people sharing pictures of the

dogs walking and stuff like that.

So it's a, it's a beautiful space.

I love that.

So something that we touched on
in the conversation we had before

this, that I'm curious about.

Because most of the time what I see here
is that, you know, people who rescue dogs,

yeah, they're just kind of like passion
and I don't know, like, you know, just

trying to sort of wing it, whereas yours
is so well organized and you said it

before, like you run it like a business.

Is there, is there a tip or like, is
there somewhere where, you know, What

would you say to somebody who goes,
look, you know, I would really love to

start rescuing dogs, where do I start?

So, great point.

Absolutely right.

And the reason why, first of all, Nicole
and I are both business coaches in

the first instance, but we'd also seen
people whose lives have been destroyed

purely by leading from passion, because
passion will, will destroy you in

the end if you don't have process.

and boundaries.

And that's what we learned.

And very, very early on, Nicole and
I, as a kind of protective measure

for ourselves, for our own mental
well being, we said, right, we are

going to help dogs in this area.

And those are the only dogs
we're going to look at.

We don't look at web pages from
Spain, from Serbia, from Albania.

We, we, we block ourselves off to that.

That's not that we don't care about them,
but we cannot do anything about them.

So we keep all of our emotional
energy and physical effort in the

zones where we are, and we will, we
will help the dogs that we can help.

And, and the other thing is we, we have
set up, uh, the, the financial model

is that every dog that comes through
from being found in the street to,

in Bulgaria, being cared for, for up
to four or five months, transported

on a, a, a professional trusted.

Transporter that we've been
working with for years.

love the animals as much as we do and
they get taken from the door of our people

and delivered to our compound personally
and we track them on the journey.

They turn up with us and then
they'll stay with us until

such times as they're rehomed.

But when they're rehomed we take a fee.

That fee covers the costs of
the next dog coming through.

So we never find ourselves in a situation
where We have like a hundred dogs

to care for and no money coming in.

We, we, we have a kind of throttle,
you know, where we control the dogs go

through and then we can take more dogs
in, you know, uh, don't get me wrong.

It's running hot at the front end and
there's some heartbreaking stories

there, but we, we have to, we have
to understand that over the next 10

years, We will rescue a lot more dogs
than if we just went and picked up

every dog that we saw and just Gathered
them and loved them and hugged them

and gave them the love they deserve.

Don't get me wrong, but as a process,
you have to say, right, this is our

capability, this is our capacity,
this is how we're gonna do it.

And, and we've, we've kind of found this
sweet spot where the, the, the kind of.

process takes the dogs through as
the other dogs are turning up now.

And that, that's the
only way you can do it.

You run it as a business.

It's not for profit.

We take no money out.

In fact, Nicole and I put all of our
income in, you know, I even paid all

my Daughter's education for her to
become a vet because, A, because she

loves animals and she loves being a
vet but, you know, a great investment

to have your own vet in the family.

Well that's the ultimate, yeah.

Nicole and I are just so passionate
about animals that we, we willingly give

up our entire lives to it and it's not
a sacrifice, you know, but we're also

using all of our income that we can
get to build our centre here so that we

have greater capacity to do more dogs.

But we will not eat more dogs.

Until we have the capacity to do so.

That's the kind of business process that
has to be the overriding factor, you know?

So that's, that's my, my advice.

I love that because it's, it's, because
that's the thing is like, if you just

kind of overload yourself and then
it all goes well, you know, if you

break down, you help no dogs, right?

So.

Precisely.

And we've seen wonderful
people lose everything because

they just led with the heart.

And didn't use the brain, you know.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Love that so much.

So where can people
find the Facebook group?

Where can people connect with you?

Where can people maybe
sponsor a dog like that?

You know, what's the
best place to send them?

Okay.

First, I have to tell you the story
of why we're called Rila's Dream.

Oh, yes.

So if I take you right back to the
beginning, the first puppy that I rescued,

it was the 3rd of November in Bulgaria,
in the mountains, The Reeler Mountains

was the name of the mountains, and there
was a bunch of puppies lying in the

frosted grass, no blanket or anything.

And then there was a little black
and white one lying on her own.

So my first thoughts were, well,
if I'm taking one, it's her.

She's the, the runt of the litter.

And so she was forlorn and freezing
and shivering and everything.

I picked her up, put her in my jacket.

And I thought, right,
that's that done and dusted.

She is my baby.

That's it.

We thought of a name for her.

And it was really the
mountains that we were in.

When I had her in the apartment, uh,
she would lay in the sun, sunbeams.

from coming through the window.

And when the sunbeam moved, she would
get up and move and lie in the sunbeam.

And it was like, when she was lying
in the grass that 3rd of November,

she was dreaming about being
warm, having a full belly, having

love, all of that kind of thing.

And she got all that.

She's passed now, sadly.

She's gone over the Rainbow Bridge.

But, uh, I, when Nicole and I were like,
what, what can we call our charity?

And I said, well, this all
began with Rila dreaming about

having a home and a full belly.

So let's bring that dream to
every other dog that we can do,

but let's name it after Rila.

So our charity is called Rila's Dream.

And you'll find us on, uh, Facebook,
I can drop the link in here.

Uh, you'll see a full and active
community and all our, all our

dog owners who are in there.

Uh, you asked about how
could people sponsor us?

A lot of people want to send us blankets
and food and everything, and we love the

generosity, but to send it to us here
in Germany, it's actually, it does more

harm than good because then we've got to
transport that to Bulgaria and it's It's

2, 000 kilometers to where we're, we're
going almost, you know, 1, 500 at least.

Uh, so what we have is we have a Facebook,
uh, PayPal account there, and the thing

that works best for us, although we, we
will take anything that people can give

us, But what helps us is just a small
monthly subscription, donation kind of

thing, 10 bucks, 20 bucks, whatever it is.

Because that then allows us to plan,
and we can then, we know that that's

coming in over a longer term, so we
can, like for the winter sponsorship

program, we can forecast and say, right,
we're going to send you all of this,

we're going to send you all of that.

And I understand that.

The trust difficulties because there
are so many people out there who

are just using dogs and people's
hearts, uh, to exploit them.

If you go on our Facebook group,
you will see we are the real deal.

We are living and breathing dog rescue.

And you'll see all of our community
and all of the testimonials.

So if someone's looking for a safe place
to put a very small amount of money

every month and see it all go to the
dogs, 100 percent of it goes to the dogs.

Then Realist Dream PayPal is
the place to make that donation.

I love that.

Thank you so much.

This was really refreshing
and heartwarming.

And so thank you so much for
coming and I'm going to join

that Facebook group right now.

Wonderful.

Thank you very much.

I look forward to seeing you again.

You take care.

Take care.

Thanks so much for listening.

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