Soulmate Dog: A Love Story Beyond Words
This week on Best Bets for Pets, Michelle Fern welcomes Dr. Michelle B. Slater, the author of the touching and transformative book Soulmate Dog. In this heartfelt memoir, Dr. Slater shares the incredible bond she had with her German Shepherd, Brady. Soulmate Dog explores the deep love and inevitable loss that comes with such relationships, delving into the unspoken, even telepathic, language that can exist between humans and their animal companions.
When Brady faced a life-threatening illness at just five years old, Michelle turned to modern integrative veterinary medicine and the art of animal communication. Through this journey, she became fluent in the "language of dog," which completely reshaped her understanding of the human-animal connection. This powerful story doesn’t just redefine how we love and communicate with our pets—it also creates a new vocabulary for how we grieve them, showing us a way to honor their presence in our daily lives. Prepare to be inspired, moved, and enlightened by this extraordinary tale of love, resilience, and connection.
Listen to Episode #335 Now:
BIO:
Dr. Michelle B. Slater is a scholar of comparative literature and president of the Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities, an educational nonprofit where artists and scholars come to teach and collaborate. Michelle holds a Ph.D. in French Literature from Johns Hopkins. She is the author of Starving to Heal in Siberia: My Radical Recovery from Late-Stage Lyme Disease and How it Could Help Others, Soulmate Dog, and the forthcoming novel The Lunatic. She has also published articles on animal studies.
Transcript:
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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.
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Announcer: Let's talk pets.
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Michelle Fern: Hello, pet lovers.
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Michelle Fern: Welcome to Best Pets for Pets.
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Michelle Fern: This is your show host, Michelle Fern.
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Michelle Fern: I have just read the most incredible book and have the author on to share so we can talk about the journey that she took in writing the book, why she wrote the book.
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Michelle Fern: It's quite amazing.
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Michelle Fern: If you've ever had a dog or thought about having a dog or a cat or any fur babe, I think even I would say even fish or ducks or anything, you can probably relate.
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Michelle Fern: And this is just an amazing book.
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Michelle Fern: So stay tuned.
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Michelle Fern: We'll be right back.
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Michelle Fern: Welcome back, everyone.
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Michelle Fern: I would like to welcome Dr.
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Michelle Fern: Michelle Slater.
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Michelle Fern: She's a former professor and author, and she's written the book, Soulmate Dog.
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Michelle Fern: Welcome, Michelle.
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Michelle Slater: Thank you, Michelle, thank you for having me.
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Michelle Fern: Should I call you Dr.
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Michelle Fern: Michelle?
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Michelle Slater: No, you're welcome to call me Michelle.
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Michelle Fern: Okay, all right, that's okay, that's fine.
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Michelle Fern: So share with us, before we start talking about the book, tell us a little about your background.
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Michelle Slater: Well, Michelle, I have a PhD in French and Comparative Literature.
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Michelle Slater: And I'm a lifelong animal lover.
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Michelle Slater: I grew up with dogs and with parents who really respected animals.
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Michelle Slater: And I used to teach at the university.
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Michelle Slater: In my first book, I describe why I don't teach at the university anymore.
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Michelle Slater: In Starving Deal in Cyperia, I was very ill with Lyme disease.
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Michelle Slater: And then I had these books to write.
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Michelle Slater: Soulmate Dog, which just came out in June, shares a lot of my story along with the story of my incredible Gerontobor companion, Brady.
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Michelle Slater: And I won't go into it because I know you have questions.
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Michelle Fern: I have questions.
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Michelle Slater: But I'll talk a little bit about my background.
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Michelle Fern: I have lots of questions.
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Michelle Fern: Thank you.
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Michelle Fern: And I hope you're feeling better.
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Michelle Slater: Oh, yes.
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Michelle Slater: That's why I wrote Starving to Heal in Cyperia, because I found a treatment that cured me completely.
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Michelle Slater: And that's why I was able to go on and start writing books.
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Michelle Fern: Okay.
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Michelle Fern: That's wonderful to hear about.
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Michelle Fern: You started talking a little bit about it, but what is Soulmate about?
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Michelle Fern: And then my next question, which you might be answering within that question, is why you wrote it.
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Michelle Slater: Yes.
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Michelle Slater: So I just wanted to clarify that the title of the book is Soulmate Dog.
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Michelle Slater: Yes.
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Michelle Slater: So Soulmate Dog, the dog is very key to that.
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Michelle Slater: And Soulmate Dog is about the story of Brady.
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Michelle Slater: He was a very charismatic and soulful, wise German shepherd who I spent many years with.
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Michelle Slater: His entire life, I spent with him from beginning to end.
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Michelle Slater: And I wrote the book because Brady had such an extraordinary soul and he taught me so much.
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Michelle Slater: And the important figures around us encouraged me to write Soulmate Dog because they thought that Brady's story had a lot of lessons for people and helpful information for people and their animal companions to learn about that could be helpful for medical reasons, for communication, even for grief, and also for understanding and validating these very profound relationships that we develop with our animal companions to the extent that I call Brady my soulmate dog.
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Michelle Slater: So it's also a celebration of soulmate dogs that also led me to write the book.
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Michelle Fern: Thank you.
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Michelle Fern: I read the entire book.
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Michelle Fern: Your relationship with Brady is just extraordinary.
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Michelle Fern: It's very unique.
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Michelle Fern: I think it's unique because there's no other way you would know what someone's relationship is with their dog or cat.
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Michelle Fern: But let's focus on dog here for their dog unless they tell you.
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Michelle Fern: So you don't read a lot about soulmate dogs.
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Michelle Fern: You read a lot about dogs, you know, close companion.
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Michelle Fern: I love them.
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Michelle Fern: But this was an incredible journey.
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Michelle Fern: How would you describe your relationship?
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Michelle Fern: What is a soulmate dog for people that have not experienced that?
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Michelle Fern: They might not be pet parents and they're listening, or they just they love their dog, but their dog's not their soulmate.
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Michelle Fern: So how would you describe it so people can really get what you're talking about?
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Michelle Slater: Absolutely.
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Michelle Slater: That is a great question.
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Michelle Slater: And it has invited some questions like, well, does that mean that you don't find any human beings to be your soulmate?
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Michelle Slater: And so it does invite a discussion for sure.
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Michelle Slater: I would say that from the moment that I met Brady, when he was only a few weeks old, we looked into each other's eyes and it was this almost supernatural experience because I just fell in love with this puppy at first sight.
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Michelle Slater: I just knew that we were meant to be together and that we were going to have extraordinary experiences.
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Michelle Slater: And I was all in, so I felt like I was committed to him.
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Michelle Slater: I would do my utmost best to take care of his knees, that he wasn't able to take care of himself as an animal.
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Michelle Slater: And as time went by, I learned about how a dog loves and I learned about how he had unconditional love for me and I really saw that.
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Michelle Slater: And then as we got into some of the more esoteric communication methods, I learned that there was a deeper, a more profound side to dogs that I had ever been able to validate, that I had always had the intuition about.
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Michelle Slater: And so this relationship, this developed deeply over time and then eventually became a relationship in which I just about literally went to the moon to save his life.
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Michelle Slater: And I would do it all over again today and I realized, wow, I love Brady so much that he is absolutely my soulmate dog.
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Michelle Slater: So it's about unconditional love.
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Michelle Slater: It's about respect for him, a mutual respect that we shared, a willingness to be there for the other.
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Michelle Slater: And of course, in a platonic, innocent way, I mean it absolutely like that.
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Michelle Slater: I just felt like it was such a unique, extraordinary relationship that even people around us would say, oh my goodness, that's your Soulmate Dog.
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Michelle Fern: Quite incredible.
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Michelle Fern: And just to point out, you mentioned and I saw a name that I recognized in your book early on.
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Michelle Fern: Chris Onthank actually has a show on Pet Life Radio.
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Michelle Fern: He's an animal behaviorist.
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Michelle Fern: I've met him a couple of times, but I'm familiar with Chris and I know that you had an incredible experience with him in helping to understand.
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Michelle Fern: I think he worked with you in training Brady, trying to understand how to communicate with him.
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Michelle Slater: I just adore Chris Onthink and really, really enjoyed all of the experiences and lessons that Brady and I learned from him.
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Michelle Slater: He is just an incredible animal behaviorist and person at large and has such a wealth of knowledge about dogs.
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Michelle Slater: And it was, Chris came on board after Brady had a very unfortunate experience with Shih Tzu training, this German Shepherd sport.
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Michelle Slater: And the trainer that he had had been very aggressive, and it left Brady with some trauma that I worked on healing with him.
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Michelle Slater: He went from being this very lively, the prince-like, confident, prancing dog, who was very secure to when he came home from that intensive training.
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Michelle Slater: He was depressed in the corner, and I was like, this is not my Brady.
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Michelle Slater: And Chris Onthank came on board to help me approach Brady's training in a firm, but kind and loving way.
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Michelle Slater: And it actually brought a lot of healing to us.
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Michelle Fern: It was exciting to see his name.
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Michelle Fern: And I've met him in person a couple of times, and I've heard so many wonderful things about him.
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Michelle Fern: Okay, now we're going to get into something that might be controversial to some.
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Michelle Fern: I'm fairly open minded and have an appreciation for a lot of things that I might not understand, or just because it's not logical and makes sense that in one way doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
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Michelle Fern: So having said that, and I'm pretty good with left and right brain because I have two business degrees, but very creative.
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Michelle Fern: So having said all that, most of my listeners know this, having listened to me over the years.
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Michelle Fern: So you talked about early on in the book about how you learn to communicate with Brady and through animal telepathy.
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Michelle Fern: And given my little preface there, I have not learned this, but I don't think that it's something that is not possible.
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Michelle Fern: Does that make sense?
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Michelle Slater: Absolutely.
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Michelle Slater: It does.
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Michelle Fern: And I think that this is going to be an interesting question because there's a lot of people out there that say, well, this is factual, but there's how many things that happen in the world that don't make sense, that just happen.
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Michelle Fern: And you can't say coincidence for all of those things or that, you know, there's things that happen with that.
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Michelle Fern: We don't always, it's not just, you know, super logical.
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Michelle Fern: Anyway, you learn to communicate with Brady, with Debbie McGillivray.
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Michelle Fern: McGillivray.
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Michelle Fern: Am I saying that right?
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Michelle Slater: Yes, Debbie McGillivray.
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Michelle Fern: Okay.
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Michelle Fern: Why did you want to communicate with Brady?
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Michelle Fern: And let's go back one question.
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Michelle Fern: I can understand why you'd want to communicate with him.
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Michelle Fern: When you heard about animal telepathy and talking, you know, learning to talk dog, what were your first thoughts on that subject?
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Michelle Slater: Yes.
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Michelle Slater: I was with an acquaintance who was speaking eloquently about this animal communicator who happened to be Debbie McGillivray and how this just transformed her relationship with her cat.
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Michelle Slater: And I, as a trained philosopher in skepticism, was so skeptical that my ears were barely open to listen to her.
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Michelle Slater: I was judgmental.
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Michelle Slater: I was critical.
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Michelle Slater: I cast it aside.
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Michelle Slater: I inwardly thought that I would never be caught contacting an animal communicator.
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Michelle Slater: And I went about my day.
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Michelle Slater: And over the coming few days or weeks, Michelle, I would look at Brady and we would have these profound, silent experiences where we just gaze into each other's eyes.
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Michelle Slater: I just felt so deeply that there was so much that I wasn't understanding.
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Michelle Slater: And so I thought, well, I may be skeptical, but skepticism also implies an openness.
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Michelle Slater: It's not an immediate rejection of anything.
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Michelle Slater: And so in order to decide, I decided to take a dialectical approach and see if there was something to this.
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Michelle Slater: And so I contacted the acquaintance.
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Michelle Slater: I asked for Debbie's contact information.
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Michelle Slater: And I had my first session over the phone with her.
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Michelle Slater: She connects with animals through distance.
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Michelle Slater: And she can also do it in person.
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Michelle Slater: And really almost immediately, I knew that she was talking with Brady because his energy and his tone, his sense of humor, it came across immediately.
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Michelle Slater: And then all the things that he would talk to me about, right away, I would ask the most simple, banal questions, like that we were going to Vermont to see his grandparents, as we called them.
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Michelle Slater: And he said, Oh, I already know that, you've already told me that.
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Michelle Slater: It just kept going on like that in a series of things, until the real clincher for me was in that same first conversation, when she also is able to communicate with animals to the extent that they can discuss their medical needs.
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Michelle Slater: And she said, You might want to call an animal chiropractor, because the fourth disc in the lumbar, I don't remember exactly which one it was, but she was very precise about which disc was out.
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Michelle Slater: And so I go off the phone, and I looked up an animal chiropractor, and I was able to get in that afternoon with Brady.
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Michelle Slater: And I almost fell off my chair, when the chiropractor said that this very same disc the Debbie McGillivray had mentioned was out.
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Michelle Slater: And at that point, I thought this just can't be a coincidence.
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Michelle Slater: And from then on, everything was so precise as time went on, that for me, it was uncontrovertible.
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Michelle Slater: And then I also learned how to speak the language of dog myself through Debbie's home training program and her in-person workshops.
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Michelle Slater: And then I began to speak with other animals and also in a more profound way with Brady.
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Michelle Slater: And for me, it legitimized something that I never thought would be possible.
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Michelle Slater: And it led to us having an even more profound relationship.
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Michelle Fern: And you know what?
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Michelle Fern: You hit the word on the head with skeptic, because it's something that's, I guess, in a sense, controversial and a lot of people skeptical about.
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Michelle Fern: But I'm glad you explained that in more detail.
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Michelle Fern: We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.
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Announcer: On Pet Life Radio.
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Announcer: Pet Life Radio.
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Announcer: PetLifeRadio.com.
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Michelle Fern: Welcome back, everyone.
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Michelle Fern: We're talking to Michelle Slater.
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Michelle Fern: She is the author of Soulmate Dog.
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Michelle Fern: She's an author and former professor.
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Michelle Fern: And so, Michelle, to go on, once you learned to speak to Brady, how much of a difference did it make in your relationship?
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Michelle Slater: Oh, it made an incredible difference, Michelle, because I didn't have to guess anymore, and I got to know him on a far deeper level than what I thought was already a deep relationship.
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Michelle Slater: I got to know him.
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Michelle Slater: He had all of these profound comments and wise things to say.
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Michelle Slater: And so, I learned that he was this very wise soul.
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Michelle Slater: And I had a feeling that he was, and by looking into his eyes and the way that he treated me so respectfully, but when I could actually hear him, I really learned that he was far more than I could ever have imagined.
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Michelle Fern: Okay, wow.
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Michelle Fern: We could have a whole show on that, but I want to get to some of the other major points that are brought up in your book.
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Michelle Fern: Now, Brady, unfortunately, became sick at five years old with a kidney infection called, I don't even know if I can pronounce this right, Leptospira?
00:17:53.844 --> 00:17:55.104
Michelle Slater: Leptospirosis.
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Michelle Fern: Leptospirosis.
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Michelle Fern: Okay, thank you.
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Michelle Fern: And you mentioned in the book, we're going to talk more about everything you did, but you mentioned in the book a couple of times that, you know, if you had had pet insurance, it would have made such a big difference.
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Michelle Fern: And but you did not.
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Michelle Fern: And so that's that.
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Michelle Fern: You never mentioned actual costs.
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Michelle Fern: You just mentioned expensive.
00:18:20.384 --> 00:18:41.124
Michelle Fern: I can just guess, and you don't have to mention, I'm not asking for any figures or anything personal like that, but I can just guess that from everything you described and having a few for my fur babes, having a few health scares, but nothing like this, that you must have spent close to six figures.
00:18:41.124 --> 00:18:48.424
Michelle Fern: You don't have to say yes or no, or I don't want to get so personal on that, but it was very huge, huge expense.
00:18:48.424 --> 00:18:51.124
Michelle Fern: So what advice do you have for those?
00:18:51.124 --> 00:18:57.144
Michelle Fern: Because you didn't promote or you didn't really talk too much, but it seems like you're pro pet insurance.
00:18:57.144 --> 00:19:01.664
Michelle Fern: After reading your book, my next dog, I'm getting pet insurance for sure.
00:19:01.664 --> 00:19:02.384
Michelle Fern: I just am.
00:19:02.384 --> 00:19:04.204
Michelle Fern: That's my conclusion.
00:19:04.204 --> 00:19:09.544
Michelle Fern: But what would you say to people now that are skeptical about pet insurance?
00:19:09.544 --> 00:19:21.844
Michelle Slater: Michelle, I'm so delighted that you're raising this issue, because no, I never wanted to mention the veterinary costs for Brady when he contracted leptospirosis.
00:19:22.364 --> 00:19:26.624
Michelle Slater: And I'm very fortunate that I had help in paying his veterinary bills.
00:19:26.624 --> 00:19:32.044
Michelle Slater: But I very, very much wished that I did have pet insurance.
00:19:32.044 --> 00:19:36.284
Michelle Slater: And I'm a major proponent for pet insurance.
00:19:36.284 --> 00:19:49.904
Michelle Slater: And in fact, my current dog, Genji, who's a stunning Swiss white shepherd, he has been fully insured by, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention names.
00:19:49.904 --> 00:19:50.944
Michelle Fern: You could say that's fine.
00:19:51.384 --> 00:19:54.644
Michelle Slater: He's insured by a company called True Panyin.
00:19:54.784 --> 00:19:56.664
Michelle Fern: I've heard of them before.
00:19:56.664 --> 00:20:16.764
Michelle Slater: And when I was writing a draft of this book, I asked my father, who loved to do research, to help me with the project, to call various insurance companies and make a sort of spreadsheet with the benefits, the advantages, the disadvantages.
00:20:16.764 --> 00:20:19.964
Michelle Slater: And I wanted to include that in the appendix of the book.
00:20:20.404 --> 00:20:30.224
Michelle Slater: Now, my editor encouraged me not to do that because they thought it was just going too extensively into that subject.
00:20:30.224 --> 00:20:32.504
Michelle Slater: But it's very important to me.
00:20:33.284 --> 00:20:48.124
Michelle Slater: And I think that so many people would be able to confront staggering health care costs and maybe not be forced to have the horrible reality of having to lose their dog.
00:20:48.724 --> 00:21:01.884
Michelle Slater: I really encourage people to look into pet insurance, but right away, when they first get the dog, so that an insurance company doesn't then claim that the dog has a pre-existing condition.
00:21:01.884 --> 00:21:04.364
Michelle Slater: So for me, this is a critical thing.
00:21:04.364 --> 00:21:09.144
Michelle Slater: And I think as humans, we are responsible for our animals.
00:21:09.144 --> 00:21:15.204
Michelle Slater: And so to bear that responsibility, we need to have tools that can help us in times of crisis.
00:21:15.764 --> 00:21:22.084
Michelle Slater: So absolutely, a whole-hearted yes to the health insurance for dogs and all the pets.
00:21:22.084 --> 00:21:24.144
Michelle Fern: It's a great point.
00:21:24.144 --> 00:21:31.824
Michelle Fern: And for humans now, and we're talking, it's September 2024, we're talking about this for humans now.
00:21:31.824 --> 00:21:36.144
Michelle Fern: We don't have to worry about pre-existing conditions, but I remember time when there was.
00:21:36.144 --> 00:21:48.184
Michelle Fern: And if you think about for humans when you get insurance, we get it, you know, yeah, it covers your basic doctor visits, but you could probably pay out of pocket and cover the same as what you would.
00:21:48.184 --> 00:21:50.604
Michelle Fern: But you always get it for catastrophes, right?
00:21:50.604 --> 00:21:57.464
Michelle Fern: You just can fall or break a leg or something small like that, and that can cost you thousands on thousands of dollars if you have to pay out of pocket.
00:21:57.464 --> 00:22:00.964
Michelle Fern: So think about it the same for your fur babe.
00:22:00.964 --> 00:22:41.544
Michelle Slater: Yes, and I would like to add that my father asked questions about some of the alternative treatments that Brady received, because another element in Soulmate Dog that I discuss extensively that it was a combination of allopathic or conventional veterinary medicine and these complementary or alternative holistic treatments that really saved Brady in the long run, and I developed a tremendous respect for the holistic veterinarians who treated him, but their supplements that were very helpful, for example, from Chinese medicine, were extremely expensive.
00:22:41.544 --> 00:22:52.484
Michelle Slater: And when my father called all of the HUD insurance companies, he also asked about complementary treatments, alternative treatments, and if supplements would be covered.
00:22:52.484 --> 00:23:11.584
Michelle Slater: And with this particular one that I mentioned, True Panyin, and I am not affiliated with them in any way other than they insure my dear dog Genji, but they were the only one with whom my father spoke that would be willing to cover those alternative treatments and even the supplements.
00:23:11.584 --> 00:23:20.684
Michelle Slater: So that really clinched the fact that for me going on, that was the company that I personally wanted to use because I wanted to cover all of my bases.
00:23:20.684 --> 00:23:23.164
Michelle Slater: I never ever, ever wanted this to happen again.
00:23:23.164 --> 00:23:40.344
Michelle Slater: And if I can share that with people and that's helpful for them, that's very meaningful for me because that's really why I wrote Soulmate Dog, is I wanted to help all the dogs and animals out there who might not have access to these treatments and could have them, for example, if they had insurance.
00:23:40.344 --> 00:23:52.324
Michelle Fern: But that's a great point because there are, and I've had on the show, there's more and more people out there trying holistic treatments, alternative types of therapies.
00:23:52.324 --> 00:23:53.824
Michelle Fern: So great points.
00:23:53.824 --> 00:23:56.464
Michelle Fern: I have more questions and I don't want to run out of time.
00:23:56.464 --> 00:24:02.304
Michelle Fern: So moving along, you have a section and you talk a lot about it.
00:24:03.144 --> 00:24:10.584
Michelle Fern: This was coming up in my mind as I'm reading the book and I thought, and then there's the chapter because you talk about Brady's just a dog.
00:24:10.584 --> 00:24:19.824
Michelle Fern: Because besides the expense, you had your own, you were having an illness, you weren't feeling well, and it wasn't just a simple thing.
00:24:19.824 --> 00:24:22.564
Michelle Fern: You had a lot of treatment to give Brady.
00:24:22.564 --> 00:24:26.004
Michelle Fern: You were traveling back and forth from Vermont to Connecticut.
00:24:26.004 --> 00:24:27.484
Michelle Fern: There was a lot of travel involved.
00:24:27.964 --> 00:24:28.904
Michelle Fern: It wasn't easy.
00:24:28.904 --> 00:24:31.304
Michelle Fern: It wasn't just a few injections here and there.
00:24:31.484 --> 00:24:32.964
Michelle Fern: It was intense.
00:24:32.964 --> 00:24:38.884
Michelle Fern: I mean, just reading the book, I thought, oh my gosh, this woman, this was like a miracle.
00:24:38.884 --> 00:24:42.664
Michelle Fern: I know you had helpers, but still, it was crazy.
00:24:42.664 --> 00:24:56.424
Michelle Fern: So when people say to you, but, oh, he's just a dog, you did all this to save his life, and this might be sound crass, but I don't mean it to, and he only got three more years.
00:24:56.424 --> 00:25:01.204
Michelle Fern: What would you say to people that have those kind of thoughts?
00:25:01.584 --> 00:25:09.344
Michelle Slater: Well, you know, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and their own experience, but they didn't live my experience.
00:25:09.344 --> 00:25:19.244
Michelle Slater: And my experience was that I had never loved so deeply as I loved this very, very special German Shepherd, and we had a connection.
00:25:19.564 --> 00:25:32.084
Michelle Slater: And through the means of animal telepathy, I was able to keep checking in with him and asking him if he wanted to continue these treatments, if he had the strength and the force to keep going on.
00:25:32.084 --> 00:25:34.204
Michelle Slater: And he absolutely did.
00:25:34.204 --> 00:25:42.304
Michelle Slater: And since he did and he wanted to fight for his life, and we all loved him, I was not the only one who loved Brady.
00:25:42.764 --> 00:25:45.524
Michelle Slater: My family loved him very deeply.
00:25:45.524 --> 00:25:53.564
Michelle Slater: And so we were all willing to pitch in and to form Team Brady as I call it in Soulmate Dog.
00:25:53.564 --> 00:26:06.984
Michelle Slater: Because for us, and the riff on just a dog was something that my husband at the time was very skeptical about the extensive costs of his health care.
00:26:06.984 --> 00:26:22.584
Michelle Slater: But as I write in that chapter and through the book, he would say that, but then he would race home after work to help me give Brady a treatment because it took two of us to do these fluid treatments to inject fluids in him to keep his kidneys going.
00:26:23.184 --> 00:26:33.224
Michelle Slater: And so, there was a love that transcended what people would normally maybe see between an animal and a human.
00:26:33.224 --> 00:26:44.224
Michelle Slater: And it was that love and it was that level of a soulmate relationship that led me to do everything that I did for Brady.
00:26:44.224 --> 00:26:49.424
Michelle Slater: And in terms of the three years, it was extraordinary for us to have those three years.
00:26:49.424 --> 00:26:51.064
Michelle Slater: I don't regret a thing.
00:26:51.604 --> 00:26:57.684
Michelle Slater: I'm so grateful to have had those wonderful three years and his health really bounced back.
00:26:57.684 --> 00:27:04.304
Michelle Slater: And yes, he did need ongoing treatments, but he had a very full rich life.
00:27:04.304 --> 00:27:11.724
Michelle Fern: In concluding, because we're almost out of time, what would you hope people get after they're done reading the book?
00:27:11.724 --> 00:27:22.324
Michelle Fern: If you could maybe three or four points that you hope, boy, I hope that I really, you know, instilled this in the reader and they really get this point.
00:27:22.324 --> 00:27:24.604
Michelle Fern: What would those three or four points be?
00:27:24.604 --> 00:27:33.464
Michelle Slater: Well, one thing is just what we've been talking about, to really appreciate that a profound relationship with an animal is possible.
00:27:33.464 --> 00:27:42.004
Michelle Slater: And for those people who already have those, to feel that there's validation for that, but they don't have to justify that, or they are entitled to that.
00:27:42.004 --> 00:27:45.224
Michelle Slater: It's a wonderful, natural relationship to have.
00:27:45.224 --> 00:27:47.084
Michelle Slater: And so I want to celebrate that.
00:27:47.524 --> 00:27:59.364
Michelle Slater: I also want to just really underscore the fact that medical conditions like leptospirosis that can lead to kidney failure, they're not a death sentence for dogs.
00:27:59.364 --> 00:28:02.864
Michelle Slater: And so it is possible to bounce back from that.
00:28:02.864 --> 00:28:09.304
Michelle Slater: And that's a strong reason why I wanted to write Soulmate Dog and share Brady's recovery story.
00:28:09.304 --> 00:28:27.564
Michelle Slater: Also, since, you know, dogs don't live eternally, I did want to dwell on the grief piece and the grief that I went through when I did lose Brady because I think that people who love their animals so strongly need to grieve deeply.
00:28:27.564 --> 00:28:34.724
Michelle Slater: And so it's also a way for me to validate the feelings that people are experiencing and I hope that they will find that comforting.
00:28:34.724 --> 00:28:42.584
Michelle Slater: And lastly, I really hope that people would take away an openness about the animal telepathy.
00:28:42.584 --> 00:28:43.284
Michelle Fern: Okay, thanks.
00:28:43.284 --> 00:28:47.524
Michelle Fern: We didn't touch on this, but maybe we could quickly touch on this.
00:28:47.524 --> 00:28:49.304
Michelle Fern: Let's touch on the grief part.
00:28:49.304 --> 00:28:54.324
Michelle Fern: So, Michelle, you did something extraordinary when Brady passed.
00:28:54.324 --> 00:29:05.704
Michelle Fern: You went on a hike, an intense hike, very, very intense, so intense that it was, I mean, physically challenging in Panthagonia.
00:29:05.704 --> 00:29:07.904
Michelle Fern: So why did you choose to do that?
00:29:07.904 --> 00:29:14.524
Michelle Fern: And was it cathartic enough to help you, you know, process the grieving?
00:29:14.524 --> 00:29:14.904
Michelle Slater: Yes.
00:29:14.904 --> 00:29:17.724
Michelle Slater: It's long and complicated to explain that.
00:29:17.724 --> 00:29:22.644
Michelle Slater: And yes, I myself was sick with Lyme, but I had these mild reprieves.
00:29:22.644 --> 00:29:24.484
Michelle Slater: So it was like a reprieve.
00:29:24.484 --> 00:29:28.064
Michelle Slater: And it was like adrenaline was feeling me.
00:29:28.064 --> 00:29:29.624
Michelle Slater: But I had to go.
00:29:29.624 --> 00:29:30.704
Michelle Slater: I couldn't stay home.
00:29:31.524 --> 00:29:38.824
Michelle Slater: Brady died and my arms at home, the way that I would have wanted into rather than being at a hospital.
00:29:38.824 --> 00:29:40.564
Michelle Slater: But I needed to go walk it off.
00:29:40.564 --> 00:29:42.064
Michelle Slater: I walk off my grief.
00:29:42.064 --> 00:29:44.224
Michelle Slater: And that's how I think and process.
00:29:44.224 --> 00:29:45.584
Michelle Slater: And I needed to go far away.
00:29:45.584 --> 00:29:48.324
Michelle Slater: And I'd always wanted to go to Patagonia.
00:29:48.324 --> 00:29:50.264
Michelle Slater: And so I just went.
00:29:50.264 --> 00:29:53.704
Michelle Slater: An opportunity afforded itself to me.
00:29:53.704 --> 00:29:55.724
Michelle Slater: And I just went.
00:29:55.724 --> 00:29:59.464
Michelle Slater: I took my backpack and I used Frequent Flyer Miles.
00:29:59.744 --> 00:30:06.164
Michelle Slater: And I'd stayed in my tent and made dehydrated meals and went hiking.
00:30:06.164 --> 00:30:10.384
Michelle Slater: And as I did, I thought about him, I cried, I walked it off.
00:30:10.384 --> 00:30:12.304
Michelle Slater: I let all of my feelings come out.
00:30:12.304 --> 00:30:17.884
Michelle Slater: And I write about that extensively because I think it's important to have a process of grieving.
00:30:17.884 --> 00:30:20.904
Michelle Slater: And I could still hear him and he was very funny.
00:30:20.904 --> 00:30:23.084
Michelle Slater: He was like, well, this trip is for you.
00:30:23.084 --> 00:30:26.784
Michelle Slater: Of course, you deserve to do something special after everything you did for me.
00:30:27.284 --> 00:30:30.224
Michelle Slater: So I just kept, like, I still felt very connect to him.
00:30:30.224 --> 00:30:31.504
Michelle Slater: But it was cathartic.
00:30:31.504 --> 00:30:34.264
Michelle Slater: And of course, grief is not a linear process.
00:30:34.264 --> 00:30:37.784
Michelle Slater: It wasn't just that I came home from that trip and I was healed.
00:30:37.784 --> 00:30:39.164
Michelle Slater: It was very helpful.
00:30:39.164 --> 00:30:40.824
Michelle Fern: Okay, that's good to know.
00:30:40.824 --> 00:30:43.704
Michelle Fern: Let's tell people, where can they buy Soulmate?
00:30:43.704 --> 00:30:46.664
Michelle Slater: Oh, yes, Soulmate Dog came out in June.
00:30:46.664 --> 00:30:49.244
Michelle Slater: And it's available wherever books are sold.
00:30:49.244 --> 00:30:52.684
Michelle Slater: It can be ordered at your bookstore, independent bookstore.
00:30:52.684 --> 00:30:54.024
Michelle Slater: It can be found online.
00:30:54.264 --> 00:30:57.464
Michelle Slater: I also have a website, michelleslater.com.
00:30:57.464 --> 00:31:00.304
Michelle Slater: I'm on Instagram, I believe is Michelle B.
00:31:00.304 --> 00:31:03.544
Michelle Slater: Slater, and I do post about Soulmate Dog.
00:31:03.544 --> 00:31:08.424
Michelle Slater: And I'd be delighted for your listeners to read Soulmate Dog.
00:31:08.424 --> 00:31:09.764
Michelle Fern: Well, I hope they do.
00:31:09.764 --> 00:31:14.084
Michelle Fern: And I want to just tell you thank you so much for coming on Best Bets for Pets.
00:31:14.084 --> 00:31:15.564
Michelle Fern: I so appreciate it.
00:31:15.564 --> 00:31:17.864
Michelle Fern: And you now have a new dog.
00:31:17.864 --> 00:31:19.964
Michelle Slater: Oh, yes, yes, I do.
00:31:19.964 --> 00:31:22.304
Michelle Slater: And thank you so much for having me, Michelle.
00:31:22.384 --> 00:31:26.764
Michelle Slater: I really enjoyed speaking with you and thank you for your deep questions.
00:31:26.764 --> 00:31:27.664
Michelle Fern: You're so welcome.
00:31:27.664 --> 00:31:28.664
Michelle Fern: Thank you so much.
00:31:28.664 --> 00:31:29.664
Michelle Fern: Bye bye.
00:31:29.664 --> 00:31:30.624
Michelle Fern: Bye bye.
00:31:30.624 --> 00:31:32.724
Michelle Fern: I hope you all enjoyed this show.
00:31:32.724 --> 00:31:36.084
Michelle Fern: I strongly recommend Soulmate Dog by Michelle B.
00:31:36.084 --> 00:31:37.664
Michelle Fern: Slater, PhD.
00:31:37.664 --> 00:31:39.564
Michelle Fern: It is a profound book.
00:31:39.564 --> 00:31:40.704
Michelle Fern: It's intense.
00:31:40.704 --> 00:31:42.244
Michelle Fern: It's just incredible.
00:31:42.244 --> 00:31:44.324
Michelle Fern: So be sure to check it out.
00:31:44.324 --> 00:31:49.504
Michelle Fern: I read it while I was surrounded by my cat crew, Charlotte, Molly and Dennis.
00:31:49.504 --> 00:31:53.844
Michelle Fern: Although I was thinking of my fur babes who were in doggie heaven, especially Mr.
00:31:53.844 --> 00:31:57.984
Michelle Fern: Z, I think the animal telepathy really struck with me.
00:31:57.984 --> 00:32:00.044
Michelle Fern: I think I might look into that.
00:32:00.044 --> 00:32:03.824
Michelle Fern: Anyways, I want to thank everybody for listening to Best Bets for Pets.
00:32:03.824 --> 00:32:05.544
Michelle Fern: I so appreciate it.
00:32:05.544 --> 00:32:11.324
Michelle Fern: And thank you so much to my guest, Michelle Slater, for coming on to talk about Soulmate Dog.
00:32:11.324 --> 00:32:18.564
Michelle Fern: Thank you, of course, to my amazing producer, Mark Winter, for making the magic happen and making all of our shows sound amazing.
00:32:19.084 --> 00:32:23.824
Michelle Fern: And hey, you never know what we're going to have next on Best Bets for Pets.
00:32:23.824 --> 00:32:25.164
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