Miss Me? - Listen Bitch! Zeddy & Mimi & Spike

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

Jordan Stephens and Miquita Oliver answer your questions about dogs.Next week, we want to hear your questions about ADDICTION. Please send us a voice note on WhatsApp: [phone]. Or, if you like, send us an email: [e-mail] episode contains very strong language and adult themes.Credits:Producer: Natalie JamiesonTechnical Producer: Will Gibson SmithAssistant Producer: Caillin McDaidProduction Coordinator: Rose WilcoxExecutive Producer: Dino SofosAssistant Commissioner for BBC: Lorraine OkuefunaCommissioning Editor for BBC: Dylan HaskinsMiss Me? is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds

This episode contains strong language and themes of an adult nature, which we all love. They're the best forms of nature. Mimi, come, come here, Zed, he's Ed. You're the star of this show. Come here. Come here. Come here.

This way, this way. No, not that way. Come on, you gorgeous thing. The theme for this head. week's listen bitch if you haven't guessed it already is dogs there you are good girl this is is so fun this is like blue peter this is like gardeners world they do all they're presenting with dogs have you seen have you seen my dog have you seen zedie yeah yeah i've said mickey you've asked me i've seen zetti four times you just don't seem enamored with her enough look at this

gorgeous she's gorgeous yes she's very very cute she looks swedish grimmie calls her goldie horn So this is Mimi. We don't have Spike's there, but I can't get him to jump up on shit. He doesn't care. I love the way Mimi does this with her ball. She's so elegant. Okay, we'll go into these beautiful little furry friends that make our life so much better. Let's have our first quote. I really do feel like we're on Blue Peter. Let's have our first question this week's. Listen, bitch. Hi, Megita. Hi, Jordan. Molly here. I'm a long time listening to the podcast and now first time voice net sender. I'm down in West Sussex. by miniature dachshund valve. What timing? My question is, people always say dogs end up resembling

their owners, but do you think that's because we pick one with our same energy, or because they slowly turn into us the longer they love us? Thanks, guys. Bye. Deep question. I've really thought about this a lot since ZEDE's got so pretty. It's me.

I am so gorgeous. Or like when people go, God, she's so beautiful. I'm like, thank you like I gave birth to this dog which I didn't but I definitely got a honey coloured dog probably to resemble my hair colour is that ridiculous yeah

no that's the truth that is the truth I don't know about it I really see it a lot especially walking at dogs you see dogs and their owners knew like that's fucking wild yeah it's true it's not all the time but I think sometimes it's a little bit more

sometimes it's literal like physically literal I mean, some people think that about me and Spike. But other times it's probably like on a deeper level. Spike had to go at a dog the other day, which was a tiny little like dash and the owner was a fucking massive bodybuilder. And I was like, what is this dog reflecting in this bodybuilder's life? Because it's not physical. Like, that's not the physical dog.

And what about your journey with Spike? How did Spike come into your life? Because I like went and got Zeti. Yeah, no, Spikes are, they're both rescues. Spikes are rescue. Mimi's a rescue. Spikes from Macedonia. Mimi's from Romania

The thing with Spike is Some people do think we look similar But he's very calm and chill And tolerant The calm chill thing There's a part of me that's like that Definitely not all the time No actually there is like me

Because when Spike goes out Into the fields with other dogs He's hyper as fuck It's just when he gets into the house He calms down That does sound very familiar Yeah yeah so maybe we do But the thing that I've most noticed

In spiking myself is before I got Mimi who's a little bit more wild I'd say Spike I didn't even have a lead on Spike he just walk everywhere with me off the lead like he was just we would just chill together and if we went to somewhere like a cafe he would just wander off and sit with another family

like he just goes he has no stress about any human he was like oh hey what are you up to he'll just go up to anybody and I think that's quite like me yeah you've literally said that about yourself before but Mimi Mimi's not like that and me but what's interesting is obviously me and jade got me and Mimi's quite a lot like Jade.

Interesting. She'll bark at a person if they're new. Obviously Jay doesn't bark, but she'll kind of quietly bark in a sense of you have to earn Jade's trust. You have to earn Mimi's trust. Whereas with Spike and me, we're just like, hey, what are you up to? You want to do something? What are you saying?

I love that. So it must be nature over nurture. I mean, the other one, nurture over nature. I don't know. But I do love rescues. Apparently, I don't know if you heard this, but apparently I didn't know this when I rescued Spike. but like black dogs are the least adopted dog. Isn't that mad?

It's terrible. Especially after what we were saying about pigeons. Yeah, quite. I think Spike is fucking gorgeous. He is gorgeous. But apparently, yeah, they're the last, quite often the last to be adopted. Don't. Zeddy's not a rescue.

Is that terrible? It's not terrible. I think I would definitely recommend rescues. But I just want to say that for some people, rescue experience is, difficult and like just to be very clear when I rescued Spike one of the conditions from the rescue center in Macedonia was if this doesn't work out we will pick him up again in three months oh wow they literally give you the guarantee they're like you know if you can't adjust obviously they vet you first they check that you're in a position but that's for the dog as well right like

if the dog is not happy and yeah yeah course well this one is a as Eddie's like a cocker spaniel show so she's very like I actually I'm going to put you down I'm going to address me she's very like obedient like a bit like a soldier she's very like foot down yes what next move which I love I think we might go to crofts one day she's very croftsy yeah my dogs are not crofty like these lot will get distracted with a piece of chicken in no time have you ever seen a video of the the dog just eating all the treats on the in the croft's challenge that is both my dogs do you think you look like spike because you do a bit he's got quite a long face So do you think.

And the same sort of nose. Okay. I'll take that. I think Spite's really gorgeous. So that's nice to it. But as Mimi's Brindle, which is a bit mixed race, you know.

Yeah, Jady. Yeah, same as Jade. But I think she might also be the, what's it called in the pack? What's it in the pack when you're like the... The runt. The runt. I feel like she's the run.

Because I remember seeing a picture of the puppies in the rescue centre. And she was the only Brindle one. So I was like, that one. That one. Said said to me, get the little run. I'm like, thank fuck he said that to me. All right, let's have another question.

Sorry if this is very sickly sweet. I can't remember what that question was. Do you look like your dog? Yes, I hope so, is my answer. I hope so. Hey, Gordon. It's just Harriet Corning again from South East London. I'm so excited for this week's topic of dogs.

I'm a massive dog lover. When I was a child, my favourite movie was Baithoven. They also brought some sequels as well. But it just affirmed my love for St. and our dogs. I've been assessed with them since I was a child. I've always wanted one. However, what's always putting me off wanting to get one is obviously the massive mountains of poo that they would do. They're not going to be doing little pellets. They're going to be massive mountains of poo. So shrubbing that up every day would be a massive chore. And also

the slobber probably would put me off as well. But I just wanted you to know what is your favourite breed of dog. And yeah, what has put you off in the past, maybe getting one. Love you both. Thank you. Bye. Why didn't I get, thank you, babe. Why didn't I get one before? I think probably I've been looking after myself for a really long time since I was like 16 and, you know, and I don't have a kid. So I was very wary of how well I would look after something, just as simple as that. I didn't know whether I could look after something that wasn't just myself.

And that's one of the reasons I got her because I was like, this is ridiculous, like you're 40 years old. It was really good as well because I didn't plan on when I got her but I did happen to get her the month before I turn 40 and so I feel like she's like going to be part of this decade with me she was also like the month we started

miss me I got her that was also a bit of an accident so it feels like this whole chapter as she's been like the backbone of it losing my flat like she went through that with me obviously I think also and this is actually maybe a bit silly but I think the idea of loving something so much

and knowing that it will die used to scare me. And I read this interview, yeah. But I read this interview with James Middleton, Kate Middleton's brother in The Times. And he said, a dog will only break your heart once the day it dies. And I think I've been scared of that loss. But then I was like, that's literally... Well, he's clearly not had a dog with any illness problems or anything.

Well, quite. No, he's lost four dogs. I think the most... my biggest kind of breakdown was last year, Spike. I can't remember what the issue was, but he, I could see his eyes go. I was, I had people over and then they went, and he was acting really odd. And I was like, what's going on with Spike, man?

This is crazy. And he looked like he was in this tense, kind of stressed state. And then I asked him to come to me and he didn't, which was unusual. And then he looked at me and his eyes, just rolled and he just fell to he just just passed out and i makita i brought the panic i felt i wrung the nearest vet because i wasn't signed up to one at the time like a local one who had just moved in maybe so maybe a year and i was like i need to get this dog to the a ande like now

and they were like you know they've wondered if i had a seizure or something they asked me to turn all the lights off but Mikita I was in floods of tears. I can't I can't explain to you how immediately I felt like I couldn't bear the idea of losing Spike in that moment so I got in the car he like stumbled into the car he was so

disorientated I got him to the vet oh baby he was disoriented he didn't know where he was at all the vet's like we're going to keep him overnight you got to come back tomorrow oh my god I got in Mimi's looking for Spike when I come in she's looking around the corner or where I was just broken.

I was absolutely broken. And you had to spend that night at home not knowing what was going on, not knowing how he'd be. Oh, mate. No, no idea. And, you know, they, I can't remember what it ended up being.

I think it was an issue with his ear, actually. I think he, there was like a sequence of things that had happened. But it was just that immediate, that worry and, and I couldn't, like, I didn't, like, you know. Jade was in Newcastle. She was, like, should I come home?

She'd like, get on a train back, you know, to, and I was like, maybe we, you know, hold fire. obviously, you know, a much more, you know, a vet kind of reassured me the next morning that, you know, let's just see how we feel, let me know how he is in 12 hours and he was okay. But yeah, man, proper shock. And it is heartbreaking. My dad had to put his dog down and I've got a tattoo of that dog on me, you know, at least to look after him for months at a time and my dad was broken. It's a part of God. It's a massive part of it. Dude,

it's a massive part of it. But, you know, but that is a testament to how much we can love. And that's life, right? Like, literally like with human beings. I was thinking like, Imagine if I was like too worried to love Garfield too much because I know he'll die one day. Like there's the lesson of life. Like do we let ourselves love even though loss is a part of love? Yeah, massively. It's actually making me feel really emotional because it's like you can't hold those experiences, that experience of that deep love with an animal or a human being.

You can't hold that from your experience in life because you're scared of the pain because pain is life. I agree and I really fucking mean this from the bottom of my soul like I think if a person can afford to because it is it is tough and have the time to to love a dog or build a relationship with an animal in that way is so worth it man like for me Spike was it was me and Spike pretty much for lockdown and I don't know what I honestly don't know what I would have done about Spike I was firstly he got me outside because obviously there was weird rules about like walking a dog which is meant I could be out for. for longer maybe I don't know but yeah I think you could there was just this moment where I didn't have a phone on me and the world had stopped and the beach was empty I was in margate and it was just me and spike and it was that first lockdown it was super sunny and I was sat there and spike was in the water and I remember he was bouncing around in the water and he ran back and he grabbed my shoe and was just throwing my shoe around and just this joy and I felt this moment in where I was just like this might be the most connected I felt to the world ever.

Wow. Like I can't explain like this dog is just so happy and I'm happy even though there's so much reason to be concerned and I can't ever forget that. I can't ever forget that and that's why we need the world around us to show us that feeling. I saw you looking at Spike or Mimi just now and this like wave comes over you and when I was looking it up because they were saying. something about like the way that we look at our dogs like it brings euphoria and the connection

of them looking back at us like it literally does have a you have a physical reaction of euphoria yeah and it's so you just can't deny it you can't look at your dog and not just be like like they they melt you but they think about you as well yeah it's their complete love for you they love you they love you they love you they love you they love you when you get home it's it's so beautiful. Martha Stewart said... You could call it Ruforia.

Rue... No, that was good. Don't be shy. What did you say? We could call it. Ruforia. Ruforia. Oh, woophoria.

Sorry. Please carry on. Yeah, we'll do Martha Stewart. She said, if you want to be happy for five years, get married. If you want to be happy for 10 years, get a dog. If you want to be happy for your life, get a garden. There's Martha Stewart.

Yeah. You got both. She cheated on her husband, right? Oh, fuck off. They both cheat on each other. They literally both cheated on each other. It's one of my favorite clips from that documentary. Yeah, okay.

Anyway, shout out Martha Stewart, by the way. She's a fucking G. And she got done dirty, bro. Fuck, yeah. She got done fucking dirty by all these little criminal inside trader bastards. You tried to put all that shit on her. Shout out of Martha Stewart to the end, bro. Don't all right.

She won. She did win. Let's have another question about. our little doggie doodles and dogs are doodles hi makita and jordan this is sue from buckinghamshire for my tea last night i had a taco bell no shame please i needed it also i found out uh from last week's podcast that i'm alive path three never even heard of that but that been my mind anyway gonna try and keep it quick but i want to ask you about dog names so i think it's really hilarious and funny and brilliant to give your dogs

human names. My dog's names are Kevin and Alan, and I would like to know how you feel about that. Do you think you should give them like cutesy little dogs like Fifi, Fluffy, all of that? Or do you think human names are better? Because I think human names are better. I've also got two cats that are called Doris and Prudence. Anyway, love you guys, love the podcast. Thanks so much. It's hilarious that how example of a dog name is Fifi, and I literally just know a human called Fifi. I know three. I want this guy If we could give like an award out

Like a Miss Me like pen or something I'd give that to Kevin and Alan as dog names Is fucking Goated That is top tier Next to Roy Neville Kevin Allen

Really for dogs names Kevin Allen is actually Lily's uncle's name Kevin Allen Ruth I don't know Ruth is too far Olivia

Ruth and Olivia I get the Kevin's and the Allen's and the Roy's Ruth is too far. What the fuck do you mean? You don't call a dog, Ruth. Why not? It's just too much of a human woman's name, I feel.

That's the whole point. No, but it makes sense. Like, Alan, I knew someone with a dog called Alan, and I thought that was really great. Tony? Yeah, but my dog's called Zedi, right? Yeah, it's a dog name. Not another dog I know.

It is a dog name, but it's not a common one. I wouldn't call a human Zedi. Would you call a human Zedi? I think anything with E at the end is a bit question. as a human name. Like, it sounds like I'm going to be, that's got to be a nickname. Yeah.

Can't birth someone with a nickname. I call everyone like seppy, grueby. So I went, have I told this story? Tell me if I'll say it. And then if I have, we'll just have to cut it out.

I went on a walk after the, oh, shut out. I'm just throwing dog names out. I went to the Arsenal game with Gough a few years ago. And then we were walking back through Stokey and we went to the cemetery because interestingly, four, all four of Garfield's grandparents

are buried next to each other in Abney Park Cemetery in Stokey which is really like unusual and so we went to see them and his grandfather was called Zedekiah and I was like, that's quite a good name for a dog. What a beautiful name.

Yeah, Zedekiah. So Zeddy's name is actually Zedokai's and then like Zed, which I like, Zed. Zed's dope. But I do end up calling her fucking Zeddy and that's such a dog name. Zedi! Yeah, yeah, of course. I mean, it's the same for any

any dog. I'm a big fan of this human name thing. I went viral on TikTok a couple of years ago because I made a comment on one particular dog name and I'm going to bring that back up. I'm going to bring it back up now because it's an epidemic. What if it doesn't go viral this time, Jordan?

No, I'm just saying it caused the conversation because my point was proven and some people, I'll tell you, okay, how about this? Do you know the most popular dog names? Oh, I would probably say no, but you tell me. I know like eight dogs called Luna.

Yes. I know eight to ten dogs called Luna. Luna is an unbelievably popular dog name. And apparently... And Inca. No, not Inca. Yes, James Middleton and Ben Fogel both have dogs called Inca. Okay, those are like really niche people for a star.

Two upper middle class, like, what the fuck are you talking about? That's where the Times interview. Yeah, they probably did fucking history. at Cambridge. I don't know what the fuck. Inca, what the fuck? I feel like the same kind of people call their dogs Luna, but okay. They really don't. That's really untrue. Luna transcends class.

It's fucking insane. People think Luna's, right, hippies call it Luna because of the moon, right? But people who liked Harry Potter call their dogs Luna. So that's a whole other generation. People who want to name their kids Luna but don't think it's human enough so they name their dog Luna.

Like it is, if they're dogs black, they think it's like a dark moon. Luna, if a dog's white, I think it's like a white moon, Luna. Everyone, like, Luna is... Luna's killing in the dog game. Luna, it is, honestly, I've never heard Luna shout at more. I would confidently go to Dog Park now, shout Luna, like four dogs would... Nat, can you find out officially...

This is Jordan's official. No, I'll tell you what they are. I'll tell you what they are. Okay, but let's find out what comes up on Google. Nala? Oh, yeah, that's quite good name, yeah, that's quite good. Rollo. Milo.

Yeah, there's quite a lot of Milos. Oh, do you know what, there's a lot of Oscars. Oscar's a, I'd say mildly coming. But I swear down Luna's top, top five, if not top three. Oh, Luna's number two, bitch. No, Luna's number two. What's number one, that? What?

A puppy is caught, but listen, there's a lot of poppies, but I personally know eight lunas. I don't know one poppy. Charlie. Sure, Charlie and Max. Yeah. There's another one that they always call, like, bigger dogs. What is it?

They always call them fucking... I knew a dog called Rio, which I really, I like. Tim. The bulldoggy ones, what do they call them? They've always got to, Rocky. Oh yeah, Rocky is got to be up there, bro. I think Rocky's a little bit two generations ago. I think it's a little older now.

It's more late 90s, early noughties. That was the name of a dog. Rocky. What's the best dog name you've heard? I really like the groomy's dog. It's called pig. Pig was cool. Pig was good.

Is pig still with us? She's still with us. And then his other dog's called Stinky. He blob, which I was like, gree, come on. I knew a dog called Hey boy. Hey boy. Yeah. Yeah, it's funny.

Do you know what? I really took the responsibility of naming a dog. I took it quite seriously and I really enjoyed it. And I love having something in my life that I came up with a name of and it knows it's its name now. And when it hears that name. Yeah, the sounds. I know. It knows it's hit.

It knows it's her. She knows. Well, Spike's four names. name is Spike Lee Jones Milligan Stevens. Oh, see, I was embarrassed to give a surname. And when we went to the vet, they were like, Zedekiah Oliver. And I was like, that's just fucking stupid.

It's not my daughter. So I gave her prince, which is like my nanny's name, which is a great surname, which I wish I got. I was going to be called Spike. Oh. Yeah. And then Mimi was named by Jade. Mimi's named after a character in Rent, I think.

So Jade. Of course she is. Let's have a break. Let's have a break. Shall we? Jordan, you can have whatever you want. This is your time. Let's have a break.

Let's have a break. Let's have a space. Welcome back. Do you want to ask you another question. Darling, I'd love to know what more people want to know about the world of canines. Can't we have another question. Hi, Makita and Jordan. My name's Fee and I'm a gardener in Sheffield. Last night for tea, I had a pumpkin curry and then I just whipped up this like carrot, coconut chutney. I'm really glad that you're doing dogs for this week's miss me. It couldn't have come at a better time because I'm actually rescuing a puppy and we get her on Saturday. We're bringing her home on Saturday. So I just wanted to know I keep speaking to different dog training. and the keyt give me those are different advice.

But I know Jordan that you've rescued dogs and McKee, you've got a, you've had Zed since a puppy. So yeah, I just wanted to know, like, what would be the thing that I should do in the first few days? Like, how should I act around the puppy? Is there anything, like, any particular advice that you think is, like, really important for the first few days? Thank you.

Thank you, Fee. I love that Fee called Z-E-Z with such, like, familiarity. Do you know what I'm saying? It's like, that dog is called something. I am overwhelmed with a feat. Like, do you know how sick it is that like these questions are speaking about me specifically? Like me and you and then they say hi, Makito and Jordan. How great is that?

You've been doing this for years. What a lovely feeling. I know. It's been so fun, isn't it? And they know stuff about our lives and shit. It's fucking sick. Well, they hear us wag on every week twice a week. I'm just like, I'm just really enamored by that.

Go on, what we're going to say about Fee? She knows Zed, personally. I was going to say, she knows Zed. And her question was, oh, yeah, oh, right. Do you know what? And every parent of a child would be like, you don't even fucking know. But I have to say the first week of Zed,

maybe the first month, was harrowing. It was really, like, lots of misinformation, not misinformation, conflicting information. Like, Iona's mom, Rosalyn was like, you've got to put her in a cage and you've got to sleep in the other room, you've got to listen to her cry out.

I was like, okay, I did that for like 20 minutes, could not handle it. So I ended up the first week sleeping on the floor on cushions next to Zeddy's cage. That was like quite intense. I was like, what the fuck have I done? Interesting. I don't think I can handle this.

And then also there was one week where I thought Zeddy's eyes looked really evil. And I suddenly thought that I'd like let this like dark spirit into my life. And I couldn't control it. But actually that was like a manifestation of my fear of responsibility. That was quite an intense week. Wow. I was like Oh my God, she's the demon

And I just looked to her differently For about 24 hours It really freaked me out But that was what terror was doing And I was like step the fuck up And raise this dog right I want to give some advice though Because I did rescue two dogs

I'm slightly different to this woman Because I mean Spike was a year and a half When he came Mimi was maybe nine months Eight or nine months So there was a bit of fostering beforehand On both So perhaps It was slightly

different in experience. Mimi, anybody you met Mimi at the beginning to now, she's a different dog. But my advice is, from what I've experienced, and I'm not like a dog trainer, but what I did do was I didn't change my life too much for the dogs. This is what seems to have happened. I did this with Spike and Mimi, right? So some people, when Mimi was really nervous with new people, they would say to you that I would change how I am social in order to serve Mimi.

That would be the recommended thing, you know, like put her in. in a cage on people around or cover the cage, whatever the fuck it is. And, you know, we can try those things. But ultimately, I didn't change that. I brought people over. And if Mimi was scared, I'd just let her go upstairs. I didn't force her to be there.

But I didn't stop people coming over. I didn't tell people. The only thing I'll say is don't look at her. Just leave her to be. Don't think you have to win her over. So the other option would have been to sort of pander to her fear and anxiety. I personally don't agree with pandering. I think, look, with Spike, again, he's great with people.

people, loads of things he was confused. He used to shit everywhere when I first had him. At one point, he pissed on an entire pile of washing that had in my room. Like, he didn't understand where things were, but it's the response, you know. If I'm putting clear moments where I'm like, that isn't, he can tell that they can pick up on energy, you know. No, don't do that. You know, move them away from the place where it happened.

Okay, now I need your advice then. I need to get better at leaving Zeddy here. He's just sick. Because I was like, I said to go off, but what about like this? She's going to get stressed. You're supposed to leave them, come back and not act as if it was a big deal. Yes, okay. If you come back in and you're like, oh my God, you know, they think it's this.

Oh my God, that was so stressful. I'm like, no, boss, there's a few hours. You're calm, bro. Just go into like your little presents, you know. They're all Buddhist, these dogs, man. They're in the moment, bro. They're just there, just lying there just by the door. I think that's actually why we love being close to dogs.

It's not just like a centuries old thing. It's about, you know, imagine if we had. The mind of a dog, it's all very simple. Eat, sleep, play, love. But I will say you build up a communicate, like anything, like any human, like any living thing, you have to build up a constant communication backwards and forwards. If your dog doesn't like, you know, some dogs, there's a limit.

You can't leave dogs, I don't think, for more than, let's say, like, six hours, four, five, six hours, you know, that's not great. A big reason I got two dogs or so they have each other. You know, I didn't like leaving Spike on his own. When I was with my mum, it was really great that she had. like two other dogs there. It was just like, oh yeah, have a fucking good time. But Spike used to eat socks when I went out.

He used to just eat whole socks. Like when I was gone. Because he had separation anxiety. But he's got better. Oh, bless him. I know. Aristotle, actually, would beg to differ. He said that animals lacked reason, thought and belief.

And the animals rightfully ranked far below humans in the great chain of being. I don't know about that I'm sorry I actually would counter at that Aristotle I don't think they lack thought humans having a superiority complex has been very detrimental to our

success as a species Should we have a final question then darling Yes please Hey Makita and Jordan Loving the podcast I'm Claire from Bristol So they always say That dogs are really good

for your mental health so when I was discharged from a period of time spent in a psychiatric unit a couple of years ago my parents decided that maybe getting a dog would be a good idea but I actually find that having a dog negatively impacts my mental health because I find that I overthink everything and I'm constantly worried all the time does the fact that having a dog has negatively impacted my mental health, does that make me a bad person? I know, Jordan, you've said in the past that you don't really understand people that don't like dogs and I appear to be one of these people. I wondered if you do really think that people that don't like dogs are bad people. So just for clarity, I stand by saying I don't

understand people who don't like dogs but I definitely did not ever say that people who don't like dogs are bad people I don't believe in that kind of binary outlook and also if I'm being honest it doesn't sound as if you, the issue is that whether or not you

like dogs it's the issue is that you are struggling to not hyper focus on your responsibility as a carer for a dog when you are also caring for yourself which is completely understandable. I want to be very clear about that it's a big responsibility with dogs and it does not work with everybody.

And if you feel like that's too much whilst also taking care of yourself, that is completely fine. That is a, again, a quite a responsible place to be in because there are also people who are probably in over their heads looking after a dog and don't consider that. So I just want to really clarify the level of awareness and actually compassion that you are showing by even leaving that message.

Yeah, I think people do take it, well, I hope people don't take it too lightly having anything to look after that has a beating heart and an ability to feel pain and fear like it's a big old deal and I didn't take it lightly Yeah and I just like I say it differs between people

There are dogs that I've walked with on the beach in market and stuff and I can sell that the owners struggling I've had to look for dogs that I've gone because they haven't quite got the recall thing or they're very anxious. There's loads of challenges that come with it. It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all. I love dogs.

I'm obviously biased in that. And I will say, just as a flip side, in the same extent, to the same extent that it hasn't worked out for the listener personally with their own mental health struggles, I do, of course, know of examples of people who have been lifted out of their mental health struggles from having dogs, which is why I've mentioned it.

Yeah. Mainly because dogs encourage you to, leave the house in the morning a 20 minute walk that's a very good point that's literally it yeah get you outside i have a personal example of it yeah where someone very close to me was going for a really tough time i would spend time with them and they would struggle to really talk about how they felt without crying and breaking down and it was very much a paralyzing depth of of of sadness that was that was going on which is it's tough to get out of you know for anybody who's gone through depressive cycles it's really, really, really difficult to get out of.

And at the time, me and Jade were quite busy. And we literally said, take the dogs. Two months. Just take them. Both of them. Yeah. I saw this person again two months later and unrecognizable. Fuck.

Unrecognizable because they were leaving the house every morning to walk the dogs. And they became obsessed with walking in nature. and there's other benefits to that of course it's not centered around it but for them personally their body changed their mindset changed they felt more focused more driven and then you know we got these dogs back and it was it was really really quite something so i'm just adding balance to it because obviously this hasn't happened for the woman who's calling in and that is you know that it's completely understandable but the reason why i've mentioned it before is because i've also seen it have a positive effect yeah and i have too and i think also it's maybe just about

routine what they do I mean that can be stressful as well I'm trying to implement new routine in my life at the moment it's quite it's very difficult but it's they are an incredible gateway to new routine yeah which then becomes new patterns of thought

which then becomes new days and a new life but don't hate yourself because that hasn't just happened straight away no don't don't hate yourself every dog's different every situation is different maybe it's not the right time and also dogs

like I say I'm very lucky I can afford to have two dogs that's a fucking luxury bro these motherfuckers are expensive to insure if anything goes wrong it's fucking expensive if you're not insured

the food is expensive having a dog walker is expensive yeah Claire I want to set me both me and Keith I can say I know want to just send you a massive amount of love and say that you know

there's definitely lessons to be learned from the experience and I really hope that you can channel that in a way that benefits you because you deserve it. Before you go, before you go, Keith,

because we are talking about dogs, yeah. Do you have a favourite memory of you and Zeddy? Oh, yeah, the Highlands with my dad and my brother. Go on,

I want all details. I want to feel it, I want to smell it, I want to see it. You're so sweet. It's such a sweet being to ask me at the end. It was amazing

because it's a big deal for me to even still be doing things like this with my Scottish family. I wasn't going to bring the dog but in the highlands every hotel's like and what dog bed would you like like they expect it people go on dog walking holidays there Jordan

it's like a freedom she'd weirdly been to Hampstead Heath like two weeks before for Phoebe's birthday and she was like whatever this is this is fucking great by the time I got to highlands I've just never seen such joy within a being she loved it and my dad off the lead just running around running up mountains

3,000 foot up in the sky she was like and she looked good in the surroundings She looks like a little... Really... It was a dream. And it was really nice because my dad, again, how dogs can heal and help.

My dad and my brother Louis, they lost their dog, Lyra. She passed away two years ago. Lyra is a great name for a dog. Was it named after Lyra from his dark materials? Yeah. Oh my God, the dream.

And I just knew that Zedie would give them a little bit of that love they haven't had for a minute and they loved her. They call her Zedo. So it's deep. Thank you for us. me that question.

No, I wanted to, I genuinely wanted to know. That's, and I'm, I'm now going to, I'm now going to revel in the thought of, of dogs climbing mountains, man. What a vibe. That's a good way to, that's a great thought to end on. Thank you, everyone, for this Blue Peter, Hi, Miss Me hybrid today, to very much enjoyed. Mimi, what have you got to say? Hey, Mimi, Mimi, can we, we do need a real dog bark.

Our dogs are so bloody well behaved. We don't even have a bark. I wish you could see, you know what I might do. I might break the rules quickly for the end. What are you going to do? Oh my gosh, we're going to spin the camera to the other side of the room. Whoa, dude. Spiky.

Spiky. You can't not be in this episode. You're gorgeous. Hound you. What are you saying? He's such a hound. What are you saying? Yes.

Your tails with us. That was so fun. I love that. Like, fuck it. Flip the switch. Turn the camera. Um, it's up to me to pick next week's listen bitch theme. It's basically between addiction or romance.

Oh, addiction would be fucking great. Romance is too vague. Oh, interesting. So let's do addiction, because I'd also like to talk about the history of the classification of drugs. So let's do addiction. The theme, why don't you say it, the theme for next week's listen bitch is... That's fucking right. Let's not pretend we're not all addicts.

We're all addicts, baby. We'll see you next week. We're all addicts. I love that. I'm addicted to talking. I think that's quite good. We've never named an episode so quickly, but I like we're all addicts, maybe. 100%.

100%. The number to send your voice notes to is 08,030,40, 90. Oh yeah, no, I need to say this. An unfortunate side note. food has not gone down well with Jordan. He doesn't care what anyone have for their dinner. It turns out I've loved him. I've really enjoyed pumpkin curry and Taco Bell.

But that's okay. We're going to stop doing that now. But if enough people email BBC sounds, you and your mum can have kitchen bitch, which is the third episode of Miss Me, available every week where everyone can fucking ring in and tell people about their things. No, thanks.

Miss me's exhausting. I'm not doing kitchen bitch as well. Is there anything you want to ask the audience to let us know about themselves? Because I just think it's nice to have a bit of intimacy. I'd like to thank the audience for telling us their life paths. Oh yeah, that's quite fun. I'd like to thank them for doing that

because why not, man? Nymology survive, brother. True say. Okay. I'll see you next week, you big fucking addict. That's good. Thanks for listening to Miss Me. This is a Percivonica production for BBC.

BBC Sounds. Coming to BBC Sounds, finding Natasha. I'm Jake Warren, host of the show. My mum, Debbie, was a talented ballet dancer from London. To train with the best, she travelled to Russia in 1974, right in the middle of the Cold War. Things didn't go well. She was shunned, got very sick, and was left in an isolation ward to die alone. The story would have ended there if it wasn't for Natasha, an 18-year-old Russian who rescued her and then disappeared.

My mum searched for her for nearly 50 years, but never found her. So that's exactly what I'm setting out to do. This is my attempt at Finding Natasha. Listen to all episodes of Finding Natasha right now on BBC Sounds.