The Overshare with Gemma Atkinson - THE POWER OF PETS: The dogs have their day!

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

From the unique bond they create, unconditional love they give, to heart-wrenching loss and epic disasters; we give the dogs their own episode and discuss the power of pets.  Here we have ‘tails’ of hero hounds, secret senses and how one Basset Hound caused a major trip to A&E…

Now before we start this episode, anyone who knows me is going to understand why this is my favourite episode of all time. This is the power of pets. I am a pet person. My dream in life is to have five dogs or even a farm. Just live on a farm with loads of dogs. It doesn't feel like a home without a dog for me. I think the great examples for children, the great examples for how we should be, live in the moment, be loyal, love like every day's your last. So I wanted your stories today

on how powerful pets are in your life. And just for a balance for you, we wanted the hassle that the cause is wild because there are a few menace pets out there, aren't there? So we're delighted to welcome back the lovely Helen Stroudly. You were keen to join us on this app in particular, weren't you? Tell us why, what is it you do again?

Remind us, because you were with us on series one. Absolutely. So my background is early years, working with children. And actually then later in life, I decided actually it's exactly the same as working with dogs. So I did more training and became a qualified dog training instructor.

Working with children, animals, they say don't ever work with those. You're doing both. And I do both because love a bit of challenge. Which is easier? Probably the dogs actually. Right. But? Erm, probably the dogs actually. Right. But it really isn't the dogs that I work with, it's the owners.

We'll discuss that later on how we need to look at the other end of the lead. That's it. When it comes to dogs' behaviour. As always, we do at times change people's names, that's just to protect them and their identity. Our Overshare is all about real life, real stories, and yeah, this episode I'm so excited for. It's really sad actually because you're registering and you're labelling and identifying your dog as something that your dog isn't.

If I used to have like any said friends over for a night or whatever, sometimes in the morning all you'd look at me is and go, Yeah! You'd put his chin down and eyes up, be like, as if to say I know what's just gone down one. I wouldn't want to go through that again. It's one of the worst things I've ever experienced. I love that when you think of memories of Ralph, it's here, he broke my eye socket.

I think that's brilliant. Oh, I like them pictures, that giraffe and lion. Yeah. That's like us. I drive a go-kart, I've got animals and budders all over me house. He's like, for fuck's sake. So we've got Leanne. Oh, Leanne's got the dog. Please come and look at this. Oh, look at that. That's an old running pooch right there. So we've got Leanne with us now and Dottyie who you can see. So tell us what's special,

I mean Dottie looks beautiful, I love her little pig tails. Tell us your story, what's the story with Dottie? So she's adopted from Dogs Trust. I've always wanted to do animal assisted therapy and she was just the perfect fit. So we work in schools with canine assisted learning, with children with additional needs or if they're struggling with mental health or having difficult times. What sort of things does Dottie do? So we do one-to-one interventions and group work as well. So even if a child's struggling with separation anxiety for coming into school, when Dottie's there, they're quite eager to get in to school

to come and see her. And she helps like walk them into school. And she's just such a powerful, even though she's tiny, or you say tiny but mighty, like they'll come and sit with us. And if they don't want to talk to another adult, they, a lot of the times will disclose to Dottie. So they'll be sitting in the room and they'll talk to Dottie about what's trouble in them or if they've got any difficulties. I genuinely had no idea. I thought it was just a case of let's lift your mood, let's bring a dog in to play with, but Dottie's actually,

well, yeah, helped families. Absolutely. And, you know, and quite often there may be a social worker having to come in and work with a child and actually having the therapy dog there helps regulate the child and even keeps the child actually being in the room. Has she helped you? Massively. I was really struggling with my mental health and she's just given me the confidence, I think, to get back out in the world and stop being so isolated. It's real give and take.

It's a real teamwork that you've got there isn't it? You're helping other people as well so she's helping you and then you're able to help others so it's fantastic. And you said obviously we know they can pick up on our mood so say if Dottie was in a classroom and there was a little boy or girl struggling that little bit more Dottie would know they just pick up don't they? Yeah we work with quite a few children with varying levels of autism, ADHD, mental health

difficulties, and she just, without even saying anything, she just seems to know what to do with that child. So some children, they like the pressure of her on the lap for like rounding or to be able to be throat. And then there's some children when they like the pressure of her on the lap for like rounding or to be able to be stroked. And then there's some children when they've reached a certain level that they just don't need any more stimulation or external input and she'll just go and sit next to them. I know. And that's what always surprises me that actually it's a case of following the dog. And that, you know, the handlers that I work with, the owner, it's just like the

dog seems to know, which is just absolutely amazing. Different children and their different needs on different days, absolutely fantastic. And the children feel that they're looking after the dog. You know, they might fetch the water and change the water or walk or play. So, you know, it's a real teamwork for them. And they say as well, everyone knows dogs are the best secret keepers. Yes. So for children, like you said, they open up and in some cases it's a groundbreaking right.

That's what we needed to know. That's going to explain a lot of things. We can now put action in place to stop that happening. Dogs don't judge, you know, if a child's there struggling to read, the dog isn't going to say, can you repeat that? Or I don't understand you. Yeah. So it just gives children confidence just to be themselves. I've learned a lot in the dog training

world we sort of you know we sort of go in and he knows how to press buttons and roll dice and all sorts of things. Yeah it's absolutely amazing what you can train them for and it's quite sort of straightforward and he joins in with PE and reading and they have their little timetable don't they? So they have their downtime and they're looked after as well and that's part of our role when we go around and visit them. I hope he's paying his taxes. Yeah. And you say about non-judgmental,

when I was single back in the day, a long time ago, I remember if I used to have like any, said friends over for a night or whatever, sometimes in the morning all you'd look at me is and go Yeah, you'd put his chin down and eyes up, as if to say I know what's just gone down one And I'd be looking at him and go what, Tony? And I knew that he could never tell anyone. It was brilliant. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for joining us. Thank you.

Now Lorna, I've been saying for years that dogs have superpowers. Tell us about your dog, what's the story? So my dog is a Border Collie and he's called Blue and he's eight years old but when he was two years old, my daughter was born. But just before that, I didn't think that I was going to go into labour any time soon. And the night before, he was shaking around the place. He hid under the table and he was being sick. So we took him to the vets and they gave him antibiotics and other injections and sent us home. And the next day I went into labour and the vet said that he could actually sense that I was going to labour. And when I came home that night, he was fine. I mean, he wasn't fine because the baby was here and he didn't like the crying, but he was fine. And then my mum's dog, Blesson, was his best friend and two years ago, he was,

he always licked his face and two years ago, he was constantly licking his face for about two weeks. And then my mum's dog just became really unwell and they took him to the vet and they found out that he had cancer. And it turned out that he'd had it for two weeks and my dog knew. Do you have this sixth sense don't you? They just, yeah. Dogs are able to smell pheromones and chemicals changes in us as well. So it's absolutely amazing because we all know that dogs have an amazing sense of smell, but actually smelling those chemical changes and changes in our hormones.

And they really pick up on how we feel. He was really depressed after he lost my mum's dog. We always think part of the reason Ollie passed so soon after Norman was because he missed Norman. He always wondered where he was. Will dogs feel that grief as well Helen? Oh absolutely, whether it's their owner or another pet that's in the house, yeah absolutely. They really do know and they grieve. Really? Yeah, yeah. And it's quite sort of sad to see.

I had an atopic pregnancy as well. And when I came home, he knew that I just wasn't very well. And he stayed with me the entire time. What's your advice for anyone listening who is pregnant and is nervous about introducing a baby to the dog? I mean, there are loads of different practical things. So for example, with noise, just getting them used to hearing a baby before you've got a baby in the house.

So there are loads of desensitizing sort of set you can ask Alexa about, can't you? But the Dogs Trust has got a really good download, which you can just, things like thunder and lightning, but babies crying or different sounds you can get them used to beforehand. Well, we managed to navigate that really, really well. We sent one of me as baby grows home first for them to sniff. And I very much, you know, similar to Lorna, I very much, I

included them in the pregnancy. They were on my belly. They were there when my waters broke. Even when I was putting the car seat in the car, I let them sniff it. You know your dog really well, whoever it is, it's just about being aware. And obviously you never ever leave dogs however loving and caring they are, because it's not fair on the child or the dog. No, because you never know if. Never know, because they're animals. How is your daughter with Blue? Is she a dog lover like yourself? She loves Blue, but she's actually scared of other dogs.

All dogs are different, aren't they? And also dogs react very differently around children. So children move in different ways, they're often waving their arms around, they're often running, they're often squealing. So dogs get more excited around that sort of behaviour. So then they start jumping more, they start barking more. And I think we often over touch dogs, we often want to stroke them, but around their heads and their ears where they don't always want to be touched or patted. And actually just letting them come to you makes a big difference. And I think children when they know some of

these things and they think about it from the dog's point of view, how would you feel if you were the dog and somebody strange just came over and started rubbing your head? How would you feel? And then they can actually, I don't know, just watch. What is it my dog likes? Thank you. And Lorna, thank you so much for sharing your story. Thank you for having me. And thank you to Blue, who's probably desperately thinking, come on, mum, let's go and do something, anything else. There's a door going right there, so he really wants to go find it.

Yeah, he does. He wants to, that's all he's thinking about. Just let me get laid mum then I'll relax. I don't know I'll be off the next one. It's like having a teenager in the house. It's exactly it. Oh Lorna thank you so much enjoy the rest of your day. See you later. So Jenny's joining us next on the Overshare and this topic is something that all dog owners have an opinion on, all dog owners are aware of and I'm assuming, well I know it's going to split people listening. So hi Jenny, thank you for joining us. Tell us about your dog. I have a nearly four-year-old American Bulldog, Bobby. Obviously with the ban that came into force in September 2023, we were left in quite a difficult situation with him and we took quite a time to consider whether or not we should be registering him because he's not an Excel bully. But we did

have a few interactions with people out in the public that probably injected quite a lot of fear into us and sort of left us in a situation where we approached our vet and the common conclusion was, you know, if in doubt, if not sure, register your dog. And it's really sad actually because you're registering and you're labeling and identifying your dog as something that your dog isn't. We have a lot of ex-el bullies in our sanctuary because of the fear mongering. People don't know if they can be around them, if they can be around children. I've been around them at the sanctuary and they are the majority of the most friendliest, dopiest, just loving dogs. And with Jenny, with the stigma you've received, my sister's children are grown up now.

She had a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, which of course were the original nanny dog back in the day, because they're so good with children. And a few of the school mums used to say to Nina, are you sure you should have him around them, around them kids? And people would actively cross the road if she was walking Max. And again, it's the kind of we instill in children don't judge people by their appearance but when it comes to dogs especially it's oh don't go near it because it looks this and I can't what I don't understand why we're not teaching it should be like that

across the board with any living thing not to prejudge it. There's a much greater aspect to it in terms of exactly what you're saying. There should be a minimum requirement that children outside of their family setting should all have an understanding of not even dog interaction, but the understanding that dogs are animals and there can be situations where children need to be aware of themselves in the company of dogs. Understanding not to be left alone with dogs and all of these different situations but also in terms of the education of dog owners, it's too easy in the UK to go out and be able to buy whatever dog you wish to own.

With my daughter Mia, my son's a bit too young, but she loves dogs. But I always say to her, regardless of how big or small that dog is, you never just approach and stroke it. You say to the owner, can I stroke the dog? Each breed is different, but also within the breed, they will have different characteristics and characters.

Some are shyer than others, some like to be around children, some don't. And it depends what they've grown up with and what they're used to. But it is about children knowing how to understand dogs and reading body language. Yeah. And knowing when to pull away. But also not to be scared. So it's having that real balance of understanding. Do you have to muzzle your dog when you go out then? Does that maybe make people think, oh gosh, it must be vicious because he's muzzled? It definitely initiates a lot more interaction and it's very hit and miss what the interaction is. You get an awful lot of people not fully understanding what the ban means. They actually want to understand,

what do you mean this dog has to wear this by law? They want to understand a little bit more. It sparks something as they're talking to you. It sparks this, well, how does this dog get exercise correctly? How does this dog get fulfilled in the way that it needs to be fulfilled? You mentioned, Jenny, and you Helen, about education. My sister has a bulldog, Rocco. And when my sister got him, the first thing we said to Mia, Tiago wasn't born, but Mia had been used to Norman and Ollie.

And the first thing I said to her is, because you know, you have to know your breeds, and my sister's the best responsible dog owner. And we sat Mia down before you come in, and my sister said, now with Rocco, she said, he looks like he's the best responsible dog owner. And we sat Mia down before you come in and my sister said, now with Rocco, she said, he looks like he's been hit with a pan. He's got a very short snout. And Mia said, right. And she said, so he's going to sniff you. All dogs sniff to greet her. She said, he's going to have to come really close to you to sniff you because his nose is so short. So when he came in and he did go right

up to her to smell her, she knew that's what he was going to do. And that's something I found, Jenny, when I'm out with Rocco, obviously to greet other dogs, it's not like if you had two border collies, they could be snout to snout, but they'll be quite far away from each other. With bulldogs, they're practically head on just to greet. And that's something that if you're not used to that, you'd be like, oh, he's too close. When essentially Rocco's just saying, all right, mate, let's sniff your

bum type thing. But it's about knowing the breed, the characteristics, the requirements and that's part of being a responsible owner. There's so many things about being a responsible owner and that's why we're really lucky that there are people like you that are looking after these dogs in the best way possible and giving them a fantastic life still even with these restrictions they're just living their best lives. And I always say it's the deed not the breed. Yes. You know that's what we should be looking at and hopefully Jenny with with hearing your story and how it has affected you, your husband and the dog as a family people will think a bit more and hopefully we can raise some

some awareness around the subject. It's about keeping everybody safe isn't it? It's about keeping the dog safe and sorry. Yeah absolutely, so it's keeping the dog safe and it's keeping children and you know the people that aren't being responsible in this way. They're the ones who've ruined it for everyone. Always. Thank you so much for joining us on the Overshare, Jenny. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

So as you know, there's loads of ways to get in touch with us here on the Overshare. And we've actually had a voice note for today's episode. This is from Nicola. Take a listen. I have lost my dog, which will be four years in October this year. He was a true Merle Walter Collie and his name was, or his pedigree name was Red Hot Chili. Yeah, he was my sidekick. He was my shadow.

In 2021, my husband left me. I found out he was having an affair and had been for a couple of years and I thought my whole world was gonna fall apart but Red made me get up in the morning. Yeah, made me just live my life. In October of the same year he sadly passed, oh I had to make that decision to have him cross over the Rainbow Ridge. I truly believe, even now and I'm getting upset, that he knew I'd be okay. He was the sole person that got me through the good times and the bad times and without him I don't think I would have done it. Sorry for crying and thank you for having me on and take care. Bye.

Helen, there'll be loads of people who can relate to that, won't there? I mean, the dogs, they are the most loyal companion. Through thick and thin, they will stay by your side. Absolutely. I mean, they really are there with you through whatever and they really pick up on how you're feeling and they know when to support you. There's been times when I was going through a breakup with one of my exes, we had a house together. So it was all the legalities of who got what with the house sale and the furniture and this and that.

In the end, I said, I'm not bothered about any of that. You keep it all, I'm taking Norman. And literally driving away from that relationship with just Norman on the passenger seat, down that motorway with the radio on, I never felt happier because I knew all I needed was that companionship. There's a saying, whoever said diamonds were a girl's best friend never owned a dog. Yeah. I found for me introducing Gorka to Norman and Olly, it was a big thing for me because I trust a dog if it doesn't like a person and I don't trust a person if they don't like a dog. So Gorka grew up with huskies,

they were the dogs he had. And he was very much a dog as in comes in the house, feed it, doesn't go into bed, lives outside. I mean, obviously it's better weather in Spain, but when I explained to him, well, Norman Ollie sleep in my bed. He said, what? They sleep in your bed? Yeah, they sleep in my bed. They come on holiday with me if ever I can take them, walk every morning, walk every

evening. You know, I have down time. I've just loved being with them. And he couldn't get his head around that first. So when I initially brought them together to me, I thought this could go one or two ways. Because if they didn't like him, he'd be long gone. Because I'd already at that point had seven and a half years of just them and me. So there was no way he was going to come in and disrupt that. If that didn't work, it didn't

work. Thankfully it did. And within a week, and in fact I'd say less than a week, I remember coming home from work and he was laying in bed, I'd been doing a night shoot, he was laying in bed, both of them lay on his feet. You're like, yep, I said there you go. He's a keeper and they've cracked you because they have that way. Absolutely don't they? Yeah. They really do. They absolutely know how to just be with you and to get the best out of the relationship. I think in your case Nicola, you're better off without the man and with the dog. Yes, and with the dog. Absolutely. And I'm very sorry that obviously he passed because I know how hard that is as well. But yeah, whoever

said diamonds are a girl's best friend never owned a dog. Now I think this story just proves how great dogs are that we have to dig really, really deep to find any stories of bad dogs. Now this one leapt out to us because brace yourself, there's a funny story here. Go on, Stacey, what's your story? So Ralph is my Basset Hound. Basset Hound's have a very bony ridge on the top of the head

and I bought him a new toy and he's very excited and I started playing with him and I went down to give him the toy at the same time he's jumped up and he's hit me in the eye with this buggy part and knocked me out completely, not dual conscious. But he had a small cut from licking my face and then I spent the rest of the day in A&E and he'd fractured my eye socket. Would Ralph have known actually Helen, obviously you're the expert, do dogs know when they've caused injury? Well I'm sure he would notice that you're out cold on the floor and that's probably why he's licking you. But he wouldn't have known that he would have done it

on what had happened. But he probably was a bit puzzled. You hear stories of dogs, like hero dogs, whose owners have passed out and the dog stayed with them until help's come. And these aren't like trained help dogs, it's just their instinct. It's their instinct, absolutely. And obviously the trained dogs that we've, you know, we've

just trained even more to sort of honed in on that skill that they have. They're very, very in tune with us, especially if they know us really well. They know what our normal is. Dogs are amazing at picking up how we're feeling and they definitely would have noticed there was something going on. Whenever I've had any kind of injuries or cuts or bruises or anything like that, Ralph has always come over to lick it or check that I'm okay. They're really lovely. They're just amazing animals. When my waters broke the first time with Mia, it was quite late at night and I went downstairs to the kitchen and Norman and Oliver were in my bed at the time.

And I got up to go to the bathroom and that's when my water's broke. And they never left my side until I went to the hospital. I've actually got a picture where I'm sat on the kitchen floor and they're just, Ollie's across me, Norm's at my feet and it's almost like they instinctively knew, new PAP members coming, we've got to keep mum safe. And if anyone came near me, they were never aggressive, but they were kind of like,

they'd look at them, even Gorka, look at him as if to say, can we help you? Yes, we've got this. So they must have known. Pick up on your hormones. Changes. Absolutely. They can smell the hormones, the hormones, everything. Very, very clever. I think Ralph knew before I knew that I was pregnant. He just changed so much, so different around me. And it was only a couple of weeks later when I did have pregnancy tests, I was like, that's why he's acting so strange. I think he knew. Unfortunately, I lost Ralph

last year, but he was nine. He got cancer and he passed away very quickly after he was diagnosed. I had a Ralph as well and he passed last August. I love that when you think of memories of Ralph, it's, yeah, he broke my eye socket. I think that's brilliant. If you just said it's a dog that jumps, it wouldn't have been like the first breed that I would have guessed. I think I remember somebody at work saying when I told them that it was my dog that did

it, they said, don't you have a plastic? We were saying, me and Helen were chatting before we recorded saying like, a dog, you can't say to, in Ralph's case, you have cancer, the kindest thing for us to do for you now is to end your life in pain. You start over the rainbow bridge. They don't, because they don't understand.

I remember looking at Norman when the vet came to the house. I was just staring at him saying, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. And the vet was stood looking at Norman when the vet came to the house. I was just staring at him saying, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. And the vet was stood looking at him. And he like looked at me and tilted as if to say, I understand, don't worry, I'm ready. But, and it's that kind of,

I needed that little look from him as if to say, okay. And I said to Gorka, he knew at the end what I was doing. He goes like, really, did you? Can you, And it's that little bit of peace because it's the kindest thing you can do for them, but it's the most horrendous decision. Trying to decide, are we doing the right thing? They offered us to take him home for an extra couple of days and I said, we would be doing that for us, not for him.

And they say it's better a day early than four days late or two days late when they're in pain. I completely knew on that day. They say it's better a day early than four days late or two days late when they're in pain. I completely knew on that day. With Norman, I mean, they must have thought I'd lost my mind because we booked him in and I changed my mind two days later and I rang them back and I said, oh, I don't think he's ready. And I was sobbing on the phone and then it was another week or so later, there was still

no improvement and I was convincing myself, I was like, he'll be fine. He'll get through it. And he just couldn't, he couldn't get up. I would come down in the morning and he'd been sat in his own mess. He couldn't get up to drink. And I said, if I could be with him 24 seven, I would cope because I'll clean up the mess. I'll nurse him. But the reality is, is he's a dog.

He should be running and running in water and jumping and doing all these things. So then I booked him in and we had a couple of days of him just lying around. The day the vet was coming, he only went and totted up the stairs. I thought, what the bloody hell's wrong? What's he doing that for now? And it's almost like he was like that last bit of energy. We had the same with Ralph, he went on a walk and he had a really bad heart problem. So we had a heart problem at the same time. He was on the Saturday, he went for a run.

Literally he was out running. We were like, what's going on? You know, had a really bad heart. Had a fantastic, fantastic walk on the Saturday, but Monday morning, we knew. Would you or have you got another dog, Stacey, or would you get another dog? No, I mean, I'd love to have one, but we've had the conversation around the grief is just too much.

I don't think I could go through that again. I think it had really ripped my heart out. And I mean, you know what life's like, my husband works away, so life with children and life's busy, isn't it? And yeah, I just wouldn't want, I wouldn't want to go through that again. It's one of the worst things I've ever experienced.

We told Mia, it was actually my friend Katie, she does all angel cards and stuff, she's fabulous. And she said to explain to Mia that dogs come into your life to help you through periods. She said, once their work with you is done, you're in your good place, everything's happy, secure, you've got everything, they'll go off and then they'll go and find another family who needs them. And when the time's right for us, when we need it, another dog will come

and help us. That's how she said to explain it to me and when I do, she'll sometimes, if we're out and about, she'll say, look mum, there's a dog, that could be Ollie. Yeah. I say it could, I couldn't say it with that little boy helping him. She goes, yeah, it could be my Ollie. And it's really helped to kind of see it that they don't end. Yeah.

The time with you just comes to an end, but they carry on elsewhere. Stacey, thank you for coming on. I love that this is in memory of Ralph. I'm glad you're okay now. Glad your eye's okay. And if only we had a camera to see what Ralph, imagine he was doing CPR. Yeah yeah imagine he was that advanced with

medical help thank you so much Stacey for joining us really appreciate it I mean I knew that I would love today's episode because I'm just obsessed with animals and dogs especially. So yeah the dogs have really had their day haven't they. Thank you so much for all of your stories thank you as well for everyone who sent stories in we had loads of them to choose from and the team tried so hard to get as many as we could on but thank you I really really appreciate it. Thank you Helen you back home now what you offer you're gonna be working tomorrow what's your plans?

I'm just waiting for a baby to arrive. Not mine. Not your baby, no. Another grandchild. Another grandchild, yes. I hope that all goes well. Still at home, I'll just be ready then. Just be on nanomoge. I love it. The Overshare is produced by Matt Foister and Molly Carter for Bauer Media. So thank you to both of you. And thank you to all the dogs as well.

They very much live in the moment, dogs. They just make the best of life. That's why the song is so healthy. I know, isn't it? I think we should all be more dog. Yeah, yeah. To sort of live in the moment and enjoy what we can.