Dr. Isla Fishburn - Medicine from the Canine Soul: Healing Through Connection

Dr. Isla Fishburn - Medicine from the Canine Soul: Healing Through Connection

Soul Touched by Dogs · 2025-04-30

What if your dog was more than just a pet - what if they were a mirror, a teacher, and a soul companion on your personal journey?

In this profound episode, I’m joined by Dr. Isla Fishburn, a conservation biologist turned canine wellness intuitive and shamanic practitioner. With a background in zoology, wolf conservation, and spiritual healing, Isla offers a truly unique perspective on our relationship with dogs - not as training subjects or health projects, but as complex ecosystems and sacred beings that walk beside us through life, and even beyond.

From the science of terrain theory to the wisdom of soul consciousness, Isla bridges biology and spirit in a way that will transform how you see your animal companions, and maybe even yourself.

Whether you’re a devoted dog guardian, a soulful seeker, or someone feeling the call to connect more deeply with nature, this conversation will open doors you didn’t know existed.

Listen in and discover:

Why your dog is a living ecosystem - and what that really means.How soul connection with your dog can accelerate your own healing.The role of intuitive communication in creating harmony with your animal.Practical steps to strengthen your dog’s resilience - without the overwhelm.


This isn’t just another pet episode. It’s an invitation into a richer, deeper, more conscious way of living, guided by the animals who already love us unconditionally.

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast
00:24 Meet Our Guest: Isla
01:23 Isla's Journey with Dogs
02:59 Understanding Dogs as Ecosystems
05:33 The Concept of Individual Ecosystems
06:34 The Terrain Theory Hypothesis
10:36 Starting Your Dog's Wellness Journey
12:16 Unconditional Love and Healing
15:44 Dogs as Teachers
16:31 Reflecting on Our Emotions
17:34 Exploring Emotional Projections onto Dogs
17:55 Dogs as Teachers and Healers
19:38 Books and Resources for Dog Lovers
21:28 Understanding and Connecting with Your Dog
22:21 The Spiritual Connection with Dogs
24:22 Managing Emotions and Behavior in Dogs
27:33 The Role of Energy and Consciousness in Dog Behavior
31:02 How to Connect and Work with the Speaker
32:53 Conclusion and Listener Engagement

Find out more and connect with Dr. Isla:

Website: https://www.kachinacanine.com

Bio: Dr Isla Fishburn has been working with, exploring and understanding life with our canine friends for over 15 years. She began this journey as a Zoologist before gaining a PhD in Conservation Biology. Wanting to explore wolf conversation she began to work with captive wolves for three years whilst at the same time learning about domestic dogs. It was during this time that she recognised there was a need to explain and teach how to support our dogs as biological ecosystems and their individual wellness as well as being sources of consciousness. To support a canine guardian to begin this journey with their dog, she created her canine wellness course before studying, exploring and becoming a shamanic practitioner, channeller and teacher of soul consciousness, ceremonies, healing and connecting with the unseen – the infinite consciousness. Isla serves as a canine wellness intuitive, shamanic practitioner and channeller of animal consciousness and spirit consciousness. Isla explores how to support an animal guardian in to their soul evolution with their animal friend and heal together. Isla holds many offerings for an animal guardian to explore for themselves, for their animal friend or both to co-exist from this place of soul connection, conversation and healing in this life and in the transition of their animal friend, which Isla has a keen interest in teaching. You can explore more about her offerings and work through her business, Kachina Canine. She is also the author of two books, “Tunkasila’s Teachings: Wisdom from the Canine Soul, Medicine for the Human Heart” and “How the Canine People Helped the Humans Return to Ceremony.”

Social media links:
Instagram: Kachina_Canine_Wellness
FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002647440378
FB: https://www.facebook.com/kachinacanine/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drislafishburn-kachinacani1312

As always, all about Soul Touched by Dogs at https://soultouchedbydogs.com

Soul Touched by Dogs

Welcome to the Soul Touched by Dogs Podcast, the show for dog lovers who see dogs not as toys or tools, but as wise souls worth our respect and care.
The 20-minute interviews with "Pawsome Humans", people who do great work for dogs and their people, you're listening to here on the podcast are one of the ways we celebrate the human-canine connection and advocate for holistic approaches to canine health, well-being and education.

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