From Foster Fail to a Canadian Animal Communicator: An Australian Cattle Dog Mix Named Churro

Lisa Buchanan
Nov 15
4 min read

We Have 2.5 Dogs – What Does That Mean?

How did that happen? Churro was a December 2022 addition to our family. A nine month old Australian Cattle Dog mix found as a stray in North Carolina and brought up to Ontario as part of an OSPCA/ASPCA transfer partnership.

She was our "foster fail". Despite the very significant protests of my husband... my son Daniel and I co-adopted Churro*.

Fast Forward to September 2025

Daniel doesn't live at home anymore and most of the time is able to bring Churro to work with him. When he is working away from home, she stays with me. That's the "0.5" dog reference!

Meet Churro

Churro has always had some interesting traits. She is super model gorgeous, brilliant, athletic and a dog that could make snuggling an Olympic sport. She has always been very fast to send every "calming signal" in the dictionary to other dogs she meets. She has a "scream bark" that would shear your brain cells.

She also intermittently poops in the house. It was so intermittent that I was never completely confident it was always her and not one of the other canines. This last behaviour really reared it's ugly head a few months ago when I was away in Europe at a Canine Movement Conference and Daniel was away for work. Churro landed herself in the care of a few different, very responsible humans. She pooped in the house several times while I was away and then did it a few more times after I returned home.

I knew this was not her expressing her "anger" with me. That's a human emotion and doesn't belong to her. She isn't capable of vendettas! I had my suspicions, but it was hard to sort out because Daniel said this never happens in his shared apartment. I thought, "why would she do it here at our house? What is she trying to tell us?".

Enter, Animal Communicator

I had been introduced to the work of Su Burnett by my Numerologist (yep, I've got one and I love her to bits). I had watched a recording of Su speaking about her work and I was blown away seeing her in action. I looked at her rate which is based on time and I thought okay - I will just set a timer for fifteen minutes and see what she says.

When you find someone who can tell you what your animal companions are thinking... I dare you to set a timer. Actually, I Double Dog Dare You!! Well over an hour later, my dog Lucy interjected and told Sue we were done for that day.

Here is just a little of what I learned about Churro:

She doesn't read other dog body language very well. This is why she uses calming signals with abandon.
She is extremely sensitive to sound and could "hear a squirrel fart". She even barks at her own barking (these were Mr. Darcy's insights).
Mr. Darcy is like her therapy dog. When something startles her he tells her "it's just a car" or "it's just the refrigerator".
Pooping in the house was stress related. She loves the schedule we have at our house and it wasn't happening when I was away. The shared custody I have with Daniel is fine with her because he is adventure, fun and friendship. I am a place to reset from the party.
Daniel's friends are "so kind" to her. She said she knows they plan things so she can be included and she is "part of the gang".
She hates metal food bowls and wants more vegetables.
She would like a quiet, darker space that's hers when she is at Daniel's place. She said that she had a bed but his room is really messy and it was a little hard to find sometimes.
She said she sends him signs that she is getting overwhelmed with all the noises and smells (different cell phones going off, different video games etc.).
Daniel's feet smell amazing.

I have 3.5 pages of notes from the call.

What did we do next?

Daniel has cleaned up his room in his apartment and created a quiet space for Churro. He watches for the signals she sends and takes her there. Turns out he knew exactly what the signs were that she was overwhelmed, but he didn't know what to do about it. He saw things even I missed!
No more metal food bowls and now there are added veggies at every meal.
She has a set three times a day quiet time schedule at my place. When I follow it....I don't hear any "scream barking".

So far...no more poop in the house. Reduced scream-barking. Most of all, I feel like I can put more trust in my intuition with our dogs. I mean it's one thing to know your dog is sentient. It's another thing to KNOW your dogs are sentient. Like with big, huge, universe size capital letters.