MY EXPERIENCE OF TELLINGTON TOUCH (TTOUCH)

Tracey McLennan

Introduction:

Many people have heard of TTouch and are interested in it but aren’t completely sure what it is. This was certainly the situation I was in a couple of years ago but since then I have learnt alot more about it. TTouch was developed 30 years ago by a woman called Linda Tellington Jones.

To me, the best way of explaining TTouch is that it is a system of body work and ground work that is very gentle and totally non-confrontational. Although it is often compared to massage, TTouch is in fact far gentler and less invasive than massage. It has an effect on the nervous system so it can be used on any creature that has a nervous system. It can have a positive effect on the physical and emotional well being of the animal receiving it.

I have seen it have the most amazing results. Most memorable for me was an elderly dog who was attending a week long TTouch course I was on. She and her owner were staying in a camper van and the dog’s owner had mentioned at the start of the course that her dog was too old now to get up on the bed. By the middle of the course, the dog was happily getting up on the bed to sleep with her owner at night. I next saw that dog about six months later and she could still get up on the bed with her owner at night.

That said, I don’t see TTouch as a replacement for obedience training, behavioural therapy and veterinary care. Rather, it works alongside these things, enhancing them and allowing them to have better results.

Physical Benefits

There are many physical benefits to using TTouch on our canine companions. These include but are not limited to:

· Easing stiff muscles - Particularly useful for dogs who do a lot of running around or take part in sports like agility or flyball. Or for elderly dogs who find it difficult to get going in the mornings.

· Relaxation – I have met several dogs who literally cannot relax. They are constantly on the go and snatch sleep in short naps. TTouch can really help these kinds of dogs to just switch off and chill out for a while.

· Tension Patterns - Dogs, like people, have habitual ways of moving or holding their bodies. For anybody who isn’t sure what I mean by that, cross your arms. Now, cross your arms the other way – so that the arm you normally have on the top is underneath. Doesn’t that feel strange?

Sometimes dogs develop habitual postures or ways of moving as the result of injuries or surgery. Or emotional problems. One of my dogs is quite a nervous, sensitive girl. She finds novel situations difficult to deal with and because of that, she was tense all the time and kept her neck and back rigid. Aside from the fact that I suspect she had a stiff, sore neck and back a lot of the time, the stiffness down her spine neck affected her behaviour.

Her body was tense so she felt constantly on edge which meant that the slightest thing would cause her to panic and panicking would make her more tense. Her body and emotions were creating a vicious circle that it was difficult for her and I to break out of. The use of TTouch helped her to release the tension in her neck and back and she now copes better with new situations and with things she used to find difficult.

· Shock - Ear TTouches can be used to help prevent an injured dog from going into shock. For injured dogs or dogs suffering from bloat, shock can be fatal. Ear TTouches can help prevent shock and so save the dog’s life.

Emotional Benefits

TTouch also works on the mind and has can have a very positive effect on a dog’s emotional state. These include but are not limited to:

· Relationship Building – TTouch can be very good for developing a closer bond between dog and owner. This is useful when training and also if the dog develops a behavioural problem.

· Confidence Building – Sadly, confidence is often seen as undesirable in dogs. Dogs who behave badly – whether this bad behaviour is aggressive or fooling around – are often labelled as over confident or manipulative. In my experience, most of these dogs are lacking in confidence and their bad behaviour is a coping mechanism. If they can gain in confidence, they can often then do without their coping mechanism and the bad behaviour disappears.

My Involvement in TTouch

I started using TTouch when one of my dogs developed a severe behavioural problem. I have two bullmastiffs, Calgacus who is now four and Katie who is now two and a half. As a puppy and adolescent Calgacus was a dream. He was easy to bring up. He loved people, other dogs and all other animals – cows were his particular favourites. I used to take him to a local training club and he was doing very well in class and was progressing through the club’s tests.

Then, when he was around 18 months old, Calgacus was treated with some medication that had a very negative effect on him. He became very unhappy about having other dogs anywhere near him. With strange dogs he was seriously and dangerously aggressive. With dogs he’d known for a long time, he was completely shut down. Instead of playing with them as he usually would, he’d turn away from his old friends. He was deeply depressed and no longer got any pleasure from life. Even a field of cows held no interest for him and he’d plod past without lifting his head – previously he’d whine and cry if they wouldn’t come over and talk to him.

He couldn’t be in a training class any longer. He simply couldn’t deal with being in a room where other dogs were off lead. His behaviour in that situation was extreme and after a couple of instances where he terrified other dogs so badly that they literally couldn’t move, I stopped taking him to classes.

I’d been working with Calgacus for around six months, during which time his reactive behaviour had lessened which was good. But he was still depressed and he still couldn’t go back to training classes. I decided to try TTouch. At the time, there were no qualified TTouch practitioners in Scotland so I bought a book and started from there. I found it difficult to tell if I was doing things correctly but after a couple of weeks I took Calgacus out for a walk and we met a dog friend of his. Instead of turning away, Calgacus approached his friend and greeted him.

After that, I decided to start training to become a TTouch practitioner.

Now, about 2 years and lots of TTouch on, Calgacus can once again play with other dogs. He attends an obedience class once a week and I also take both him and my other dog, Katie to a heelwork to music group. Normally when I am working Katie, I leave Calgacus loose and asleep on the floor. He isn’t threatened at all by the fact he’s in a room with other dogs. And he’s friends with the local cow population again.

Cal and Katie

Learning TTouch

There are several ways to learn about more TTouch.

· Book / Video – The book “Getting in Touch With Your Dog” by Linda Tellington Jones and the video “Getting in Touch With Your Dog (Unleash Your Dogs Potential)” are available from www.tilleyfarm.co.uk and from www.crosskeysbooks.com

· Workshop – Qualified TTouch practitioners around the country run one and two day workshops. Details of workshops can be found at http://www.ttouchtteam.com/TTouchCourses.html.

· One to One Consultation – Most TTouch practitioners will see clients on a one to one basis and can provide information tailored to the needs of the individual dog. Details of all UK practitioners can be found at http://www.ttouchtteam.com/CAPrac.html

Further Information

For more information on TTouch, the UK TTouch website is: www.ttouchtteam.co.uk

Or, I am happy to answer questions. My e-mail address is: mclennan_t@hotmail.com

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If you have used TTouch to benefit your Springer please let me know how it worked out - freya@itsaspringthing.co.uk and thanks to Tracey for this article, I hope you have found it useful.