Tellington Touch is a unique, effective and forward thinking approach to handling, training and rehabilitation of all animals.

 

TTouch is currently being used by animal owners, trainers, breeders, veterinarians, and shelter workers in over 30 countries worldwide.  The work was developed by internationally known animal expert, Linda Tellington-Jones. 

 

Ttouch is based on compassion and respect for our animal friends and utilises kind and respectful ways of interacting with animals without using dominance, fear, pain and/or force. 

 

These techniques promote optimal health and behaviour by building confidence and eliminating fearful or inappropriate responses. 

 

Ttouch recognises an inextricable link between posture and behaviour and this gentle method is easy to learn and often produces significant changes even with the most difficult behaviour problems. 

 

A combination of non-invasive touches, lifts, and strokes are used to induce a state of relaxation, release tensions, promotes a feeling of calm, and increased body awareness.   Ground work exercises assist the animal to be more focused, offers alternative posture behaviours and improves balance.  This in turn helps animals develop self-confidence, self control and enables them to move beyond their instinctive and often fearful responses.

 

A dog that suffers from noise sensitivity or noise phobia for example is likely to carry tension through the hindquarters and tail and may dislike contact on or around his paws.  His lower legs, tail and ears may also feel cold. 

 

The non-invasive body movements (TTouches) can be used to improve circulation thus warming up cold extremities, relax tight muscles and release habitual patterns of bracing. They can also induce calm and change the dog’s expectation of what contact around his paws may mean. 

 

Stroking the ears using Ear Slides helps to lower heart rate and respiration and putting a body wrap, or T-Shirt on the dog can help to give a noise sensitive dog a sense of security, often reducing his need to den. 

 

As behaviours are usually linked, dogs with this pattern of tension through the body may also be nervous in new situations, be wary of strangers and find car travel difficult.

 

 TTouch can help them to become more confident in all areas of their life without the need to address the individual concerns.

 

Contrary to out dated beliefs, handling a fearful, defensive or reactive animal in a positive, mindful, calm way does not reward, and therefore reinforce, that behaviour. It can change it.

 

The Tellington TTouch has a profound and potent effect on the nervous system and has a powerful influence on responses and mood. Even well established patterns of behaviour often alter within a very short space of time and the Tellington TTouch has even saved the lives of many animals whose behaviour has been deemed to be out of control.

 

Observations are an important part of the TTouch work.  Paying attention to the animal’s responses to stimuli, the posture, balance, movement and muscle development, heart rate and respiration, the texture and appearance of the coat and so on.  Feeling for temperature changes, coarse or dry hair, tension in the tail, ears, legs and the mobility of the skin. 

 

We watch closely for the animals responses to contact on the body and his ability to negotiate the groundwork exercises and adapt the sessions accordingly. 

 

The focus is always on what the animal can achieve rather than what he can’t achieve and the aim is to work below the threshold at which the animal has to react, particularly when handling animals that are nervous and/or defensive.