Just the Right TTouch! ::
Sonoma tried his best to negotiate the dog walk, a 12-foot length of 10-inch wide board elevated one foot off the ground, with a ramp on both ends. Despite his best efforts, the retired racing Greyhound couldn’t get all four paws on the board to walk in a straight line down the middle of it. He walked in two tracks, front paws on the board, back paws tracking on the ground to the right side of the board. Viewed from above, his back showed a curvature to the right in the lumbar spine. I was teaching a Tellington TTouch clinic, helping participants work their dogs through the “leading exercises” and “Confidence Course” unique to this system of training. I watched Sonoma, thinking to myself, “What if I do something with this dog’s tail . . .” As I approached the dog walk, Arlene, Sonoma’s handler, looked up at me, exasperation in her eyes.
“Start him up the ramp again,” I suggested. As she did so, I gently grasped the base of Sonoma’s tail with my right hand, moving the tail gently in circles, first clockwise then counterclockwise. Arlene and I watched in wonder and amazement as Sonoma’s back started to straighten, hind paws began to track directly behind front, and he proceeded in a straight line down the middle of the dog walk and down the ramp on the opposite end. We took him over it several more times just to be sure it wasn’t a fluke. Sure enough, same result!
What magic so dramatically reorganized this dog’s posture and perhaps cognition that such improved performance became possible? It’s called “The Tellington TTouch,” and in Sonoma’s case, just the right TTouch, namely “Tail TTouch,” made all the difference!
We know that animals who are stressed mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually often develop coping mechanisms that may actually change the body’s physical appearance and functioning. For example, an injury to a leg, which makes movement of that leg painful, may cause the animal to compensate by using other parts of its body (spine, other three legs) in ways that relieve pressure on the injured part. This changes the curvature of the spine or the angles of joints. The body learns how to move in this new way, becomes reasonably good at it, and it becomes the preferred way of moving, even though the injured part may long since have healed. While the body has apparently adapted to the new, protective way of moving, it’s not what the body was designed to do. So the level of performance is never optimal, and in time begins to stress the non-injured parts of the body, eventually injuring them as well. Applying the various methods and techniques of Tellington TTouch assists the body in releasing trauma which affects function. By activating cells and awakening cellular intelligence, we believe it allows the trauma in cellular memory to be released so cells again become healthy parts of a functioning whole. Dr. Candace Pert, Research Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C., states in her book, Molecules of Emotion (1999. New York: Touchstone), that healing the mind starts with the body. Animals of all species suffer mental, emotional and spiritual side effects from physical injury. In my practice I see many animals dealing with confidence issues, possibly resulting from an instinctive “knowing” that their body is not able to optimally fight or flee a threat situation. The holistic nature of Tellington TTouch makes it an appropriate method for helping animals with such body-mind issues.
Tail TTouch, Ear TTouch, Abalone, Clouded Leopard, Mouth TTouch — just a few of the “right TTouches” making a difference in an animal’s performance, behavior, health and wellness by helping it deal with the stresses of life. And the effects of TTouch are lasting and cumulative over time, so we’re able to teach our animals new, more effective ways of coping with the demands of the environment. Improved coping skills are known to increase health and longevity. Finally, social animals rely upon bonding with each other to satisfy their needs not only for survival, but also for the actualization of self. TTouch can provide the glue which makes the bonds strong and resilient. So situations become less dangerous and less provocative of stress responses. Confidence replaces anxiety and apprehension.
Sonoma’s response to TTouch is not at all unusual, the results having been replicated globally with hundreds of thousands of animals of many different species.
Categories: Bodywork, General Information —
