Laying Horses Down

I have just added a new article on the Articles Page on "Laying Horses Down" or forcing a horse to the d¡ground and sitting on it until it stops struggling - similar to the alpha roll. Although it deals with horses, the same is true for dogs and other animals, so I urge you all to read it.

Advanced Training with Linda Tellington-Jones

 Linda Tellington-Jones in the centre wearing a yellow jacket. Behind in black is Sarah Fisher, who runs Tilley Farm in Farmborough, near Bath.

Just back from a full three days at Tilley Farm.  Linda Tellington-Jones, the founder of the Tellington TTouch Method, was giving an advanced training for TTouch practitioners so that was quite a thing. It is not often that she visits the UK, so Sarah pulled off quite a feat there! The group was a mixed equine and companion animal group which was very interesting and provided plenty of "cross-fertilisation" as far as different approaches go. As always, the dogs and horses were our best teachers. The day with the horses was wonderful.  With equine practitioner, Erica Donnison, I worked with Elska, a lovely, gentle Icelandic mare.

TTouch in the Canary islands

On September 22 & 23 we will be holding a two day TTouch workshop in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria at Albergue Rural Brancosole. At this workshop we will be covering the basic concepts and practices of TTouch in all three fields: bodywork, wraps and groundwork.  For further information please go to the Events Diary on this blog.

Wraps enhance Proprioception and Calm Nociception

 Another extract from Robin Bernhard's article.  There are other translations of articles by Kathy Cascade in earlier blog posts.

"Kathy Cascade, a physical therapist and Tellington TTouch instructor, has described how the wraps stimulate the skin and proprioceptive system in such a way that the enhanced information can be used by the brain to make improvements in balance, coordination and movement.  Kathy was talking about the ability to know where our bodies are located in space based upon the feedback system coming from the skin, joints, ligaments and tendons. This feedback system allows the person wearing wraps to instlantly know where the wrapped part of the body is located in space and brings awareness to the relationship between this part of the body and the rest of the body during movement.

Some of the proprioceptive receptors in the skin adapt to sensation quickly and others adapt slowly. Rapidly adapting receptors allow for minute distinctions in the experience of pressure and vibration on the skin. The hair follicles, Meissner's and Pacinian corpuscles all respond to light brushing, light touch and gentle vibration, respectively, by sending immediate brief signals to the brain at the start and stop of each stimulation. This fast on-off information switch allows the body to respond quickly and freshly to each stimulus to the skin so that differentiation of slight changes in skin pressure and vibration can be detected. These fast adapting receptors happen to be associated with the release of oxytocin when stimulated by light touch.

The thermorepcetors in the skin detect warm and cold sensations. (...) There are no  receptors for very hot temperatures in the skin. In fact, the receptors that detect cold temperatures actually fire along with warm receptors when something is hot to create the sensation of extreme heat. This combination of warm and cold receptors firing at the same time is what causes the paradoxical hot/cold "Vick's Vapor Rub" feeling that Jessica described in her legs.

Pain reception also involves both quick acting and slow acting neurons. The quick acting neurons tend to detect sharp, shooting pain and the slow acting neurons tend to detect deep, throbbing or aching pain. (...)

It may be that soothing skin stimulation competes with the pain pathway or the memory of pain. It is reported in the TENS literature that gentle electrical stimulation actually blocks chronic pain receptors. Chronic pain perception is activated by the slow acting neurons. Because the fast adapting neurons bring the gentle stimulation of the TENS to the brain through a different route, it blocks the awareness of chronic pain. The wraps may be generating a similar type of gentle input that competes with and distracts someone from chronic pain.

As mentioned in the brain's rules for change, perhaps the gentle stimulation is new information that contradicts the circumstances under which the pain memory was created and instantly changes the memory. Could the gentle stimulation of the wraps cause a release of a chemical messenger, like oxytocin, that signals safety and suggests to the body that the pain is over? Maybe it is the interest generated from a different kind of stimulation that triggers an orienting response and then permits the completion of the orienting  response and the engagement of the calming ventral vagal system.

There is scientific evidence to support the hypothesis that the engagement of the polyvagal system is part of reducing the perception of pain. In fact, where the vagus nerve meets the heart is one place where pain is modulated. When the heart is pumping in a calm and rhythmic cycle it causes the vagus nerve to suppress pain perception in the spinothalamic tract which brings information about pain to the brain. With the spinothalamic tract suppressed the experience of pain coming from both the spine and from the skin will be reduced."

The Polyvagal Theory and the Completion of the Orienting Response

Another extract from Robin Bernhard.

I feel that this is quite relevant to the work that we do in TTouch. How often are animals prevented from displaying any reaction or feeling?  All the time!  They are inhibited from barking in case it disturbs the neighbours.  They can't jump because someone's clothes will get dirty.  When something frightening happens they can't run away because they are on lead and so on. Just finding a mechanism that will allow them to complete the orienting response, even during things as simple as daily walks, could contribute to make life less stressful for them on many levels. These mechanism could include ear work, Noah's March including our maxim of "Calm the tail, calm the dog".

"Light touching of the skin stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and provides a natural way for us to calm down. The vagus nerve makes up most of the parasympathetic nervous system and connects the heart, lungs, organs and intestines to the brain.  Light touch of the skin over the heart, lungs and gut triggers both the release of oxytocin and simnultaneously engages the vagus nerve. (...) 

The initial quietude and appearance of the soft eye seen in our group members when they were first wrapped may be a subtle sign of what is called the natural orienting response. When something changes in an animal's environment, certain innate behaviours, such as turning the head in the direction of the change and becoming erect and alert, are all part of this response. Trauma theory describes PSTD as the orienting response stuck in the freeze mode of the fight/flight/freeze/faint trauma response. Animals in the wild either run away or fight unless death is imminent at which point they will freeze and faint before they are killed. This part of the polyvagal system is the most ancient, the dorsal motor portion of the vagal system.

Humans and domesticated animals in modern society are often unable to release fear using this mechanism because fighting or fleeing is discouraged or prevented.  Instead, frozen states of fear and rage are held in body memory, in the cells and tissues. Without alternative ways to care for these reactions we develop the symptoms associated with chronic stress.  When Tellington TTouch Body Wraps stimulate and warm the skin they offer another pathway to care for our stress reactions which can be partially explained by the healthy engagement of the vagus nerve and the ventral portion of that system.

The polyvagal system is actually two systems which can function independently, the dorsal motor pathway and the ventral vagus pathway. The ventral vagus pathway offers the second pathway for handling a stress response. Stephen Porges labelled this pathway "the social nervous system" because it represents a solution to stress or fear that involves social engagement. Infants activate this system when they seek and obtain support and nurturance from parents who create safety through protective and loving actions towards them. The social engagement system includes the face and facial expressions, the neck for turning the head in the direction of seeking help, the chest, the back and the arms for reaching out. When this social nervous system is activated, the ancient fight/flight/freeze/faint reactions are inhibited.

(...)

It is believed that keeping the eyes open stimulates the ventral vagus complex and allows the orienting response to be completed in safety. As we mentioned earlier, the application of the wraps seems to trigger the orienting response in group members. Simply allowing the orienting response to complete rather than be disrupted, as it was at the time of the trauma, is one way of helping to release trauma holding patterns."

Light Touch Releases Oxytocin and Soothes the Polyvagal System

Here is another short extract from Robin Bernhard's article "Using Tellington TTouch Body Wraps with Traumatic Brain Injury"

"... A study designed to explore the benefits of massage was expected to demonstrate that massage supports the immune system by boosting the body's levels of oxytocin, "the trust hormone", and thereby indirectly reducing the body's secretion of cortisol, "the stress hormone". Both groups in the study, funded by the U.S.  National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, showed an increase of oxytocin, but the people in the control group who received "light touch" actually produced more oxytocin, and therefore less cortisol, than the people in the deep touch group. This news was interesting, since all Tellington TTouch falls into the category of light touch.

Since oxytocin is the neuropeptide of trust and safety, it would be the perfect antidote to the fight/flight/freeze response. (...) Just touching another person in a kind way or hugging a pet can release oxytocin. (...) Also of great interest, it has been shown in laboratory studies that oxytocin can completely erase old memory and is being studied as a new therapy for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Studies show that oxytocin produces the right attitude for learning. It reduces anxiety and improves social learning in autistic children by activating the right hemisphere of the brain associated with bonding and emotional recognition. It is believed to create an inner atmosphere of safety that promotes flexibility and openness to change. Maybe oxytocin plays a role in erasing or altering the old memory and providing a neuropeptide source for positive feeling. This neuropeptide could be released in an instant and the positive feeling would truly contradict a memory that was formed during fight/flight/freeze or faint. It would satisfy both conditions of the brain's rules for change."

The Brain's Rules for Instantaneous Change

An excerpt from an article by Robin Bernhard, Charlottesville, Virginia.

"It is now known that the mind can alter the structure of the brain and memories are not permanent ...

The latest in neuroscience shows that old memories, especialy body memories, are flexible and can be changed; and sometimes they can be changed in an instant.

Every time an old memory is reactivated there is a brief critical period when synapses between the cells firing together temporarily unlock, a process called de-consolidation. If new information enters during the critical window when the old memory is dissolving, instantaneous change in that memory can occur. According to (Bruce) Ecker two things must happen in order for new information to enter an old memory:

1. The memory must be reactivated in order for it to be briefly dissolvable.

2. New information that sharply contradicts and disconfirms the old expectations must be available when the old memory is reactivated and momentarily unlocked.

The first rule of instantaneous change requires that some aspect of a memory is re-activated. The Body Wraps provide both sensory input to the coetaneous and proprioceptive pathways believed to activate the body's memory, even memory held at cellular level. The beauty of the Tellington TTouch method is how cellular memory flies beneath the radar of the thinking mind so that this gentle activation of the body memory can be addressed without catharsis or even conscious awareness. (...)

The second rule for instantaneous change requires that the building blocks for the new information are available at the right moment and sharply contradict the old expectations. Often the issues being addressed through Telington TTouch are issues of trust, pain and/or fear that developed when the person or animal experienced overwhelming circumstances and helplessness. Tellington TTouch is always conducted within the context of a safe and empowering relationship without pain, fear, force or pressure of any kind."

I hope the short extract will help us realise just how important it is to provide new messages to the brain when we are trying to modify behaviours which are causing our companion animals stress.  We may not know what the source of the fear was, but by observing closely and being aware of that critical moment, that "window of opportunity", we can help them overcome traumas from the past which are influencing their lives in the present and are being detrimental to them.

Human Attitudes & Respect for Animals

“Our perception of animals determines how we treat them, and whether they suffer under our dominion or not. Behind our perception and treatment of animals lie our needs, wants, values, and cultural and religious traditions. Until these are addressed and our perception changed so there is empathy, respect, and communication, the holocaust of the animal kingdom will continue. And those qualities or virtues that make us human – humility, compassion, and selfless benevolence – will continue to be crushed by arrogance, ignorance, and the selfishness of our species.” 

Dr. Michael W. Fox                                                                      www.Dr.FoxVet.com

New Workshops in Argentina

The Argentina workshop calendar is beginning to take shape with 3 TTouch events programmed for early December, one in Córdooba and two in Buenos Aires. Looking forward to renewing old acquaintances and making new ones.

Groundwork Sessions Begin

Weekly TTouch groundwork sessions will begin on Saturday July 7th.  They will be held at the Riding Centre in La Reserva (Sotogrande) (See Events Diary).  Don't miss this opportunity to help your dog reach its full potential!

Weekly TTouch Groundwork Sessions

We have a place for our sessions!  TTouch Groundwork sessions will now be held every Saturday morning 10 - 11am.  We will be working indoors so the summer heat will not be a problem. If you would like to refresh your memory on what you learned at an introductory workshop or you are starting from scratch, we look forward to seeing you and your dog.  Just get in touch - www.ttouch1.com.

Exciting Prospect

This morning I visited a space which would be ideal both for doing TTouch groundwork and holding workshops. Over the summer it is too hot to work outside so this would be the perfect solution.  It is now a question of price ...  Fingers crossed!

TTouch in Helsinki, Finland

Some participants at seminar

On May 17, 19 & 20 we held TTouch seminars at the Masseter Dog Training School run by Liisa Tikka in Helsinki, Finland.  This was the second time we had run seminars there and this year's event was equally successful as the first. The first two days were dedicated to an Introduction to Tellington TTouch. The turnout was very good and the group was participative and engaged thoroughly with the work. On the  third day some participants who took part in last year's Introductory course attended the seminar on sensitivity and fears and how we might deal with them from the TTouch point of view.

Open aspect over the Baltic

Walking in the forest

It was a pleasure to return to this beautiful country where Nature is queen. Nature also invades the charming city of Helsinki which overlooks the Baltic.  This seaward orientation strengthens the sense of openness and space. There are not too many capital cities with a population of 500,000!

Some 50 kms. from the capital lies the small town of Porvoo, one of the most ancient settlements in Finland, with its well preserved historic centre and beautiful cathedral dating from the 13th century. 

Porvoo cathedral belltower

River at Porvoo

There we visited the Nuuskula (www.nuuskula.fi) Dog Training School run by Tiina.  Surrounded by fields and forest this is an ideal place for dogs to learn and practise agility and other disciplines.

Nuuskula Dog Training School at Porvoo

TTouch at Dogbil in BIlbao

The one day monographic TTouch seminar on TTouch bodywork was a resounding success.  We had 9 great dogs that provided plenty of opportunity for learning as well as a highly motivated group of participants. María Acha's dog training studio in the heart of Bilbao, right by the River Nervión, was a wonderful light and airy venue. Take a look at Maria's album of the event on www.dogbil.com

Workshop in BIlbao

This Saturday, May 5th. we have a one day workshop in Bilbao which will explore the possibilities of TTouch bodywork.

TTouch for Noise Sensitivity

Spring is here so before the fiesta season gets under way take this opportunity to find out how TTouch can help your dog cope better with the stress of loud bangs and noises - thunderstorms, fireworks, gunshot etc. A new half day workshop will be held at "In the Dog House", Almogía, (Málaga) on Sunday April 22nd. For further information and to book your place contact nando@inthedoghousedtc.com

Second Weekend of TTouch in Buenos Aires

The second weekend of TTouch workshops in Buenos Aires was equally successful as the first. This time the workshops were held in Buenos Aires city at the North Liniers Sporting Club premises. There was a square with grass justopposite the venue but in the end we decided to hold all the activities indoors. This was interesting as working indoors for the groundwork session is quite different from the outdoors experience. In some ways it was more revealing for the participants because without any more distant distractions they were able to observe both the dogs and the handlers more closely.

There was a wide range of dogs with varied jobs to do in the dog world. On Saturday we had a cane corso and a Malinois both from the Buenos Aires Police Dog Unit and on Sunday a black setter sniffer dog from the Customs Anti-narcotics Unit. Saturday's participant included a number of dogs just returned from the Latin America and Caribbean Agility Championships in Santiago de Chile. These were mostly border collies but the Australian shepherd that took first place in the non-border collie class was also present. An elderly beagle also attended for the bodywork and wraps session to be replaced for the groundwork by his house companion, a two month old Jack Russell puppy. Sunday's group included another cane corso that, despite his huge size, was only seven months old, a Bernese and more border collies. The number of border collies was disproportionate to their presence among the dog population as a whole due to the fact that Claudia who organised the workshops participates in agility and so many of her own dogs' companions came along.

The range of human interests was also wide. On Saturday we had a doctor from the agility fraternity, two police dog handlers, another agility fanatic who is an architect in his "spare time", as well as a cross-section of other professions. On Sunday the group included a holistic vet and a veterinary student, a dog trainer and handler from the Customs sniffer dog unit who also teaches at the Dog Training Department at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. She was particularly impressed with the effect she could see on her black setter's hind legs when first a wrap and later scrunchies were put on. The remainder of the participants were people who simply love their dogs and wanted to improve their quality of life.

Many of the dogs, particularly the border collies, presented a high level of anxiety and others had a variety of physical elements which could benefit from TTouch.

The feedback on both days was universally positive and, once again people expressed an interest in continuing the work and learning more in future events.

Claudia, her husband, Marcelo, and all three sons, Matías, Marco & Julián, put in a huge amount of work to make the workshops a success. For them it was a big gamble because they did not know me, they had little knowledge of TTouch but were convinced that it would be of benefit to Claudia in her dog training classes. How people would respond was also an unknown quantity but in the end I think the experience proved to be positive and I am immensely grateful to them for all the work they put in. Special thanks go to Julián who at 12 years of age is a fantastic cook and provided a full day service all weekend. What more can one ask?!

TTouch - a First in Buenos Aires

The first two TTouch workshops held in Buenos Aires on Saturday and Sunday March 17th & 18th. were a resounding success. The venue was the impressive installations of the National Sports Centre in the Ezeiza district run by the government. The grounds are extensive with woodland and open parkland and we were able to choose where to work. The first day we held the morning session indoors, but on Sunday we decided to move outdoors for the whole day. The morning session was held in an open but roofed pavilion where we had an electricity supply which allowed us to set up a monitor and the computer for the presentation. For the groundwork session in the afternoon the Confidence Course was set up on the grass but participants and their dogs could shelter from the sun in the pavilion.

On Saturday most of the dogs were large - GSDs, golden retrievers, a black lab. and a beautiful boerboel called Emma. The exception was a wire-haired Jack Russell puppy that was a ball of energy. On Sunday most of the dogs were border collies that compete in agilty or discdog. We also had two puppies, a three month old golden retriever and a two month old border collie, as well as a mixed breed.

The participants were a great bunch on both days. On Saturday most of them were dog trainers or dog walkers and one girl had a rescue centre and boarding kennel. On Sunday the participants were mostly professionals in the field: the president of the Argentine Association of Utility & Sports Dogs, two lecturers from the Dog Training Department of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Buenos Aires University, dog trainers, and dog walkers and a criminal lawyer with her retriever puppy. Interestingly in Argentina dog training is now a recognised profession with a two year course being taught at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

The dogs present provided plenty of scope for teaching and the wraps were a great success particularly with those who compete, as they were able to see how the gait could change under the influence of the different wraps and they could see how using the wraps and scrunchies could make a great contribution to improving their dogs' performance. The puppies gave a great opportunity to demonstrate mouthwork and earwork and the mixed breed dog on Sunday allowed the participants to see very clearly how changes in coat texture and growth may indicate underlying tensions in the dog. By the end of the day with very gentle body work and wraps the dog was able to accept touch on his hindquarters whereas in the morning from the middle back onwards he displayed great sensitivity. Another tool which the participants found fascinating was the head wrap, and in two cases they were able to appreciate a distinct change in tension levels and greater relaxation.

The groundwork sessions were very popular although, as most of the participants were dog trainers or dog walkers used to a quite different form of leash work, they found it challenging at first to coordinate both side of their body and work the leads in a relaxed manner. Eventually, however, most had their "Eureka" moment when they discovered that they also had a right hand!

It was gratifying that at the end of the day all the participants felt that they had discovered some new tools which they were sure they could incorporate into their own particular disciplines, and without exception have asked for further workshops to be held to delve a little further into what TTouch has to offer. The President of the Argentine Association of Utility & Sports Dogs has offered to publish information regarding TTouch on the Association's website.

New Website

Our newly revamped website is now up and running. Take a look on www.ttouch1.com! I hope you will enjoy it.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new TTouch blog in English for Spain and Latin America! The Spanish blog has been working for quite some time but I had not started an English version. Now that we have redesigned the web site (www.ttouch1.com) I thought it was time that we also had an English blog so people can keep up with the latet news and events. I hope you will visit from time to time.