Tellington TTouch in Madrid

Here is a link with all the information for the next Tellington TTouch workshop in Madrid. We look forward to seeing you there!

http://www.cursoclicker.es/index.php/mary-ttouch/188-mary-rodriguez-ttouch-y-zoofarmacognosis-en-madrid

TTouch & Parkinson's Disease

This is a case study by a TTouch student which may be of interest to some people.


TTouch for Parkinson's Case Study
Dear Linda,
You may use my case study with our blessing. I hope that our experiences with TTouch for Parkinson's can make a difference in someone else's life as well. Below are some detailed notes on what we tried, what worked and what didn't.
D's symptoms include involuntary movement of the head and upper body / shoulders. These attacks last about 30 minutes and come on approximately an hour after he takes dopamine. In consciously trying to control these exaggerated movements, the neck muscles are strained and this in turn causes terribly painful spasms in the neck and shoulders. He regularly had to go for physio treatments.
Initially I tried the TTouch "sensei" body wrap for a few days for about 20 minutes every morning when the jerking movements were really bad. I decided to use this wrap because his posture is very "head forward". However, I could not see any reduction in the movements, and he also did not report any significant improvement.
We then tried a 2" turtleneck wrap simultaneously with 3" shrug wrap. The movements stopped virtually immediately and we kept the wraps on for about 30 minutes. D said that there was a warm, glowing feeling in the neck where the spasms usually are and an incredible lightness in his shoulders. So this is now the regular treatment, the jerking still stops as soon as I put the wraps on, and he hasn't needed to see a physio for neck spasms since.
We went to Norway for three weeks in November and forgot to take the wraps along. The muscle spasms started up on the second day without wraps. I tried several pharmacies, but none had suitable bandages. I did TTouches on the neck and shoulders, about 3 pressure and with various positions with the back of my hands. It helped sufficiently that D could live without pain medication for most of the trip, but not as spectacularly as the wraps.
D also has sciatica due to his irregular gait (almost stumbling movements). I tried the wrap described on page 29 of "All Wrapped Up for You" and it brought IMMEDIATE and TOTAL relief. It was the most amazing thing!! I also tried the sumo wrap and the diagonal wrap, but they did not work as well as the page 29 wrap. This wrap brought relief as long as it was on, but the pain returned soon after and he is now receiving physio treatment for his hips. As soon as the current inflammation has cleared, we will use the page 29 wrap regularly to improve balance and gait and hopefully prevent this from happening again.
And then, the absolutely astounding results on the swollen legs and feet! The blood pressure medication caused his feet to swell to such an extent that he could not get his shoes on. The diuretics the doctor prescribed interacted negatively with the Parkinson's medication, so he had to stop taking it. Well, I don't really know what I'm doing or why I'm doing it, so I just tried various things and got feedback from D. I was also quite intrigued by the idea of just treating one side of the body and the other side will be affected as well (something Robyn mentioned in the course). So I only worked on his right leg as an experiment. The program we settled on was Noah's March, Raccoon TTouches on the lower leg and foot, a few Abalones, then some Python lifts, Coiled Pythons, Octopus and Noah's March again.
I then put a simple criss-cross wrap on his lower leg – starting at the back of the knee, cross front, cross back, cross front on the ankle, under the foot and back - and left it on for about 20 minutes. D said that this caused a intense "buzzing" feeling in his leg, the leg felt a lot lighter than the other one and when he got up and walked, he actually walked a lot better – not shuffling anymore.
After a week of this treatment once a day in the evenings, I could see the difference – the swelling in both legs were down significantly, even though I only worked on the one leg. We kept this up for three weeks until his legs and feet looked normal again. His legs have not swollen again. (It is now four months later.)
I have to admit that I am very left-brained, logical, analytical and scientific and it is very strange for me to get such spectacular results with something I neither understand nor know enough about it to really know what I'm doing. But I work mindfully and with a positive attitude, I visually good outcomes, and it seems to work.
Thank you for making your experiences, insights and research available to us. On a personal level, it has already made a huge difference in our lives, the lives of my beloved rescue doggies and the shelter animals I work with. I really want to learn more!
Best regards,
Erica

Uruguay Joins the Tellington TTouch Trail

The first ever Tellington TTouch workshop in Uruguay was a great success. Fifty-one participants and twelve dogs attended and, as always, the dogs provided the chance to explore and learn.  The Military Riding Centre in Montevideo was a wonderful venue providing a huge expanse of outdoor space to practise the techniques.

The participants' backgrounds were varied and this always makes for a lively discussion. Another outstanding aspect was the high percentage of male participants.

My thanks to Pia Arhio-Lehto for her invaluable assistance during the workshop, the organisers, Sylvia Corbesola, Cathy López and Marcela Cobalan, and also to the members of the cavalry establishment who made us feel so welcome and did all in their power to make the event a success.  A great thank you also to Aldo Giovinetti and Sylvia for the wonderful photography work.

Montevideo calling!

The first Tellington TTouch seminars to be held in Uruguay are scheduled for next weekend. This promises to be a wonderful experience! 

Take a look at the information pamphlet prepared by the organisers.

http://issuu.com/sylcor/docs/informaci__n-seminario-ttouch_y_zoo/1

Another step along the way in Buenos Aires

Some new people have joined the Buenos Aires TTouch community. The introductory course presented different canine personalities who taught us a great deal about observation and the importance giving options and paying attention to the individual needs of each dog. With the inestimable help of Pia Arhio-Lehto we were able to provide a high level of individualised attention for those who required it.

At the seminar on leading techniques the focus was on the human element - how our balance and focus are crucial to the success of our dogs. Bees, pigeons and butterflies were the order of the day and we had fun learning these new techniques. 

It was beautiful to see how the more timid dogs were able to find their own space and balance!

TTouch Premier in Brazil

This past week saw the arrival of the Tellington Method in Brazil. Two two day seminars were held for dogs and two one day seminars for cats and rabbits. The participants discovered the TTouch philosophy and the three basic pillars of the work - body work, groundwork and using body wraps and other TTouch tools - with time to practise and experiment with the wonderful animals that were our best teachers. Perhaps the best accolade was the comment made by one attendee: "The dogs that left this afternooon were not the same dogs that arrived this morning." Link, the dog in the photo below left arrived in a highly agitated state and after a little TTouch bodywork was able to relax.

It was gratifying to work with so many committed people coming from various walks of life including holistic veterinarians, physiotherapists, a lawyer who works with therapy dogs in her spare time as well as dog trainers and other professionals in the field. One participant travelled from the capital, Brasília, and another drove eight hours from Belo Horizonte.

The door is now open for TTouch in this vast country!

Link relaxing for TTouch bodywork

Didy with her "Thinking Cap" on.

Head wrap for calm and concentration!

Gearing up after a delicious lunch

TTouch in Brasil!

TTouch really is taking off in Latin America!  In August we will be offering the very first TTouch workshops in Sao Paulo, Brasil. Check the events calendar for more details.

How exciting!

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

 We had another wonderful opportunity to explore Tellington Touch with an open-minded group and their lovely dogs with a range of difficulties - blindness, deafness, anxiety, etc. This gave us the chance to explore TTouch tools in a variety of fields.  We were even able to help out one owner who needed a little bit of slack with a simple body wrap.

A curious case was a little chihuaha who always walks backwards.  With the harness and two point of contact she was able to walk forward and do the groundwork exercises.
 
Tabatha, expressive as always,  sticks to Noemi.

The day before the workshop we paid a visit to the Bañaderos Shelter where a group of volunteers were keen to learn a little about the technique so that they will be better able to help the animals in their care. Wraps were a hit there too when hyperexcitable Mila responded immediately to a half wrap and her excitement level dropped. Mouth work was another clearly useful tool for dogs that express concern through their mouths.

What is reactivity?

 

I am posting this quote from Leslie McDevitt's book because I feel that this is something that many people have to deal with and many are ill-advised and oriented in the wrong direction.

"Reactivity comes from anxiety, which comes from feeling uncertain about something. Reactivity is an information-seeking strategy.  A reactive dog will rush towards something or someone that he is uncertain about, barking, lunging, growling, and making a big display. People sometimes perceive reactive behaviour as aggression, but a reactive dog is not rushing in to do damage; he is attempting to assess the threat level of a given situation. His assessment strategy is intensified because he is panicking as the adrenaline flows through his body. If a reactive dog learns to feel confident about something, he is less worried about that thing and therefore reacts less to it. People also sometimes perceive reactive behaviour as "dominance" because they view a dog that flies at his triggers as a dog that wants to take charge. This is absolutely not the cases. Reactive dogs are anxious, and their response is intense because they are freaking out.

That is why clear structures are necessary for anxious dogs. They need to know what is happening next, and they need to know they are safe. If left untreated (or if treated inappropriately with physical punishment), reactivity can escalate into aggression. Much, but not all, aggression is anxiety-related. Reactivity and anxiety-related aggression are simply different levels of response to a stressful situation. Anxiety-related aggression will occur when the dog is put in a situation that pushes him beyond what he can manage with a measured response. In these cases the dog's anxiety takes him to the next level of response."

Leslie McDevitt  "Control Unleashed" p. 25

An Introduction to the Tellington TTouch® Philosophy