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

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!

TTouch in Buenos Aires 2013

This year's courses were extremely well attended by a wide variety of professionals across a broad specttrum. We had the usual Introductory course followed by three modules on sensitivities, fears and the importance of observation when working with animals. The participants really did participate and the dogs offered us many opportunities to learn and help the dogs learn how to learn and find new responses which might serve them better in their daily lives than the options they may have found so far. To see anxious and stressed dogs relax and others with physical difficulties find a more comfortable position is more than rewarding.

Introductory Course

Follow-up module

Julieta tries a wrap for her sore shoulder

Australian labradoodle gets his certificate!

TTouch Comes to Portugal!

We are finalising the arrangements for the very first TTouch workshop in the beautiful city of Lisbon.  Check the Events page for the details. We will be updating information as it becomes available.

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."

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.