Positive Intentions

After a long week I spent the afternoon in town gathering groceries and with some extra time on my hands I paid a visit to a dear friend who also happens to run the local feed store that I love.  My friend shared with me that a customer sang my praises and how I'd fixed her daughters' dog.  What a lovely thing to hear!  I remember the dog well, a sweet Lab mix that was worried, high strung and pulled on the lead like a budding Iditarod champion.  He and his loving, petite owner had 3 wonderful sessions last summer, and what pleases me the most is that this lovely dog is continuing to do well 8 months later.  This, I love about TTouch. 

Kat's "little dogs",  Nestle & Jazz

The TTouch dogs I get to deal with the most are my own.  They have their amazing moments.  Jazz was slated to have a complete hip replacement at 1 year old.  There were many things that brought me to TTouch, and this reality was one of them for sure.   Here we are, coming upon 4 years down the road and she still has the hip God gave her, excellent range of motion and easily bursts about the yard with unbridled speed, turns, leaps, jumps and general rocket-boosted energy.    Her only claim to this success is a grain free diet, careful weight management and TTouch.  

I'm tickled to share with you that I'm going to be adding acupressure and massage therapy to my areas of study in companion animal alternative healing.  Whoopie!!  

Nestle & Jazz updates

It simply excites me how a few minor changes in how I do TTouch can bring about positive feedback and results I've noticed from my own fur-friends:

Jazz has her degenerating right hip which at her tender age of 4.5 years, I want to continue her comfort and avoid a hip replacement for as long as possible, hopefully forever. It's her spirit that brought me to TTouch and so she is my most special "client". Her behavioral issues aren't much to speak of other than being a but unsocialized. My main objective with her has been to increase her comfort and willingness to swim. Swimming is so highly beneficial for joint issues as it places no stress while gently moving the body. And we have swimming available to us 24/7 during the warmer months.

Jazz's previous reaction to the invitation to swim was to cower by the back door in her swim suit (life vest), shivering with fear. If the invite was made for her to swim, she'd avoid coming down to the dock at all. Since returning from my TTouch session with Linda, Jazz has made remarkable strides in her swimming:

Day 1, she accepted her swim suit with joy and came down to the dock with us. It took quite a bit of encouragement but she would eventually make her way over to me, where I perched on the swim ladder, and after receiving more TTouches, would relax and allow me to lift her into the lake and the waiting swim float - allowing her to stand comfortably in the deep water. I would join her and do TTouches. Her relaxation was remarkable! Then, she would swim (with my support) to the shore and climb out. ..... The amazing part is... she would come BACK around to the dock to do it again! She made 3 assisted entries into the lake.

Day 2, I took Jazz & Nestle to work with me which is located by a public landing.... which means shallow water entry! So, I took their swim suits and we enjoyed a break in all things musical to go for a swim. Jazz really needed me "in" the water to encourage her, she entered the water on her own and swam to and from where she could reach the bottom many times..... with a smile! Very little TTouches were needed for her. She was in fine form!

Day 3, This was at home where we live on deep water (no shallows for anyone under 5' tall). To my utter SHOCK, Jazz took very little encouragement to come over to me at the swim ladder for lowering into the swim float waiting for her! She was smiling and her eyes were bright. She would brace a bit in anticipation of being lowered into the water, but this too was much reduced over the previous session and some TTouches help reassure her. .... She spent much longer in the float before deciding to swim ashore. She volunteered for these "assisted leaps" off the dock twice before calling it a day.

All in all, her swimming skills are growing steadily thanks to the security of her swim suit (flotation) and TTouches. Her confidence is amazing and has sky rocketed during these few swim sessions. In previous summers I have tried tirelessly to encourage her to swim - to no avail. TTouch has played a key role in her new found wet enjoyment!

Jazz at the Rockville, Maryland TTouch training

Nestle has always had issues with barking. He barks at everything. He barks at everyone. He barks to express himself. He barks alarms, both imagined and real. He is a barky boy! With regular TTouch time, his barking is reducing gradually and steadily. His greatest moment was with a client who entered our music store yesterday and was greeted with the typical behavior of two little dogs barking at his ankles. The fellow is a regular client, so he was not phased and held his ground, calmly. Jazz got the "okay" right away and went back to her bed. Nestle, however, continued his barking and I could see the tension in his croup, so I happily gave him a couple gentle TTouches and he was instantly calmed. His barking stopped (Yes, it was that instantaneous). He smiled and stayed to "check out" the client with a calm, happy demeanor. He did not bother the client the rest of the visit.

For Nestle, this is huge. He has "paused" his barking in the past only to continue as soon as the client moved about the store. And would occasionally go over and give them a few more barks for added measure. "I" didn't appreciate this barking behavior and I'll assume the clients didn't appreciate it either. What a gift to have a happy, quiet dog!

Nestle "Diving" from our shoreline

Nearly Time for Session 3

Oh, my goodness..... come the weekend, I'll be in my third TTACT (Tellington Touch Animal Companion Training) session!!! This session is being taught by Linda Tellington-Jones, the founder of the TTouch method. I can't convey how delighted I am! Last June when I was considering getting my feet wet in this whole TTouch thing, I attended a one-day seminar taught by Linda with my nutty Doxie, Nestle, in tow. So, I'm thrilled to be experiencing a whole training session with her. This will also put me officially at the "half way!" point of my training.

Linda, I'm told, goes more into theory and research behind the TTouches. This thrills me no end because learning the TTouch is a big part of what it's all about, but for me, knowing what's behind it is equally important to the whole picture. When I first learned of TTouch and read up on it, I was intrigued by the statement, "[d]on't need knowledge of anatomy to be successful". I immediately asked myself, "why?" and dove into that whole realm. Knowing that Linda will go into it in more depth, is a great thing for me and an essential part of what I do.... okay, what I'm LEARNING to do. LOL

Looking forward - I'll have 4 months to spend on case studies between session 3 and 4 and I'm very much looking forward to a good long stretch of time to expand myself, my craft and to help a bunch of deserving companion animals. Meeting new critters and their people is so much fun!
Case Studies
I am so thrilled - I've been contacted by an area obedience instructor who is interested in being a case study and sending out her students to me as well! This means a plethora of case studies for me and (hopefully) an end to my constant begging. LOL Back in the old days, students submitted FIFTEEN case studies per session, now it's five. I was worried about getting my minimum of 15 total during my training. Me hopes that worry is dead in the water.

Case Study @ Home
I met a new client over the weekend who was the first to come out to my home for a session. This went amazingly well! I have issues with my home only because of petty vanity.... the garbage pile that still needs hauling off to the landfill and a house that's well.... eclectic and old. But then, I am eclectic and old... so I have learned to accept this feature. LOL

The driveway is heavily shaded and that's where we worked. It was great! I loved having my playground equipment all set up and ready to roll when doggie and human arrived. Alice (the dog) has occasional issues with strange dogs and occasional insecurity. We worked on several TTouches to help her relax and walked through the labyrinth, ladder, etc., with ease. Alice later worked very well along with Jazz and then later with Jazz and Nestle. It was so nice to have "stranger doggies" handy without them having to hang in the car till their time to work.

I honestly had concerns about working at home, but this was so great that now I know my intuition was right. This is a special place to travel to and work with our fur friends. We live on the lake, on the main channel and I know this is special as I enjoy it daily and I love to share this gift with others. Someday I'll have the gardens & yard done to where even my petty-vanity can't get in the way. LOL .... so if you ever wander to my neck o' the woods...kindly forgive the mess. I'll feel better. LOL

Herbs
After scouring my local nurseries and studying up specifically on herbs for doggies, I've made an online order for those "hard to get" plants. What really excites me is an herb coming in that was historically used for sinus congestion. It occurs to me that such an "allergy" response in dogs is pretty much ignored, unless you really like giving antibiotics for sinus trouble. I like to avoid the whole antibiotic trip if at all possible as I feel this mode of healing is over used and not kind to the body in the long run..... human and animal alike. I like to reserve antibiotics as a last resort.

So, stay tuned. Nestle has minor sinus issues with "reverse sneezing" (as it's called.... it's really just inward snorting to clear nasal passages); I'm looking forward to seeing if this herb will offer some relief. IF so, I may end up working on herbal mixes for clients. How fun is that?! I'm learning all about drying, tinctures, etc.

Plants and animals.... my two favorite things on this earth.

Nestle - master gardening assistant, in charge of sticks.

Case Studies

GUINNESS This is Guinness, a 14 y/o GSD. His tilting head is due to vestibular syndrome that he began exhibiting in February. At his age, the resulting inactivity was of concern with atrophying muscles. I came to see my fur friend at his home and spent long time doing TTouches all over and around his ears to aid in neural connections. I also used some energy medicine to gently keep his leg muscles in working order and showed his Momma what and how to do the exercises. My main concern was in maintaining his mobility during this rather immobile time for him.
A couple weeks later, Guinness was able to go back to work with his people where I met him and touched base with how he was doing and we enjoyed some TTouch time.


SIDNEY
This is Sidney, an adoptable GSD in foster care. I met her briefly at an adoption fair for GSD rescue and got to work with her. She (not surprisingly) has physical stresses which responded well to the TTouches. She was sporting a huge prong collar and was quite off balance and pulling heavily on the prong even when standing. I fashioned her lead into a TTouch balance lead and we simply stood while I gave Sidney subtle signals to put her more into balance and teach her to not lean into the prong. By the time I handed her back over to her foster person, she was standing in balance on a completely loose lead... that prong no longer digging into her neck. She also seemed much more calm and content.

Sidney is available for adoption. She has issues with other female dogs, however I have complete confidence that TTouch would help her overcome many issues. A delightful young lady deserving of a forever home.


DORRIE I have more recent pics of Lady Dorrie, but I'll be darned if I can locate 'em! Dorrie is a 5 y/o Golden with lots of stress issues. Her canine pal, is Cash.... an active Coonhound. I worked with Cash & Dorrie together at our last session. Both were remarkably calmer at our last session, which was rather noteworthy! Cash showed interest in the neighbor dog, but didn't go manic with pacing and barking. Dorrie was all over much more laid back. We did ground work with both dogs together and went over some new TTouches for both of them. Their progressive calm is really the highlight of their TTouch sessions.


HARLEY Harley is a 3 y/o West Highland Terrier. Harley is a super-duper sweetie who experiences shyness and/or reactivity with strangers or other selective issues, such as reluctance to foot handling. We've just had one session together thus far and he seems to be quite responsive to and liking of the TTouches. I'm looking forward to finding avenues to really help this little jewel soar!


And then there's my own test subjects! ThunderShirts arrived and naturally I have been test driving them with my own crew. Nestle & Jazz both really appreciate these gentle body compression garments when the stress gets too great. Somewhere along the banks of the Tennessee River, someone enjoys target shooting (I HOPE they're shooting targets!) which sends both small dogs into shivering, stressed reactivity. ThunderShirts were a raving success each time, shaking stopped and though both dogs stayed close to me... they were much calmer.

Some dogs need time. Nestle has taught me that when it comes to "come"... some dogs need time to process this and carry out the activity. He will stop, think and then come a runnin'. Sometimes this can seem like an eternity, when it's usually less than a minute. I have to remember to not nag ("come", "come", .... etc.) and practice my patience during his processing time - and it pays off. With time, Nestle's "pauses" before coming are becoming shorter in duration. I give him the time to choose and when he chooses correctly, he's rewarded for it. He simply responds a little more slowly than some dogs. He reminds me that "instantaneous response" is an unfair expectation from each and every creature.... because they are as individual as we humans are.

Session with Elvis

Elvis has a somewhat restless soul and though he "rests" a lot, he can be like a tensioned bow-string at times; leaping in response to the slightest touch. 127 pounds of "surprise!" response can be rather dangerous.

Finding him relaxed and receptive, it was a good time for some energy TTouch work; since he's half way to being relaxed to begin with.
He was a bit squirmy when I sat beside him and I sensed confusion and worry, so I began with a touch that calms by gently activating both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously. He calmly rested his head [above].

I felt his energy field all over where I could easily reach. Around his right hip, where he had some old hot spots, his energy field was thin and weakened and the area is cold and tense. I began with some pointed electrical work [Pictured above]. Elvis felt unsure of this at first, I used my other hand to work on his crown chakra at the same time and this balanced his energies. He again relaxed and rested his head. After several minutes I felt a stronger blood and energy flow to his hip, warmth and relaxation returned to the area.
I then worked on his energy grid and chakras. Elvis had a few thin areas in his grid and his chakras were in need of balancing. His root chakra still held wounds from being weaned, sent to a strange place and neutered (all within days). His solar plexus was the most off center and he reacted a bit to working with it at first; my hands became very warm as we progressed. Once I had the solar plexus balanced, the remainder of his chakras fell into balance quite nicely and Elvis entered a state of deep relaxation [above].
After working on what have been rather sensitive and guarded areas on Elvis's body, I proceeded to his most reactive area: the toes. This image captures the warm energy and calm in touching his toes. He remained completely relaxed.

This session lasted all of 20 minutes or so. Since then, Elvis has been enjoying deep, restful sleep. He has been calm and centered, his edginess and jangled energy are gone. He seemed unsettled before, he would pester each person in turn for attention but unable to stand still to receive it. Now he is as comfortable and content as the other two dogs and slumbers peacefully on his bed.

The next day (1-15-11, 5:30 pm)
I had another opportunity to work with Elvis, this time his left side. He was in a new but inviting area, one more comfortable for me to work on him. This made it strange for him and he was slow to relax. I began with his crown chakra and then he began relaxing well. He laid down very close to me, his toes touching mine, his head on my leg. He now knows what this is about and was a tad bit reluctant at first. Opening chakras is very much the electric surge when riding the long up hill on the roller coaster. The release is amazingly wonderful, though. No sudden drops. (It is for me, anyway). On the working end, when I am the one opening anothers' chakra, I can experience feelings, changes in temperature, pains, visions. It all depends on the patient as well as the chakra. What they experience is unique, and every chakra is unique.

After Elvis relaxed completely his head rested on my leg and his front toes touched mine. He lay very close to me. Warm and calm. I worked from his crown chakra to his throat chakra where the energy was confused, congested and tangled. As I worked with his throat chakra the confused energy intensified and he became wiggly. I asked him to hang in there with me as I massaged his chakra into balance. Finally the tangled energy gave way and a warm, steady, aligned and balanced energy flowed in. Elvis cuddled up again, relaxed and released a big breath.

I gently moved down to his solar plexus where I found intense light coupled with great pain in the left side. I worked gently with this as long as we both could stand.

We'll need to finish this before bed. My left side is still aching a tad, and most of all, his chakras need balancing. We're nearly there. It's a lot for him to process.
Elvis was receptive at bedtime, so I spent a few minutes with his feet and toes. This is the most relaxed I've felt him while handling his feet.
I wasn't close enough to snuggle, though he tried. Notice the relaxed face while I'm holding his paw.

Case Studies

What is a Case Study?
A kind human volunteers their companion animal for me to work on and learn from. Ideally, not only do I learn lots, but the animal benefits from the Ttouches. For a formal study the owner agrees to commit to three sessions. The owner also agrees to any publishing of the study and/or images by Tellington Touch as copies will be turned in during my training.

Not everyone I work on need be a case study. I'll keep records for my own self, of course, but you get the gist. The real need for me is to practice, practice, practice! Folks with Foster animals in need of emotional/behavioral help are of special interest as well.

How much? Three easy payments of $0.00 - typically 90 minutes per session. A deal!

Where?
What I love about Ttouch is that it helps the animal where they live in their every day life. It's up to the owner where they would feel most comfortable ..... within a reasonable driving distance, of course.

Why?
Case studies do several things. One, they demonstrate to the Ttouch instructors that I'm actually studying, learning, and progressing. Two, by going over case studies with an instructor it furthers the learning process by gaining valuable feedback.

How?
During my 2 year training program, I will need to submit a total of 15 case studies, one of which should be someone other than a companion animal. The first 3 case studies will be due during my 3rd training session in May/June.

My area of study is companion animals.... which is not limited to dogs. I just happen to be a dog person. I'm also a horse person... but that's whole other Ttouch training program... which I'll do after completing the companion animal training! Then there's working on humans: My final frontier!

Dorrie

Beautiful and elegant, Dorrie, is my first "official" case study. She is a warm hearted 5 year old Golden who came from rescue where she was rather traumatized by the entire event, of which she still displays issues stemming from separation and stress. Her symptoms include pacing, panting, eye rolling, excessive barking and leash pulling.

I love this little fur-girl. She willingly warmed up to me right away and easily allowed me to work Ttouches all over her while she melted into deep relaxation.

After a short break while I set up the confidence course, Dorrie walked along with me very willingly while smiling all the while!
Dorrie thinks her way through the "star" (above) and the "ladder" (below). My leads are a bit snug... shudder timing wasn't the greatest. She was able to walk with the leads in neutral most of the time. A big change for her.
After our session, Dorrie was quite the relaxed and contented gal. I hear tell that she has since been sleeping throughout the night rather than waking and pacing as she's done in the past. Everyone is sleeping better!

Elvis - session 3

The basics of the confidence course are coming together! Here is the labyrinth. I used PVC because it's light and portable in my little red car and stows easily in a carry bag.

Here's "most" of the ladder. I can flip it around for small dogs, partially prop it up, or prop it up completely once I have the other side of supports done (Home Depot, here I come!). I'm very pleased with the outcome, thus far.

I chose to guide Elvis through the confidence course using a super balance lead and scrunchies on his back legs (instead of a wrap, which I used last time). The scrunchies aid in bringing awareness to his back legs - he wasn't even sure he could raise one leg for the application of these little jewels.

Here we are going through the ladder. I have my unfinished sides offset to present a bit more challenge to him. Elvis really liked this. Towards the end of our session I switched to using a simple balance lead (instead of a "super balance" lead pictured above). He walked well with me and in much better control of his once ungainly body. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Since Elvis's first session a couple weeks ago, he has become much more comfortable in his rather large body and negotiates his way through life with much less clumsiness (much to our relief). His aggressive attitude towards being handled along his rear, legs and feet has gotten much better.

Elvis

Elvis at 1 yr of age

Elvis is my own "uber-hound" of exceptional size. He is a Treeing Walker Coonhound, weighing in at 125 pounds, give or take. When we think of dogs growing exceptionally fast, he is it. If growth made noise, it would have been a spectacular and noisy first year for him! Elvis is now 7 years old and diabetic. He has issues with feeling comfortable in his own body, tension, and sensitivity around his rear as well as his feet. I have not been able to trim his toenails since puppyhood (the vet does it); and I am reluctant to walk him due to his size and the danger of pulling which would damage my hands. He is at his core, a very sweet, cuddly animal who enjoys all creatures.

His first session (Sept. 25) with Ttouch was brief, but more so than he'd tolerated in the past. After a few hours of letting him process the Ttouch, I had another session (the same day) with him where I used a body wrap and balance lead configuration to go on a walk around the yard. He responded favorably to this experience, relaxing within a matter of minutes and walking calmly.

A week later (Saturday Oct. 2), we had another Ttouch session. This time Elvis calmed considerably and relaxed at a deeper level than I've ever seen. Our Ttouch session included mouth work, and increased comfort and acceptance of Ttouches on his hindquarters. The next day (yesterday), I applied a body wrap, harness & balance lead while we did some ground work in the driveway. He negotiated the labyrinth, ladder and star with increased comfort and ability during each pass....in between the obstacles we would take a walk where he would smile, shake, lick and yawn. By the end of the session he was quite relaxed and walking on a loose lead with confidence and balance.

So far I've observed an increased comfort and relaxation on Elvis's part. He is more relaxed about having his posterior handled. He is more relaxed with having his legs & feet handled. His fidgets while being petted are all but gone completely. His gate involves his whole body now....the rear end is no longer "just along for the ride".