Just done a T Touch workshop

[Annette]

I know this thread is a little old now, but I have recently realised that Toni Shelbourne lives just around the corner from me, so we booked a one to one session for Buddy.

We went to her yesterday, and she really is fantastic (it certainly helps when any type of therapist/trainer tells you that they love cockers!). Buddy loved her and she helped me to read his signals so much better.

Poor love, he seems to have been telling us, ever so politely, that there are lots of things he doesn't like us doing at all. But, as Toni said, he is such a polite boy, with good manners (news to me!) that his signals are very subtle. I have been recognising some of them, to be fair, but have also been missing some.

She said "he hasn't a nasty bone in his body" which is a really lovely thing to hear about your furry baby, isn't it?

We have some strategies, and an action plan.....so I will report back later.

Have to say that so far, the barking is worse, if anything, but she did explain the 72 hours it takes to process everything so I will keep at it. It is a lovely thing to do with your dog. Very relaxing and bonding!


Claire, I would love to do one of the workshops too. One day, maybe.

[mezzamo]

I have recently just bought Linda tellington Jones's 'Getting in TTouch with you Dog' book but was thinking about trying to find a workshop but was unsure what to expect and where to find them..so very glad this thread has been resurrected..I am going to get onto the website now and see if there's any workshops local to me 

[beepee]

I Know this is going to upset a lot of people but... Jeez! In my opinion this is yet more new age rubbish. I suspect you could do just as much good for your dog by consulting a doggie medium, touching paws and getting in touch with it's canine ancestors.

[Joules]

Oooo Annette, that sounds fab.  I would love to do it with Coco.  I am assuming you think it is worth doing    How long does it take, what does it involve??  Do you think you could pm me the details so we can maybe book a session too??  

I Know this is going to upset a lot of people but... Jeez! In my opinion this is yet more new age rubbish. I suspect you could do just as much good for your dog by consulting a doggie medium, touching paws and getting in touch with it's canine ancestors.

Thanks for your opinion but we are all entitled to have opinions without them being rubbished    If it works for some people then who are you or anyone to argue??      I see you are quite new to COL - not sure which forums you usually use but this is quite a polite place where we generally all try to respect each other's opinions and ideas 

[BabyB]

I'm not too sure what T Touch is, but it sounds really great.  I'm going to have a look to see if anyone does it in the Dorset area.  Mine love having hands on when they're in a relaxed mood, so will definately give this a try.

[Colin]

I see you are quite new to COL - not sure which forums you usually use but this is quite a polite place where we generally all try to respect each other's opinions and ideas 

Perfectly put.

Play nicely please folks. 

[Top Barks]

I Know this is going to upset a lot of people but... Jeez! In my opinion this is yet more new age rubbish. I suspect you could do just as much good for your dog by consulting a doggie medium, touching paws and getting in touch with it's canine ancestors.

Have you tried it?
I don't see what's so new age about a form of massage?
The Ttouch practitioners I know are also excellent and very knowledgeable dog trainers.
Mark

[Annette]

Oooo Annette, that sounds fab.  I would love to do it with Coco.  I am assuming you think it is worth doing    How long does it take, what does it involve??  Do you think you could pm me the details so we can maybe book a session too?? 

I Know this is going to upset a lot of people but... Jeez! In my opinion this is yet more new age rubbish. I suspect you could do just as much good for your dog by consulting a doggie medium, touching paws and getting in touch with it's canine ancestors.

Thanks for your opinion but we are all entitled to have opinions without them being rubbished    If it works for some people then who are you or anyone to argue??      I see you are quite new to COL - not sure which forums you usually use but this is quite a polite place where we generally all try to respect each other's opinions and ideas 

The first session was just over 2 hours. Lots of questions, and assessment by Toni, almost without me noticing what she was doing. She really is very skilled at what she does. Then she waited for Buddy to approach her before running her hands over him to assess physically and try some light touches on him.

He loved her (and her treats!) and he really did relax beautifully. We then went out on the road to do a bit of groundwork, and as one of his "problems" is with other dogs (not cockers, so you probably haven't seen it), she brought out one of her toy dogs and watched his reaction and gave me some tips for helping him cope with the stress.

I was comfortable that she never pushed him further than he was happy with even though we did progress a little. But it was all at Buddy's pace. I was all fingers and thumbs but I did feel that she was offering the right level of help for me.

I will PM her details to you, Julie. Bet Coco would be too tired after to come for coffee though. Maybe walk together beforehand? Whatever.

[clairep4]

I think Toni Shelbourne's very good. Glad to hear the session went well.

I went to another workshop at the weekend with Sarah Fisher, at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home - it was great, got to work on some rescue dogs & cats and to really see T Touch in action on very stressed out animals.

As to the "new age rubbish" comments, well if you can find me a better way to get a completely hyper doberman cross who is doing nothing but eyeballing other people and lunging at dogs, to be able to focus enough to calm down and relax in just two sessions of groundwork, and if you can find a better way of getting an old staffie whose owner has died and who is trembling head to foot with anxiety, to settle down in a room full of strangers to the point where she is just happy and waggly and kissing people in the space of half an hour, then show me the way...

Battersea use T Touch extensively to help rehabilitate their animals, but maybe they're just a bunch of old hippies 

[LurcherGirl]

I Know this is going to upset a lot of people but... Jeez! In my opinion this is yet more new age rubbish. I suspect you could do just as much good for your dog by consulting a doggie medium, touching paws and getting in touch with it's canine ancestors.

Have you tried it?
I don't see what's so new age about a form of massage?
The Ttouch practitioners I know are also excellent and very knowledgeable dog trainers.
Mark

I shall tell our lurcher Flash then that all the improvements of his mental wellbeing is just down to a load of new age rubbish... Not sure whether he'd agree with that...   
Vera

[Top Barks]

Hope the TV stars are well
Has Flash come back yet?

[beepee]

As to the "new age rubbish" comments, well if you can find me a better way to get a completely hyper doberman cross who is doing nothing but eyeballing other people and lunging at dogs, to be able to focus enough to calm down and relax in just two sessions of groundwork, and if you can find a better way of getting an old staffie whose owner has died and who is trembling head to foot with anxiety, to settle down in a room full of strangers to the point where she is just happy and waggly and kissing people in the space of half an hour, then show me the way...

Might i suggest "Dog Borstal" on BBC3. They seem to solve many of these sort of problems without ever resorting to the "laying on of hands" I realise that I am offending people by saying this but in my opinion it needs saying. Avoid Snake Oil salesmen.

[Annette]

No offence meant, but you do seem to be making some inflammatory comments where you really don't need to, in my opinion!

 

[clairep4]

As to the "new age rubbish" comments, well if you can find me a better way to get a completely hyper doberman cross who is doing nothing but eyeballing other people and lunging at dogs, to be able to focus enough to calm down and relax in just two sessions of groundwork, and if you can find a better way of getting an old staffie whose owner has died and who is trembling head to foot with anxiety, to settle down in a room full of strangers to the point where she is just happy and waggly and kissing people in the space of half an hour, then show me the way...

Might i suggest "Dog Borstal" on BBC3. They seem to solve many of these sort of problems without ever resorting to the "laying on of hands" I realise that I am offending people by saying this but in my opinion it needs saying. Avoid Snake Oil salesmen.

I'm not a big fan of Dog Borstal, but having said that, the ex-army guy uses Agility quite alot in his work to help focus the dogs. Agility's not that far from some of the Groundwork used in TTouch (they use low seesaws and dogwalks, weave poles, labrynths to walk through and poles to step over), and Agility is fairly commonly known for being good at boosting confidence in dogs as long as it's taught carefully without pushing them too far, too fast. T Touch Groundwork is based quite alot on the work which people have done with horses for years - leading exercises, stepping over poles etc.

I'd say really to be able to just dismiss T Touch out of hand you need to have read up on the facts first, it's not all about namby pamby laying on of hands at all, and the bodywork is actually about triggering neural pathways, it's not massage. It's also not just used to help with behavioural issues but can really help with rehabilitation after eg spinal injuries (obviously in conjunction with other therapies) because it can help the animal re-learn how to move.

All I can say is that my dog Bella, who was fear-aggressive and went into freeze every time a dog approached her, in the space of a couple of months has become far more relaxed and friendly to the point where she's even open to playing with new dogs (she would do her utmost to avoid other dogs before and if they approached her she would freeze and then snap at them), and the only thing that's changed is that I've done regular T Touch on her. So if that's Snake Oil, I'll have some more please. 

[Helen]

No offence meant, but you do seem to be making some inflammatory comments where you really don't need to, in my opinion!

 

couldn't have smilie-ed it better Annette 

Beepee I would advise you read some of the behaviour threads before extolling the virtues of Dog Borstal.

What's next?  Cesar Milan 

Claire - brilliant that you're doing the course - can I book a session for the brown one when you're ready?