Observations and bodywork within the Tellington TTouch Method.- Alex Wilson

Introduction:

In my last article, we discussed the history of the Tellington TTouch® (TTouch) Method, and in this article, I want to dive into what the method is and two of the different elements of the work and how it can benefit dogs. TTouch is not restricted to a training method for dogs and can be used with other animals as well as with humans. In the last article, we talked about how Linda Tellington-Jones started using the work with horses and how it developed. Over the last decade or so that I have been using and teaching Tellington TTouch® I have not just worked with dogs, although that is the area that I work professionally, but I have been lucky enough to work with numerous other species. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to visit a cheetah rescue centre in Addo, in South Africa and had the privilege to work with two of the long-term residents of the rescue. I have also worked with other rescue animals, including hedgehogs, birds and reptiles. On a trip to Baja California, I was able to work on a wild gray whale calf.

Alex Wilson, working with a cheetah in South Africa

I think it is important to understand the different elements of the work. TTouch is known for its bodywork, and many people might think that TTouch is a form of massage. This cannot be further from the truth; although we do use bodywork, which is based on moving the skin, either in a circle and a quarter, a slide, a lift or working on extremities, that is only one part of this incredible work - we always like to think of TTouch as a message, rather than a massage.

Whilst bodywork is not unique to TTouch, as there are lots of modalities that use hands-on touch, the fact that we have other elements makes our work unique or special. Movement, so important with dogs, is an essential part of what we do. Supporting a dog in movement, using our groundwork, freework, and a confidence course can really help a dog to act, rather than react to situations. We will explore movement next month.

Where do we start in TTouch? Personally, I start with observations. I am also a canine body language instructor, so I understand that listening to what the dog is telling us can give us a fantastic baseline for where the dog is at. Dogs are communicating all the time, with us and with each other, but are we listening to them? As humans, we communicate verbally, or so we might think; however, a study done by Albert Mehrabian found that 55% of human communication is non-verbal, 38% vocal and just 7% words. Dogs communicate mainly through body language, with a small element being vocalisation. We can learn so much from this, and as my colleague, Tellington TTouch instructor Tina Constance, regularly teaches, we should be thinking about observing our dogs and thinking about what the possible solutions are to helping that dog. We always want to work with the dog in front of us, remember what the dog is telling us / feeling now may be different tomorrow, or in a different situation, with a different handler, and so.

In TTouch, we think about the link between posture and behaviour. If you can change the posture of the dog, that can change the way the dog behaves. Let’s think about equipment; any piece of equipment can influence the nervous system of the dog, even a positive piece of equipment used the wrong way by the handler can have a negative effect for the dog. I remember working my own dog Arapahoe (who sadly crossed the rainbow bridge in 2025), doing freework. We started her off without a harness or collar and allowed her to explore the elements, take the food that was on offer, etc. After a few minutes, we reintroduced her to her regular harness that she had had for many years. I observed a drop in her head and started to disengage from the elements. This made me think that she was not so happy with that harness, so I decided to change her harness and put a TTouch harness on her instead. This harness was much lighter, and she found it much more acceptable and was more interested in reengaging. It was interesting that Arapahoe was telling me, and had probably been telling me a while, that she was not happy with her old harness, but this was the first time I had listened to her.

In terms of observations, the things that we should be looking at include Posture. Let’s start to look at the different parts of the dog and notice any changes and what is going on when these changes happen - the tail, how does it wag, evenly, look at the height of the tail, is it tucked? The tail is linked to emotion, so we might see subtle changes in the movement of the tail. Look at the head position, do they carry their head high or low? And what is going on? Look at the ear set, are the ears forward or back? Are they listening to something? How is the dog breathing? Do we notice them taking shallow or deep breaths? Do we see the dog rolling over because they are concerned about the situation that they are in? Let’s be dog detectives and gather as much information as we can.

Now let’s think about Movement, with dogs, movement is key. Should a dog be concerned, they will want to move, but let’s examine how they move. Are they balanced in their movement? Do they move evenly, or can we observe any form of limp? How coordinated are they? Do they move differently on-lead compared to off-lead? How are they when they are being handled by their person compared to a stranger? All these things give us masses of information for us to be able to use TTouch tools to be able to support them.

Physical Characteristics We can learn a huge amount by looking at the coat of the dog. The skin is the largest organ of the dog’s body. If something is going on beneath the skin that can cause changes in the coat, notice how dry the coat is, oily, scruffy, unusual swirls and curls, colour changes, etc. Notice if there are any temperature changes in the dog or warmer or cooler areas; these might be areas where the dog is holding tension. Have a look at the eyes, are they hard, soft, do we see a lot of the white of the eye, do they struggle to focus on one thing at a time? When a dog relaxes, we will often notice that the eyes start to soften. Other things to look at are the mouth, how dry or moist it is. Notice how the dog smells, their reaction to touch and so on.

Finally, we want to look at their coping strategies. Is the environment too challenging and we see the dog hiding behind their person, they go into a fool around behaviour because they are struggling to cope or maybe we observe them freezing. Think about the environment and how they can cope, and do they have somewhere, or some way of escaping from a situation that just might be too much.

Now let’s talk about the bodywork elements of TTouch. There are over 30 touches all named after different animals, for me, learning TTouch having an animal naming system meant it was a very easy way to get to learn the different touches. As I mentioned earlier, there are four types of touches: circular touches, slides, lifts, and extremity touches.

With the slide touches, we slide the hand over the body, this can be really helpful to give the dog body awareness. With the lifts, we will lift the skin slowly, supporting the tissue and slowly releasing, and the extremity touches are where we work os specific extremities, for example, the tail, ears, paws etc.

This brings us to the circular touch; we move the skin in a circle and a quarter. Try to imagine a clock face on the side of the animal with 6 o’clock at the bottom, 12 at the top and 3 and 9 in their respective positions. If we were to follow that clock face around from 6, through to nine, up to 12, then through 3 and 6 and stopping at 9 o’clock, we would have a complete touch. Linda Tellington-Jones often explains this in terms of five arcs. It is very important that we make a circle with our touch, rather than a simple up-down motion or a diamond shape. Also, remember that we are moving the skin, not stroking the dog. TTouch is mindful, whilst stroking is not. The different touches are based on the hand position on the animal; some use the front of the hand, others the back of the hand, some the whole hand and we also use different parts of the fingers. The different touches will give a different sensation to the animal receiving the touch.

Next, think about the pressure. We tend to talk about pressure levels of 1-10, with 10 being deep tissue massage and 1 being the lightest that you can use whilst still moving the skin. A pressure level 3 would be the pressure of the weight of your fingers. With dogs, we would generally use a pressure level of 1 to 3. Next, let’s think about the speed of the individual touch, as a rule we think about 1-second, 2-second or 3-second touch. The faster we go the more the touch will energise, and the slower we go, the more it will calm. Sometimes we may need to meet the dog where they are, ie a dog having competed in agility who is highly aroused will not benefit from a slow touch, so we will start fast with a plan to slow the touches down. At the end of the touch, we will put in a pause to allow the nervous system to process what we have just done. Always remember to be mindful when doing the touches.

Now, let’s consider the connection with our animal. Try to move your hand after each touch. You can slide your fingers from one place to another, avoiding any areas of injury or areas that might be sensitive to the dog. When doing the touches, it is important to breathe, as holding one’s breath can cause tension. An audible exhale can help to relax the dog you are working with. Have a positive image of how you would like your animal to be, but try not to get too attached to the outcome, often, the magic happens on the journey, and that can be just as important as the outcome itself.

Keep your centre of gravity over your feet if you are standing, keep your wrist straight, and your joints soft. If you are working with an unfamiliar dog, it is best not to be on the ground with them, as it may be too much for the dog. With your own dogs, you can sit by them whilst doing TTouch body work.

Finally, think about the feedback you get from the dog, how they are communicating with you as you are working, and what the possible solutions. Think about the things that you could change as you work with the dog. Look out for any small signs of concern and stop or change things as you work. Keep your bodywork sessions short.

To learn the different touches, Linda Tellington-Jones' book Getting in TTouch With Your Dog is a very useful guide. You can take a workshop or even take an online course, but whatever way you go, TTouch is the gift that keeps giving.

In my next article, I will be exploring the Tellington movement exercises and some of the equipment that we use to help our dogs be mentally, physically and emotionally balanced.

Over the years, this work has developed. With the help of Linda’s sister, Robyn Hood, anyone can learn to use TTouch with their own dogs. You can take online or livestream courses, attend in-person workshops, or arrange one-to-one sessions with practitioners. In the UK, there are practitioners, including myself, teaching this work, and there is a practitioner training programme. To start your journey, I teach an online course that can be found at www.ttouch.dog, and I offer in-person help in the Midlands and worldwide on Zoom, visit https://www.xtradog.training.