A few people have asked for more information about TTouch so I thought I would say a little more here. The details of touches and other elements of the approach are given on Linda Tellington Jone’s Site so I won’t go into that here – just a little more on my experiences of it and what it can do. 
The beauty of this approach is that anyone can do it – and the basic touches are very quick to learn. It works on the principle that we all have a lot of unused neural capability and that non-habitual actions and movements stimulate these unused neural pathways into action. So learning is accelerated and facilitated – and it enables animals to think rather than simply react. Similar approaches are used with dyslexic children – they are encouraged to do non-habitual actions and it has been shown to help their learning. Animals of course can’t do it for themselves so the touches do it for them – with the same effect. The basic TTouch is a one and a quarter circle repeated over the body. It is different to massage in the sense that the intention is not to physically release muscle tension but to move the body in such a way that the nervous system is stimulated.
Combined with the other elements of the approach (ground work exercises, body wraps) it can have amazing effects – but even the basic touches can make a huge difference. In training we work with dogs of all kinds, as well as cats, rabbits, owls, reptiles etc. Some of the most profound responses have been from the “wilder” animals – perhaps because you expect dogs to respond? But when a barn owl that has not been handled for a year and is flapping upside down on its handler’s glove ends up cuddled into the handler with its eyes closed completely relaxed after a half hour session, and a 4 foot python which is wrapping itself round someone’s arm and completely tensed up ends up stretched out across the knees of four people totally chilled – then you feel there is definitely something in it!!
I love it as an approach because it is completely non-confrontational – you meet the animal where it is and don’t force anything on it – if it can’t cope with being touched with a hand you do it with a feather or even at a distance until it is ready. It also does not require you to know “history” – assessment of an animal is done by looking at it as it is now – not by trying to work out why it is that way. Tension is held in the body so you can tell a lot by learning to read tension patterns, posture etc. – and similarly if you can release the physical tension, change posture etc. then you can change behaviour.
I have used it with Grace and she is a different dog. Yesterday we went to her third agility class. The new obstacle was the dog walk. Our intention was to just get her used to putting her paws on it – this is a narrow plank going up to 5ft in the air! First time she walked half way up one side before we took her off. Second time she insisted on going all the way across albeit gingerly. Third time she ran it!! This is a dog that last year wouldn’t have gone near the equipment without a struggle.
