Recently I was poking about to see what dog videos were available, and of course stopped by eBay. There I found The Tellington TTouch one for dogs, and promises of learning how to touch and handle and probably overcome fear and a few other issues. What the heck, a healthy skeptic I bought a copy and it arrived shortly afterwards.
Tellington-Touch for Happier, Healthier Dogs: Develop a closer relationship with your dog by learning the TTouch. On this video, Linda Tellington-Jones and her sister, Robyn Hood, demonstrate the TTouch method with ten dogs with a variety of problems. 60 min.)

By the way, the tape ran for well over 60 minutes.

Linda Tellington and her producers, Hartworks, produced a very superior video back in the early 1990s. The topic is introduced by excerpts from a seminar/workshop that Linda leads, and may be ten minutes is dedicated at the end to her sister, Robyn Hood, demonstrating the touches and techniques they use and teach.

Ttouch is, as the official website says “based on circular movements of the fingers and hands all over the body. The intent of the TTouch is to activate the function of the cells and awaken cellular intelligence – a little like “turning on the electric lights of the body.” The TTouch is done on the entire body, and each circular TTouch is complete within itself. Therefore it is not necessary to understand anatomy to be successful in speeding up the healing of injuries or ailments, or changing undesirable habits or behavior.”

So, does it work? Well I watched the tape on Saturday night, and did the basics with the house dweller that night, and on a number of dogs Sunday morning, night and Monday morning.

As I write it is only Monday afternoon, but here are my observations!

Yes, there is a definite response 😉

The house dog just loved it, and asked for more, and on Sunday evening was very, very calm and relaxed in his crate, normally he tends to be on the qui vive for a tidbit from anyone approaching the kitchen.

All the dogs who’ve had a bit of TTouch have revelled in it and asked for more, and in fact, two I’ve part trained to free stand with no hands on, were even more responsive and held their free stands longer, and were more alert on the stacks.

The girl who was the main reason for me seeking a ‘magic wand’ has also responded remarkably. This lass tends to be a bully, I feel in her case it is “I best set the record straight before someone tries to bully me”. Well, she is more calm and very accepting of her new kennel mate, yet on Saturday she had taken on a senior girl she has known all her life and who would never cause another dog to fight.

Also with this particular girl, she’s been out of sorts for the last week or two, I’m assuming because of the death of her previous kennel mate, despite the fact she was inclined to bully her and be jealous of her. She was tardy to get up, hesitant to go out to exercise, this morning (after 2 short TTouch sessions) she went out happily and brightly and when back, sat quitely and with more dignity at the gate waiting for me to catch up.

So two sources: (note videos currently only available in USA’s NTSC playback and will not playback on VCRs in Europe, Australia etc unless they have NTSC playback) for information and books and videos check the main site (see above) or check through eBay and search for “Tellington Touch — ttouch — Dog Video”=