[ColoradoSooner]

Hello!

I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with using T-Touch on their dogs. Mayzie has fear issues and I have read that this method might be able to help. I really want to do everything I can to help her become the dog she can be!!

Thanks!

 

[TooneyDogs]

It can help to calm down a dog but, I only use it when the dog is visibly shaking with fear. In the long run, it's more important to teach her how to work through the stress/fear on her own....building the confidence to handle those situations.

 

[ColoradoSooner]

Thank you so much, Tooney!

I'm definitely not thinking of it as a cure-all. We are doing lots of counter-conditioning and desensitizing. And we start an obedience class in a little over a week to build her confidence. Will also be trying agility when we feel she's ready as I've read that's a great confidence-booster for shy/fearful dogs.

Just thinking about T-Touch as another tool in the old toolbelt, if you know what I mean.

 

[hulkamaniac]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the T-Touch?

 

[ColoradoSooner]

It's short for Tellington Touch, named after the woman who created it. It's a little like therapeutic massage used to calm animals. But from what I've read, there's more to it than that. It's kind of hard to explain but here's an article which will explain things much better than I could:

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/ttouch.html

And here's the official T-Touch website:

http://www.ttouch.com/whyTTouch.shtml

 

[KaseyT]

"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"
http://www.ttouch.com/whyTTouch.shtml

Quackery.

As overpriced massage techniques I'm sure it's fine.

 

[ColoradoSooner]

Thank you for your input, Kasey. I'm not trying to be snarky...but I truly do want to know if you've tried it and if so, what the results (or non-results) were.

 

[Independent George]

I can't commenting on whether or not it works - dogs, like humans, clearly respond positively to touch, so it certainly seems plausible - but claims that it "activate(s) the function of the cells and awaken cellular intelligence" are unscientific BS that makes me question the entire enterprise.

If they want to say that their techniques help animals relax, then that's fine with me. Consumers can try it out and see for themselves.

Undocumented, unsubstantiated, unverifiable claims about biochemical changes, however, inclines me to disbelieve everything they say. Reputable products don't make those sort of claims in their marketing materials - they don't have to.

 

[ColoradoSooner]

I do agree totally with that, George. And I'm not expecting any kind of miraculous cellular regeneration that will give me a brand new dog. I just want another method of relaxing Mayzie so she is more open to new experiences and to learning.

I sent an email to one of the certified practitioners here and to her credit, she was very upfront about what to expect. She said sometimes the results can be dramatic but most often, the changes are subtle. And that it should be used in conjunction with other desensitizing/counter-conditioning techniques. I think her rate is quite reasonable and I might give it a whirl. I belong to a "shy dog" group and some people there swear by it. I just wanted to know if anyone here had any firsthand experience with it.

 

[hulkamaniac]

"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"
http://www.ttouch.com/whyTTouch.shtml

Quackery.

As overpriced massage techniques I'm sure it's fine.

I turned on my electric lights in my body once, but people were complaining that I was blinding them.

I'll buy that massage can be relaxing for dogs. The fact that they feel the need to pad their sales pitch with complete BS makes me want to run away from the whole thing.

 

[JustTess]

I have used some of the facial massages Ilya's vet tech taught me when he was having horrible anxiety over his heartworm treatment. He was soooooo restless he didn't want to sit still after the first treatment and he already hated his crate. He kept getting up and moving to different spots in the house and he was suppose to have minimal movement for a month.

I watched the vet tech massage his face when we returned the same day to get some sedative/pain meds to ease his discomfort. After a minute, he slumped and layed down with a look of bliss on his face. He didn't want her to stop too. LOL

It worked when we got home before his meds kicked in. I use it sometimes when something starts bothering him again and he will start to relax.

I don't know all of them though I would like to learn more about it in the future. At the time, it wasn't a good idea to massage his back because of the treatment.

 

[Squeeker]

I took a basic TTouch clinic last month through the rescue I volunteer for, and I probably would never have taken it otherwise, but I actually found it quite interesting. A lot of it is hokey, but take away the dumb names of the techniques and the un-scientific BS and call it dog massage... and the dogs really respond to it. I will use some of the techniques on Libby once we start doing agility trials to keep her calm before her runs.

 

[KBLover]

I turned on my electric lights in my body once, but people were complaining that I was blinding them.

I'll buy that massage can be relaxing for dogs. The fact that they feel the need to pad their sales pitch with complete BS makes me want to run away from the whole thing.

Eh, marketing is a fact of life.

I don't throw away ideas that might be useful because some pure marketing thing is thrown on.

I try to see past it to the idea behind the smoke (if there is one) and see if I could use THAT for my dog/life/whatever.

I don't know enough T-Touch techniques to say whether or not it works, but I do know Wally will relax if I pet him slowly (and sometimes it keeps him from going "over the edge" as it were.

Whether or not it does any thing with the cell intelligence or whatever really doesn't matter to me. Will it help Wally in stressful situations? That's the only question I care about.

 

[melgrj7]

I use TTouch with my dogs. Works great to help calm Allie down if we are in a stressful situation (like at the vet or when we first started taking her to obedience classes, first several times at dog daycare, in the car - anytime I see her stressing basically).

 

[winniec777]

I have a shy dog, too. I took a canine massage class and use the techniques often on my dog to desensitize her to touch and to relax her. She's not a cuddler but since I started the massage, she snakes us and rubs her head on us and wants me to rub her hind quarters. She also likes head rubs now. I think the massage has helped her to feel more comfortable around people in general - when I give her a massage she actually relaxes, something my ever-alert dog rarely does. I've incorporated a lot of foot and ear rubbing into it, too, which has made her a lot easier to handle for nail trimmings and exams.

While I haven't done TT, I have read a bit about it. Seems like a combination of desensitizing touch and massage. I don't believe all that stuff about cellular intelligence, either (we'd all be a lot smarter if it really worked!), but anything that is designed to relax or soothe sore muscles can't be a bad thing.

 

[melgrj7]

I think it also works on a lot of pressure points. I recently went to a little seminar about acupressure (like acupuncture, but you push on/rub the spots instead of putting a needle in it) and TTouch is reminiscent of the acupressure.

 

[winniec777]

I think it also works on a lot of pressure points. I recently went to a little seminar about acupressure (like acupuncture, but you push on the spots instead of putting a needle in it) and TTouch is reminiscent of the acupressure.

That makes a lot of sense. There are particular spots I focus on with Poca and she seems to melt into it the pressure.

 

[pamperedpups]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bxdg2RPdgQ&feature=channel_page