TTouch Rewards

An expression I see too often.

During the TTouch seminar, we got to see real time benefits of TTouch. We had a smooth collie who was whining, and after an elastic was laid over her muzzle and tied behind her head, she relaxed into silence. Dandy started out a little concerned with everyone watching him and didn't want to engage with Lori. Using gentle TTouch methods she drew him back into her and he was rewarded with soothing TTouches.

Cody experienced benefits of his own, and they came during the groundwork session. The two pictures above are faces I often see on Cody. The amount of time I see them has been steadily decreasing and he's becoming a happier and happier boy, but our end goal is to set him up so that he rarely has cause for those expressions.

During the groundwork I struggled to slow myself down and to move with Cody. Lori made sure we walked side by side instead of one of us being ahead of the other. We went through the course several times and I started to feel him settle and relax. One obstacle in particular seemed to help him connect and become more balanced

The labyrinth.

Something about walking through, pausing, continuing, pausing again, and finally moving out had a profound effect on him. I started to see a change in his expression.

His face starts to relax.

During our last run through we finished with the labyrinth again. I turned after we were done to look at him, and was greeted with a happy, relaxed, joyful Cody.

It was a very emotional moment, seeing this guy who had been through so much be so relaxed and happy. It brought home for me the value of TTouch and the marvels it can work in dogs. It works on dogs without behavioral issues as well as special needs dogs. It has benefit for every dog who is lucky enough to experience TTouch, and because of how powerful it is we will be continuing Cody's TTouch work both at home and through seeing Lori for further training.

I want to see this face all the time!