Harmony and Healing: The Power of TTouch for Dogs

Katharine Brunsch Author

Apr 19, 2025 |

What is Tellington TTouch? Discover how this gentle, heart-centred method can improve your dog's physical, mental and emotional well-being.

Table of Contents:

1. What is Tellington TTouch?

Linda Tellington-Jones began developing TTouch in 1975, and with the support of her sister Robyn Hood, Tellington TTouch is used worldwide.

My own TTouch journey began in 2015, initially to support my own dogs with their anxiety and reactivity. However, I was soon hooked and continued my training with several instructors, including Robyn Hood, Sarah Fisher, Marie Miller, and Lucie Leclerc.

At the heart of the TTouch approach to dog care is a deep-rooted belief in empathy and understanding. We understand that feeling safe is essential for the learning and growth of our dogs. Our methods focus on helping dogs regulate their emotions and make conscious choices rather than simply reacting out of fear or frustration.

Beyond traditional training, we aim to create positive transformations in how dogs perceive and interact with their world. By offering low-stress, enriching experiences, we help build confidence, cooperation, and a strong sense of well-being.

Tellington TTouch is a powerful tool that complements existing training methods. It is the missing piece many owners seek to unlock their dog's full potential.

TTouch is a holistic approach to canine well-being that combines gentle bodywork, specialised equipment, and mindful techniques. At its core is a deep respect for the animal and a focus on enhancing the human-animal bond. By carefully applying specific touches to the body, TTouch can help to relax muscles, improve circulation, and stimulate sensory awareness. In addition to bodywork, TTouch incorporates specialised wraps and gentle equipment to provide support and proprioceptive feedback, helping dogs develop a greater sense of balance and body awareness. Beyond physical touch, TTouch emphasises the importance of observation and communication, fostering a deeper understanding between you and your dog.
This comprehensive approach can be used as a stand-alone therapy or seamlessly integrated into your existing positive reinforcement training or dog care regimen, offering a gentle yet effective way to promote your dog's physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

Tellington TTouch is a gentle, respectful method of training the body, mind and spirit. It gives the dog choices and helps the dog become more aware of themselves, which is fundamental to their balance, how they interact with the world, and their feeling of comfort and security.

TTouch recognises the link between posture and behaviour; Change the Posture; Change the Behaviour speaks to the idea that physical, mental, and emotional balance, or imbalance, are interconnected. Over the years, we have noticed that an animal that tends to have a dysfunctional or out-of-balance posture will also tend to be more reactive and easily distracted or surprised. All of the Tellington TTouch exercises and techniques strive to help release tension to help an animal work in a better posture with less habitual bracing.

Through bodywork and mindful groundwork exercises, we can help improve physical balance, which creates self-carriage. When an animal is in balance physically, they tend to feel safer. When animals feel safer, they are more self-confident in their environment and can more easily oblige our requests. An animal who is self-confident has more self-control and can act rather than simply react to stimuli. This makes for a more cooperative, balanced animal who is in a thinking state.

TTouch gives mental stimulation, changes behaviour, and enhances health and well-being. TTouch is a profound method that harnesses the body's innate wisdom to promote healing and balance. With TTouch, our intention is to work with the nervous system, activating neural pathways and improving the function of cells. With light touch and non-habitual movement, we can influence how your dog perceives and responds to the world.

Imagine your dog's nervous system as a superhighway. TTouch helps to optimise the flow of information along this highway, enhancing their ability to learn, adapt, and feel secure. TTouch helps an animal to shift from a state of arousal or fear to a state of focus and with gentle touch and mindful movement, we can activate neural pathways, calming the body and mind.

By understanding how TTouch Body Work interacts with the nervous system, you can gain a deeper appreciation for this transformative technique. But don't worry—TTouch is really easy to learn, and there is no need for hours of training every day.

The main elements of Tellington TTouch are:

• Philosophy - respect for the animals and their partnership
• Observation of the dog
• Body Work
• Approach & handling
• The Playground for Higher Learning and Groundwork
• TTouch Wraps and other gentle dog training equipment

2. TTouch Body Work

There are over 30 different Body Work TTouches, with the majority being named after animals.

The aim is to increase mind/body awareness and to give the dog new information and experiences by engaging the sensory aspect of the nervous system.

TTouch Bodywork consists of:

• Circles
• Slides
• Lifts
• Extremities

Massage techniques involve a rubbing motion, and the intent is to affect the muscular system. TTouch, however, only moves the tissue under the fingers rather than rubbing across it. The intention is to activate neural pathways to the brain. Therefore the lightness of the TTouch can go deep into the body through the connective tissue and nerves, releasing tension, changing temperature and bringing awareness to the body. When you affect the nervous system, it also affects the muscles.

Circular TTouches - are the foundation of the Tellington TTouch technique, generally in a clockwise direction, but some dogs prefer anti-clockwise circles. Usually, the circles are one and a quarter, and we use the clock face to help. Starting at 6, there is a slight lift, then going all the way around back to 6 and then a final quarter to finish at 9.

TTouch Slides - are a great way to start and finish a TTouch session. They are slow, gentle movements and mindful strokes that connect one part of the body to another. These reduce stress, reinforce the animals' spatial awareness and release tension. A commonly known sliding touch is the Zebra TTouch, which creates full body awareness and can be grounding for the dog. The Zebra TTouch can also calm an over-excited dog.

TTouch Lifts - use light pressure to gently move the tissue, often away from gravity for a moment before returning the tissue back to where it was. This helps an animal to release muscle tension around a specific joint or body part. They also increase circulation and are relaxing, encouraging deeper breathing. The TTouch Lifts can also be done using a TTouch Body Wrap.

3. TTouch Equipment

Within Tellington TTouch, we use various positive tools to help animals overcome engrained postural habits or tendencies and give the dog new experiences.

TTouch Body Wraps - are gentle and non-restrictive. They enhance your dog's sense of their own body, making them more confident in movement and behaviour. Any TTouch Wrap configuration can be beneficial in reducing fear of loud noises, thunderstorms, and car sickness, gaining confidence, improving movement, and reducing stress and tension. Body Wraps are a fundamental component of the Tellington TTouch Method, working in harmony with bodywork and groundwork exercises. These wraps provide a unique form of sensory input, allowing dogs to process external information at a deeper cellular level.

When using TTouch Body Wraps, the changes in postural habits, tension patterns, and functionality can result in unbelievable improvements in the dog's self-confidence, self-control, balance, focus and overall coordination. The most amazing thing about Body Wraps is their long-lasting effects because the change is maintained even when the wraps are taken off.

TTouch Leading Equipment:

Imagine walks where your dog walks happily beside you, not pulling at the lead. Touch offers a gentle solution! We use a double-ended lead with two connection points on your dog's harness - one on the front of the chest and one on the back. This unique setup:

• Gives Rebalancing Support: Positions you perfectly so that your dog is comfortable and empowers you to guide your dog back into balance if the lead starts to tighten.
• Enhances Communication: Creates a clearer connection through the lead, allowing gentle guidance.

Of course, the right harness is key! Look for one that fits snugly, allows a full range of movement in the front limbs, and offers attachment points for both the front and back clips of the double-ended lead. For more information about the best harness for your dog, please visit my Harness Guide page.

Homing Pigeon Leading Techniques - there are many other leading techniques that we use to help build confidence in dogs. Below is an example of using the TTouch Bee Line, a long line of soft, lightweight rope that has been attached to the back of the dog's harness. The dog, Geoff, is actually blind, and this is giving him a new experience of being on a lead and being able to be in balance and not pull on the lead.

The TTouch Playground for Higher Learning and Groundwork

The Tellington TTouch method is built on the practical application of the Feldenkrais principle developed by Moshe Feldenkrais in the 1960s.
This principle suggests that the nervous system is more attentive to non-habitual, unfamiliar, or different stimuli. In the context of animal training, this means that introducing new, non-habitual experiences can be an effective way to modify ingrained behaviours.

When dogs have established undesirable habits in their behaviour, like pulling on the lead, one of the fastest ways to change this habit is to alter the pattern with a different, non-habitual experience. The Feldenkrais method suggests that the nervous system is capable of learning in a single session if there is no pain or fear of pain and if the experience is unfamiliar.

These principles underpin many of the Tellington TTouch Method's core exercises. To change old habits and foster new behaviours, we introduce novel movements and sensory experiences. This is where the TTouch Playground for Higher Learning shines. By engaging the nervous system in unfamiliar ways, we create opportunities for learning and growth.

The TTouch Playground for Higher Learning can be described as an 'awareness course' or 'confidence course' for both the dogs and humans involved. Mindful, slow and steady groundwork is a key component of the TTouch method.

Benefits of TTouch Groundwork:

• Promotes fun, enhancing learning.
• Encourages focus for the dog and guardian.
• Slowly the process down, requires more concentration from the nervous system.
• Is an opportunity to experience non-habitual movement.
• Fosters a deeper sense of balance by refining physical, emotional and mental coordination.
• It helps animals become successful, which improves confidence.
• The slow movement develops muscle at a deeper level than fast movement.

TTouch groundwork exercises are not solely about a dog's willingness to participate but rather their ability to successfully manoeuvre through the various components of the TTouch Playground.

• Do they rush?
• Do they seem relaxed?
• Are they in balance?

The TTouch Labyrinth is probably the most iconic element in the TTouch Playground and is useful for many reasons. The boundaries created by the poles teach the dog to concentrate on their guardian and listen to the communication given by the lead, by voice and through the guardian's body language. You might notice in the photo below that Remi is wearing a bootie after she injured her paw pad. I also used TTouch techniques to introduce this bootie and to ensure she was happy wearing it. TTouch has countless practical applications across various aspects of daily life and animal husbandry.

It is essential to make TTouch Groundwork easy at first so the dog can be successful and maintain a low level of stress. Being a playground, fun and enjoyment is essential, and there is no wrong way to complete a groundwork course.

5. The Benefits of Tellington TTouch for Dogs

In summary, the benefits of Tellington TTouch are:

• Reduces Stress.
• Improves Physical, Mental & Emotional Balance.
• Improves Behaviour.
• Develops Trust & Understanding.
• Changes an animal's expectation of what human contact may mean.
• Helps animals make better choices.
• Helps Anxious & Nervous Dogs.
• Helps with Noise Sensitivity & Touch Sensitivity

TTouch will not reinforce your dog's fears but provides a positive way of calming and reassuring, helping your dog relax, releasing tension and lowering their stress levels.

TTouch is great for dogs of any age and any breed, and not only helps reduce their tension and anxiety but is very relaxing for you. Learning TTouch bodywork is also very simple, and even moments of TTouch rather than minutes can benefit you and your dog.

If you're eager to learn more about Tellington TTouch and how to apply it to your dog's life, Canine Support offers a range of courses and workshops incorporating the gentle, transformative power of TTouch.

Discover the magic of TTouch with our Introduction to Tellington TTouch and Body Work Course, which we run twice a year. Learn essential techniques through six weeks of in-depth training, with video demonstrations, live coaching, and Q&A sessions.

Help your dog cope with fireworks, thunder, and other loud noises. Our Self-Study Fear of Fireworks Course provides practical steps to reduce anxiety and build confidence. Learn how to create a calm environment and support your dog through stressful situations. Together, we'll develop strategies to ensure both of you feel safe and secure during unexpected loud noises.

A muzzle can be a lifesaver for dogs and their owners. Learn how to introduce and train your dog to wear a muzzle comfortably and confidently. Our Happy Muzzle Dog Self-Study course teaches you step-by-step how to make this process positive and stress-free. By combining practical training techniques with the calming power of TTouch Body Wraps and Free Work, we'll help you create a happy and safe experience for both you and your dog.

Categories: : Tellington TTouch