Fozzie goes to TTouch Class

Though I wanted to bring all the dogs to this TTouch session for help with their various issues, I was especially excited for the opportunity to see what I could learn to better manage Fozzie and help him feel less anxious. I knew Fozzie would really enjoy the chance to be in a big room with a bunch of people who would pet him liberally, although I also knew that it would be a challenge managing my big hunk of dog in a room with other dogs, and was worried that he would be disruptive throughout the course of an 8-hour day. 

But when I registered for the training, the helpful people in Santa Fe told me that they welcome reactive dogs, and that it is always nice to watch them settle down over the course of the training. 

The first day I came with Fozzie he helpfully showed the teacher, and the rest of the class, exactly what he needs to work on. After he loudly announced our arrival and proceeded to lunge and bark as I escorted him across the room, a couple of my wonderful classmates joined us and Lamar, whom I had brought as well, into our little enclosure. 

Both dogs were happy to be in our safe spot with a couple of friendly humans, and Fozzie relaxed his vigilance once he realized the other dogs were a safe distance away. 

The nice thing about Fozzie is that he'll make an intimidating, intense, nutty display like that, and then when a human comes along with good intentions toward him, he'll flop over and turn into a big puddle of brindle on the floor. 

Fozzie loved being the demo dog. Linda showed us how groundwork, the other part of TTouch besides body work, can be incredibly helpful for anxious, reactive dogs. 

As we learned in our TTouch session with Pam Wanveer a year and a half ago, a PVC labyrinth laid on the ground gives a dog something to focus on navigating through when he is in the presence of his triggers. As he focuses on moving his own body through the labyrinth, he is not focused on the trigger. Over time, this teaches him a new way to be in the presence of his triggers. 



You can make your own TTouch groundwork setup very simply, with ropes or PVC laid in a labyrinth, tires laid on the ground that the dog can step in and out of, a PVC ladder that he can walk through, a board laid flat that makes him have to focus in order to walk along it. Walking through all these obstacles requires physical flexibility, and physical flexibility produces mental flexibility.

Fozzie adored the attention, and Linda worked on getting him to relax all those stiff muscles. 

We learned how to wrap a dog up in a "suitcase," which is a leash wrapped around the dog's waist in such a way that he feels pressure around his hips and ribcage. 

The pressure acts to help the dog focus in his body, and is calming. Like a container to his energy when it is in danger of exploding beyond his physical boundaries, or like swaddling a baby. The same idea as the calming band Fozzie was wearing around his muzzle. 

It also gives you another place to issue a gentle "reminder" to the dog that you are present, if you're on a walk and he is so focused on his environment that he's forgotten about you.










 
Fozzie was certainly vigilant about the large dogs in the room--though he was quite calm about the small dogs--but he had no trouble relaxing when he was in his enclosure or when someone worked on him. 

He and Diane were in love! 
















As with Lamar and Lady, this class was a wonderful opportunity for me to connect with Fozzie and reflect on what I appreciate about him. 

Just like I knew he would be the first day I met him, he is a massive, powerful, overwhelming force of nature and a challenging dog in just about every situation. 

What's changed is the fact that I fully accept that challenge, and I do so with a sense of joy. 

I'm used to Fozzie, I know what makes him react. I know he'll make a big fuss when he sees a dog or a horse or a cat or a squirrel or a skateboard, but I know he loves people. I will continue to work on all these triggers, and use a head collar and a face wrap and treats and a suitcase and whatever else helps manage him until he gets better. 

Linda remarked of Fozzie, as she watched him eagerly come forward to be demo dog, that he really wants help. I feel that from him, that he wants to learn to be calmer and easier and to go through life with less anxiety. We know he can relax, we know he responds well to touch and training, but for some reason he just carries himself on hair-trigger alert much of the time. 

I just need to be consistent and calm in working with him. 

So expect more Fozzie training and TTouch posts in the coming weeks!

You ready Fozzie? 

A Week in the Wonderful World of TTouch

Last week, I finally did a six-day TTouch training after thinking about doing so for the last three years. I first learned about TTouch when I was living in Santa Fe in 1997, and I found a practitioner who showed me how to use these little circle-and-a-quarter motions on my little grumpy cattle dog Tashi's skin to help bring calmness, groundedness, integration, and healing. 

I used TTouch on Tashi once when she got literally run over by one of those big wheeled trucks. The truck went right over her and she ran all the way to the Wabash River (not from Santa Fe. I was already in Indiana) and when I found her, she was pretty shook up, to say the least. TTouch was the only thing that made her relax her rigid posture and start to breathe again. (She lived another 11 years).

So last week, I brought Fozzie, Lamar, and Lady to explore the potential for TTouch to calm reactive dogs, reduce mouthiness, promote well-being and harmony among dogs, and alleviate the pain and inflammation of arthritis.

This training was led by Linda Tellington-Jones, the founder of TTouch whose center is in Santa Fe. Lamar, who is also from Santa Fe, came with me the first day and got to bond with several wonderful aunties, who helped watch over him on the days when I brought him with Fozzie or Lady. 

Photo: Debbie Bauer

Lamar was definitely a bit ill-at-ease with being in a different place with all sorts of new people and some new dogs, and he didn't really want a lot of people handling him. 












I was glad I brought him though. Seeing him through my classmates' eyes, I appreciated him in a way I haven't for years. I saw how stressful it is for him to live with all these foster dogs, especially Lady, since she's got that growly Chow thing going. 



We got to do some TTouch for Lamar's arthritis, and in the evenings when I got him home, he seemed really happy, doing that happy growling, gurgling, groaning noise that I love. 

Like he was feeling some relief and a new relaxation.






Most importantly, there was a shift in my connection with Lamar. I'm afraid that in all the excitement and revolving door of foster dogs over the past few years, I have lost sight of some of the magic of Lamar and that happy, silly energy that used to be at the forefront in our relationship. 

Now I feel it again, and it feels like Lamar does too. He's doing more of that happy paw lift that drew me to him the day I first saw him in the shelter, and he's even giving me more kisses. 

I am determined to help him get the most enjoyment and magic he can out of life. Instead of getting frustrated when he growls at a Lady or Fozzie near him, I go over to him and do little circles around his nose and ears to release endorphins and help him feel safe. I'm also making more of an effort to put his needs first, and keep Lady and Fozzie away from him when he feels like having his own space.

Lady seemed to enjoy coming to class, being handled by all those new people, and we got set up in a nice little enclosure so she could see out and be included in the center of class, but not be overwhelmed by the sight of other dogs. 

That was one of the things I loved about this training, was how Linda wanted everyone--reactive dogs, arthritic dogs, nervous dogs, terrified dogs, 

Treasure, a double merle sheltie, is blind and deaf

and a blind and deaf dog, to feel included.





















Everyone was in the circle, with barriers if needed, and everyone made progress. 

The first day, there was a small dog in the enclosure in the far corner who would just go crazy when anyone--human or canine--went near him. 












He spent the next two days in class with a calming wrap around his head, his person doing calming TTouches. 

By the third day, the enclosure was down, Buddy was in the circle, and he was much less reactive. 












Lady didn't have any huge transformation, but I did gain a new thoughtfulness and respect about her arthritis. How amazing is it that she maintains such a sunny outlook on life--always ready to go for a walk, always wagging and eager for kisses when she sees a human (any human)--when it is clearly so difficult for her to get around? 

Though Lady liked being around all those new people, it was clear she didn't want to get up and move around so much. As with Lamar, having Lady with me there brought me a new appreciation for this little being who is sharing my life right now. How it's OK for her not to get much exercise, and to lose weight slowly. 

Photo: Debbie Bauer

What a gift to be surrounded by these little teachers, and to get to spend such a transformative week with them.

As always, the experience I had with Fozzie will occupy a chapter of its own. Stay tuned later this week for more on our TTouch journey.

TTouch: Calming elastics

Still eager for any tactics that will get me off the hook for implementing management techniques to ease Fozzie and Lamar's tensions, I have been experimenting with Pam's suggestion to use a calming elastic on both my dogs to see if they can relax more around each other. 








Vets and groomers will tell you that a muzzle is useful not just for its intended purpose of keeping a dog from biting, but also because it seems to calm them down. 

What I've learned from TTouch is that the area in contact with the muzzle--especially the base of the nose right under the eyes--is an area that releases endorphins when stimulated.












So along with lots of TTouch around the nose and mouth, a great complementary tool is the calming band or face elastic. According to Unlock your Dog's Potential by Sarah Fisher, the purpose of the calming band is to enable the dog to become aware of himself, and to release tension through the muzzle. As a result the calming band or face elastic can quickly settle and quieten a hyperactive or excessively barking dog. They also help increase confidence and can encourage a dog to accept and enjoy contact around the face and mouth.
 
To use a face elastic, just take a piece of sewing elastic and place the middle of it over the dogs nose. Cross it under his jaw, then tie it around his neck, just behind his ears. Tie it just tight enough that it creates a bit of pressure.








I have been using a calming elastic on both my dogs at night, as we explore different ways to manage our tense bedtime relations. With his calming elastic on, Lamar does seem to be calmer and more receptive as I do TTouch circles all around his face. A little less tense if Fozzie comes close, and more tolerant even of our new little foster pup. 

The boys are both still big barkers, and Fozzie is mouthy as ever. I am curious to find out how much headway we can make by working and elasti-fying those mouths and noses!

TTouch Tension Tamer

Besides my guilt over shortchanging Lamar on attention, another motivation for our recent TTouch session was to get some more ideas on how to help Lamar relax at night, when Florian and I are reading or watching movies in bed and both dogs want to be with us. 

Two years of giving Lamar treats as soon as Fozzie comes close, and he's still no less likely to snarl and lunge even though Fozzie is approaching with a meek expression and a little wag.

I've been giving both Lamar and Fozzie treats as Fozzie approaches the bed, my reasoning being that maybe I can countercondition Lamar a bit to Fozzie's approach, and keep Fozzie from developing aggression toward Lamar. 


It hasn't worked, and I've realized that maybe I need to just let go of the desire to modify behavior through training and just manage things better, by asking Fozzie to go sleep somewhere else. 

Certainly the smartest, most effective solution and one that I would tell anyone else who asked. 


But because the old adage "do as I say and not as I do" is the best thing my Mom ever taught me, we need another strategy for those times when Fozzie absolutely needs to be near us--alright, alright: when we absolutely need to be near Fozzie. 



For those moments, we have been taking refuge in TTouch. Far more effective than a cheesy or freeze-dried meaty snack is a really good, relaxing TTouch session around the head of both dogs. Those little circles in front of Lamar's ears can sometimes make him breathe a big sigh of relief, and then smile in relaxation, even when Fozzie is right next to his head. 

On Fozzie, Pam told me that lots and lots of mouth/muzzle work is the ticket. For mouthy, barky, high-strung dogs, releasing the tension around the nose and mouth can make a big difference. Lots of little circles all around the base of the muzzle, under the eyes, also release endorphins. At least in theory, this gives our little wild man a blast of peaceful sensation. 


Yes, management is the best strategy for many dog behavior conundrums and definitely for Fozzie and Lamar's bedtime territory guarding tensions. On the other hand, is there anything more wonderful than having both my boys right next to me, relaxing as I do circles on their noses? I think not. 

Finally-TTouch for Lamar

When you have a steady stream of young, difficult, energetic, high-maintenance foster dogs or foster failures, it's easy to pour a bunch of money and time and training and heartache into them and forget the needs of your old stalwarts, the dogs whose foibles you've long since accepted and learned to love. 

I'm determined not to let that happen with Lamar. When I come home in the afternoon, I make it a point to walk right on past the wildly launching Fozzie (much as my heart longs to smooch him) and go right back to Lamar to scratch his ears as he moans and sighs, and stretch out next to him as I bury my face in his neck. 

It eats me up inside that the link to posts about Fozzie on the right of your screen is so much larger than the one to posts about Lamar, and I'm determined to fix that too.

If it means you have to read a bunch of posts about piles of dog hair, so be it.

Today, I have a Lamar post that may actually be somewhat useful, and I mean useful for something other than assuaging my guilt.

Last week I took Lamar to see Pam for a TTouch session. I've learned so much from Pam about working with wild dogs like Fozzie and Sandy; I wanted to see what we could do for an anxious, reactive dog like Lamar. More than anything I was hoping to figure out some solutions to what I imagine, in my most tortured guilt-racked moments, is Lamar's own private hell of living with an impulsive muscular young upstart when he just wants to be enjoying a relaxing retirement. 

With some gentle pressure on Lamar's sacrum, the tension and stiffness in his hips began to release. He started to yawn, sigh, and pass gas--all signs he was releasing and relaxing!

The main solutions to our household tension--the ongoing growling snapping and snarling every time Fozzie approaches Lamar's "turf" of our bed--were management solutions. 

What if we moved the bed somehow so that Fozzie doesn't have to pass by so close to Lamar every time he goes through to the dog door? What if we just institute a rule that Fozzie has to stay in the living room for as long as Lamar wants to be on the bed with us at night?


And a few ideas to help the both of them relax. Try putting an anxiety wrap around both of them at night, along with a calming elastic around their noses and heads, and see if that brings a shift in the level of tension. 

The elastic around their faces releases endorphins from that whole rich area around the muzzle. Maybe they'll feel so good they'll forget to be upset at each other! 

Work for 5 minutes a day on their mouths, lots of circles around the muzzle and cheeks and mouth to release endorphins and help those tight facial muscles loosen. 





And finally, I realized I need to be more consistent about getting Lamar on some relief for his hips. How much of his grumpiness is exacerbated because he is in pain? He is 12 years old, and though at times he prances about like a much younger dog, at other times the stiffness and weakness in his hips is starting to be really noticeable. 


I have some glucosamine that I give him, but I know there are scads of products out there and that some of them get really good reviews. What doggie hip and arthritis supplements have you used, with good results? 

I think Lamar loved his TTouch session, but he eagerly awaits your advice on his hips.

More TTouch for Sandy

On the day Sandy met her new Dad, she was scheduled to go to her second TTouch session as well. Since the meeting went so well, I thought it would be great for him to come along and watch. When he agreed to indulge us Takoma Park hippies with our wacky New Age ideas, I knew this guy was a keeper. 


This time Pam had us work in the bathroom so Sandy would have a smaller space to feel compelled to explore. Though there was a lot of sniffing about at first, she settled down a lot more quickly this time! Pam was also happy to find that her little prunie nose was less squished up and tense. 

She worked all over her face again, then moved down to her tail and butt. A firm hand on the sacrum to allow Sandy to feel that part of her body. 






Pam said there was a lot of heat coming from her sacrum. A sign of all the tension being released.





Pam said that in addition to the nose and face, unsettled dogs often hold tension in their tails as well. So she devoted some time to rotating the tail, and waving it up and down like a little sine wave. 

Then Pam lifted each paw and rotated it. She noted that in a balanced dog, the remaining three paws would adjust when the fourth one was lifted. But Sandy lost her balance!  




 





A few of you have asked if there are good books out there on TTouch so you can explore it yourselves. There are several, which you can find on the website of the founder of TTouch, Linda Tellngton-Jones. My favorite is called Unlock Your Dog's Potential: How to Achieve a Calm and Happy Canine, by Sarah Fisher. It is full of great pictures and clear explanations on how to use this fantastic therapeutic technique. I found so much in this book that is directly applicable to my little canine projects. Consider this, apropos of both Sandy and Fozzie:

...many animals improve in their behavior and in their ability to operate in a calm and focused mode once tension in the mouth is reduced....Dogs with tension around the muzzle may also bark, drink, pant and mouth excessively, and may show a particular obsession with food, toys, and other articles. They may be quick to arouse and prone to hyperactive behavior. They can be slow to mature mentally and emotionally. They may be boisterous, pushy and over the top and may alternate between being totally full on and fast asleep. If forced beyond their comfort zone...they may mouth hard and/or grab the handler's clothing or the lead. 

There are so many things in this book that had me in wonderment that the things I experience with my dogs are relatively common problems, and problems with solutions--or at least practices that may help. 

So great to learn new ways to help a little ungrounded bundle of dogness like Sandy, as she is not the first... unbalanced...dog I have had, and will unlikely be the last! 

As Sandy's new Dad has said he may be trying out some fostering once Sandy settles in, I'm sure he'll be putting the info to good use too. 

That's what we like to hear!

Sandy's TTouch Session

Before Sandy met her fantastic new Dad, who is patient and happy with her in all her puppy rambunctiousness, I thought it would be a good idea to bring her for a TTouch session or two to see if I could temper her wildness a bit and make her a tad more palatable to any adopter. 












Just like for Fozzie's first session, Pam sat on the floor with Sandy and just held her harness, waiting for her to settle down. 


It took a long time! Sandy is such a busy little bee. All her whining, sniffing, stretching, and straining showed just how stressful it was for her just to be asked to be still!



While she struggled and sniffed and whined, Pam just patiently held her and did some TTouch on her. She especially worked her nose and face, and noted how tight they were. 





She showed me how her little nose was wrinkled up, with the skin around the tip of her nose bunched up like a prune. Pam focused her TTouch right around those wrinkles and tight spots, doing circles all over her nose and head. 


Pam even put her finger in Sandy's mouth and stretched out her lip, to show Sandy how it felt to have those lip muscles in a position other than tight.


After a bit of this, even Sandy was able to see that it could be rewarding to just Be Here Now. So wonderful to watch her learn a new way of being!


Hopefully her dad will let us know soon whether those new lessons stuck, or whether she is still bouncing off the walls. 

More T-Touch and Impulse Control

With our newfound commitment to an ambitious self-improvement program, Fozzie and I were ready for our second T-Touch session last week. 


We went into Pam's bathroom to start out with, so she could work with Fozzie in a small space where there was not too much for him to sniff, explore, and distract himself with. 


As before, he spent the first 10 minutes or so doing everything he could to keep busy and avoid just "Being Here Now," as us hippies would say. Sniffing the toilet, the floor, the picture frame, the window, the door, the towel rack for God's sake, then whining, pacing, circling, wagging, and looking at us entreatingly. 





After a while, he finally just lay down. Pam then started narrating all the little releases she saw. Stomach gurgle-yay! Release! Burp--Yay! Sigh, yawn, lip lick, blink, flatulence--yay!


She began doing some cranio-sacral work on him, just holding the bones of his cranium as they shifted around slightly. His lips and nose began to twitch, and Pam told me when she felt his C2 vertebra release. 


And I thought, here's a dog who was hours away from being thrown away like so much trash, and now he has a T-Touch practitioner tuning in to his C2 vertebra and helping it release. Pretty cool. I wish every impulsive shelter dog awaiting rescue could get that kind of attention.  

Pam taught me a simple impulse control exercise. Sit in a chair with the dog sitting between your legs, facing away. Hold the dog's collar and just wait. 

The dog, depending on his impulsivity, will whine, struggle, paw, chew on your hands. Ignore it. Avoid eye contact and just take away any of your body parts that is being chewed upon. Eventually, the dog will lie down. Great. Keep holding the dog until he really relaxes, so when you let go he doesn't just bounce up. When you do let go, just calmly flow into getting up and doing whatever you were doing, without making a big fuss. It works like absolute magic and is a dream for any dog that is all over the place with energy and doesn't know what to do with him or herself. I tried it on Sandy the other night when she was bouncing around like a maniac, and she fell asleep, and then stayed asleep. 

After Fozzie spent some time getting in touch with himself in the bathroom, we went outside to do some groundwork. Groundwork is as integral to TTouch as is the bodywork component; it's the part where the dog gets to practice walking through obstacles, over novel surfaces, etc. so that he learns to pay attention to his body even when in stimulating outdoor environments. 


I'd brought Fozzie with his head halter and a body harness. Pam walked Fozzie through a PVC labyrinth and over some obstacles she created with boards, and showed me how to gently lead his head with me when he stares at a squirrel, tenses at a dog he sees in the distance, or otherwise starts to react. The main force of my pull is on his body harness; there is a gentle tug, but not a yank, on the head halter to make sure we don't injure that burly-looking-but-still-vulnerable neck.


She lifted his paws and rotated his legs as he stood on the board, to get him to loosen up those tense things as he inclined toward a squirrel.

I was glad that Pam got to see how impossible it is to get his attention back once he fixates on something. She was confident, though, that with regular practice of impulse control, TTouch to get him more grounded, and gentle work with the head halter, we will be able to get his attention at some point down the line.


Fozzie loves all the sweet attention he gets with Pam and I love learning so much about progressive, even revolutionary ways to interact with my powerful, distracted, sensitive, misunderstood friend.

T-Touch for Fozzie

Despite having some small successes with a few techniques, Fozzie's reactivity when he sees another dog on leash has not changed substantially from when I first got him. 

When we go on a hike where we see other people and dogs--like to Great Falls or Harper's Ferry--it is a serious pain to manage him in all his lunging, barking strength and muscularity. We generally have to find a rock to hide behind. 

This is one of my main reasons for feeling that Fozzie might be best in another home, with a person who doesn't frequent popular trails or someone who has only Fozzie and so can dedicate more attention to working with him. But since the right adopter for Fozzie may never materialize, I have been racking my brains for a trainer who might be able to address his unique issues. I already know a fair amount about the techniques that work with many reactive dogs--those that are fear-reactive and will accept treats when on walks--so I needed someone who could bring us a really new perspective. 

I've been meaning forever to have a session with my friend Pam Wanveer of Woodside TTouch, but kept forgetting or putting it off because I thought Fozzie was about to be adopted. I decided it was time! 

Note stiff front left paw

Pam is so great. It was she who taught me and Tashi about the use of an anxiety wrap, and she reminded me how helpful that could be for Fozzie. She had some great insights about how he perceives the world.

Fozzie doesn't know how to relax. His skin all over is tight, showing just how tensely he holds himself. Even when he's resting, he tries to keep some part of himself stiff--like those front paws that stretch out and push against Florian's chest when they're cuddling. 





As she touched him, he started to sniff all over the room, rub against her, and then stare at me and whine. This is his way of processing anxiety--when he doesn't know what to do with himself, he gets busy. 

I, of course, am in the habit of petting him, comforting him, talking to him when he stares at me and whines, or climbs in my lap, or humps Florian's leg (one of his nighttime activities lately). 

So there are several ways that we can help Fozzie learn new ways of dealing with his anxiety. If I can resist the urge to respond when he demands attention by climbing, whining, or humping, then he will start learning that calm, self-controlled behavior is rewarding. 

If I do lots of massage around his head and his nose and mouth, we'll release endorphins and start to help him relax and get more grounded.

 
If I put a calming elastic on his face, he may start to feel less nervous around his mouth, and less prone to barking and mouthing (let's whip out those calming elastics for Sandy's mouthiness, Lamar's barking, and Florian's nonstop talking while we're at it!)

If I put an anxiety wrap on him, he may start to learn that he doesn't have to hold his muscles and skin so tightly.

After the first twenty minutes with Pam, during which Fozzie whined and moaned and paced around, finally he plotzed out on the floor next to her, wrapped in his Ace bandage and his elastic band, and was down for the count. Same when we got home. Now let's see if we can manifest that same calmness on a walk!