workshop

Tellington TTouch® workshops for companion animals give owners a new perspective into the whys and wherefores of their pets’ behaviour which might not have occurred to them previously. Any stiffness, lack of balance or other physical limitations has a measurable effect on an animal’s behaviour and mental state. The workshops impart new insights into the mental and physical connections of the animals and teach students practical skills to improve life for their pets. 

Both skilled professionals and simply animal lovers benefit by discovering a new understanding of your dog or other animal and how best to interact with them.

The workshops teach students how to evaluate a dog’s physical problems, which are not always obvious, and hone observation skills and bring a new awareness in handlers as to how these may lead to negative behaviour.

The half-day, one- or two-day workshops have a fun atmosphere with a hands-on formula. Participants can either bring their own dogs or not as they prefer. Students often work in groups or pairs with each dog present, so either way there is no lack of subjects.

One of the advantages of a workshop is that students can learn a lot from working with or observing dogs they do not know and comparing them with their own.

The practitioner clinics, whether over five or six days or the shorter ones, are suitable for everyone and both cover bodywork techniques, ground and leading exercises and concurrent observations. They are run by a Tellington TTouch® Instructor or qualified practitioner who teach bodywork techniques in a hands-on manner, using the available dogs and also humans. This method provides clear feedback on the technique to enable students to spot and deal with physical problems in the future.

As well as bodywork, the practitioner also instructs attendees in Tellington TTouch® groundwork. This is a series of leading exercises developed to help the dog. Many of them are not actually well co-ordinated, balanced or have good posture even if they appear fine to the casual observer. Improvement in these areas, brought about gently and slowly, can change tension patterns and in turn improve behavioural problems.

Combined with the bodywork, the ground and leading exercises used in this training method permit an approach based on co-operation and understanding rather than the domination and control so often practised by those who, with the best of intentions, do not really comprehend how dogs, and indeed other animals, work.  

Tellington TTouch® training can also be broken down into short sessions, making it easier for the dog to learn.

The clinics give you an opportunity to experience this approach for yourself while working with other dog lovers. Other new ideas about working with your dog will come to mind: you will be endowed with the ‘gift of possibility’.

The workshops also show you how to interpret body language as well as examining movement and behaviour and general physical traits. Instruction is also given in various TTouch techniques and when to use them as well as how to use dedicated TTouch equipment such as harnesses and bodywraps correctly. 

The bodywork techniques are taught in a hands-on manner, and practised on the participating dogs, as well as on people, to provide clear feedback on technique. These sessions enable students to acquire many new skills to improve the general well-being, and by definition, often the behaviour, of their dogs.

Tellington TTouch® groundwork consists of a variety of gentle leading exercises developed to improve the dog’s physical condition by adjusting co-ordination, balance, posture, and straightness. As with humans, when the body is working well tension is dissipated and everything is easier. 

There is no need to bring your own dog to a Tellington TTouch® training session. Many of the learning exercises are done in pairs or groups, and dogs are given down time to integrate what they have learned.  Some participants are surprised to see how much they learn when observing or working with dogs they do not know or have preconceived assumptions about.  

A workshop is the ideal place to experience the remarkable Tellington TTouch® approach to training for yourself, in company with other like-minded dog owners. The benefits will accrue to you as well as your dog.