TTouch is one of those things that after 45+ years it is still pretty obscure to many folks. So, since I love to tell relatable stories and you love to read stories that you might could relate to ~ I'm going to be posting "Client Spotlight" success stories on occasion. I encourage you to give TTouch a try if you find a story relatable, because you can do this and you'll absolutely love it. Your pet will thank you. So, if you like what you hear and I like you, schedule a TTouch session.
Here's my client spotlight:
Darwyn
Male Border Collie
A key part of the TTouch practitioner training is working with actual clients with real issues. Like many clients that come to TTouch, the practitioner and his/her work is often times the last ditch effort (for the owner) before possibly choosing to do something drastic with their animal, such as rehoming or worse. Clients that come to TTouch practitioner trainings are in the same boat, real issues, often times severe. For this I passionately urge my clients to not be embarrassed by their pet. I'm here to help. I understand. I get it. I don't judge...that just gets in the way of doing the work and getting results.
Practitioner training sessions are a six day deal and along about day 4 is typically "client day". These individuals have signed up for this session and have been screened by the practitioners organizing the week long training. As a prac-in-training, I received my client questionnaire the night before the session, much like I would (and do) in my actual practice. The next morning the clients and their dogs arrived and I met mine. Darwyn, was a young Border Collie male who experienced severe fear issues with strangers. Darwyn had a wonderful and knowledgeable owner who had done wonders with him as far as bonding to her and training for athletic events. Darwin was a stellar agility and obedience dog, except for the fear of strangers issue. A truly gifted dog and a very dedicated owner.
When Darwyn arrived he was absolutely catatonic with reactivity and fear. He was crouched low, his tail tucked between his legs, his head low and whipping around wildly, absolutely frantic with fear and his respiration was quite high (panting furiously). He could not be still and he was absolutely terrified. If he had been off lead I believe he would have hit the woods never to be seen again. You could see the devastation in the owners face for her dog.
Our hour began with establishing trust between me and Darwyn which involved following me and my handful of treats through the confidence course to keep him moving with no eye contact. He could check me out all he wanted, and he did.
After that and creating a space where I could be near Darwyn without upsetting him, I coached the owner in doing some specific TTouches aimed at helping him gain body awareness which opens the door to learning to relax. We worked on his ears, his diaphragm, tail and legs.
Darwyn calmed considerably! His respiration came down, he engaged more into his surroundings, his tail relaxed and he was able to stand still and in balance. We put a wrap on Darwyn and he visibly relaxed more as we again negotiated the ground equipment but with me more engaged this time. The owner was clearly delighted with Darwyn's rapid progress!
By session's end, we had fitted a Thundershirt to Darwyn to take place of the wrap that I'd used. Darwyn was by hours' end, accepting of me touching him and engaging with him in a low key manner.
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| Darwyn relaxing after his TTouch session ~ in a large room full of other dogs and people ~ and he naps. |
After a client session concludes, practitioners-in-training, their clients and their dogs all gather together in a large training room, seated in a large circle with the instructor and her assistants at the helm. Each client shares how their session went, changes they saw, stuff they learned, etc. Huge learning for the students and wonderful benefits for the owners and animals.
The picture above shows Darwyn shortly after our client session, roughly an hour and fifteen minutes since arriving in such a wild and catatonic state. We are in a large room full of TTouch students, their dogs, clients and client dogs and an instructor. With all the stimulus around Darwyn, he is relaxed, content and falling asleep! Sure, sleepiness is a way of dealing with stress, but it's a great choice for Darwyn to make versus being a crazy maniac that his owner couldn't deal with.
When it was Darwyn's Moms turn to share her session experience she said, "I don't know who this dog is. It's not Darwyn. But I'll take this new dog home anyway!" She was rather dumbstruck by this calm she had never seen in him before.
The next day an email from Darwyn's owner arrived. She excitedly reported that Darwyn had allowed a stranger to approach and pet him. A first!!
The power and effect of TTouch therapy continually amazes and delights me. Stuff like this happens all the time. It is an honor and a privilege for me to be able to bring this work to dogs and their owners and witness such wonderful and dramatic change as Darwyn experienced.
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