Santa Fe TTouch Training: Jennifer and Booba

Above you see Kathy Cascade (left) with Jennifer (right) and her dog Booba. Booba has a wrap (Ace bandage) on her, which was very helpful to bring down her stress level.

Booba finally hit the doggie jackpot when Jennifer adopted her from a shelter, where she had been for a way-too-long period of time. It is often hard for pit bulls and pit bull mixes to get adopted, especially when they are extremely fearful, as is Booba.

Jennifer had already done a lot of patient and positive work with Booba, but Booba was able to make progress up to another level during the training. In the beginning, it was very difficult for her to be anywhere near other people or dogs. By the end of the training, she was able to lie on the floor looking quite relaxed with her head towards the center of the circle at times, and I was able to sit quite close to her without her being afraid.

Kathy worked with Jennifer and Booba in the TTouch training in Santa Fe in a very thoughtful, respectful, clear and caring way. The homing pigeon used quite a lot. This is the configuration shown above using two leashes. It is especially helpful with fearful dogs as it is a way they can become used to someone other than their owner walking with them.

A full wrap was used on Booba. Below, you see Jennifer walking with Booba, who is wearing a full wrap, which adds a wrap around the back end of the dog in addition to the half wrap.

Jennifer, Kathy and Booba did a lot of work together on the confidence course. Other people and dogs in the class were careful to be mindful and give Booba the space that she needed in order to feel safe.

I really appreciate the patient way Kathy chose to work with Jennifer and Booba, and I give Jennifer so much credit for giving Booba such a loving, safe home and admire her dedication to helping Booba achieve as much comfort as possible in the world. Thanks Jennifer, Kathy and Booba for teaching us so much about the power of patience and kindness.

TTouch in Santa Fe - Dogs Part II

Hi folks, it will take a while for me to get some more info about the Santa Fe training with Kathy Cascade (http://spiritdog.com) online, but here is my second installment about some of the dogs (and their people) who were there.

Here we have LH with Josey. LH is very generous with her knowledge, and she I especially connected because we both work a lot with cats, and she had some wonderful tips to share with me. I look forward to continuing to keep in touch with her, particularly about our work with cats who have had a rough time of it and who are fearful with people and/or other animals.

Josey and I also became friends in the course of the training. She went through a dramatic change in behavior over the course of the training. The first day she came in, it was hard for her to stop spinning and barking. I think it was hard for her initially to be around so many unfamiliar dogs and people all in one place. Josey was the first dog that was worked on during the first day of the training. Thanks to Kathy's very focused work with her and further work by her mom LH, as well as others who worked with Josey, by the end of the trainiing, Josey was able to settle comfortably even with all the people and other animals around. I found that Josey responded to TTouch and the leash work more and more quickly as time went on, so when she started to get into a ramped-up state, it grew easier and easier for her to settle. She is a dear little soul and it was a pleasure to work with and learn from both her and her mom, LH.


Rudy is owned by Peggy, a very interesting woman who lives in South Dakota. Rudy has a hard time being away from Peggy, and, though this still concerns him, he did shift and it was easier for him as time went on. He is a very gentle, sweet dog and I enjoyed the opportunity to do some body work on him intermittently during the training. The body wraps were very comforting to him. Here he is with Peggy and Kathy, as Kathy demonstrated several ways to do leg circles with dogs. I found in one of my earlier case studies that the leg circles were very calming to the little dachshund Petey, who can get pretty revved up. I think the leg circles can also be very grounding and help a dog to feel more in balance.

Luna is owned by Patty, who lives in Colorado, and I had some lovely exchanges with them both. Patty and her dear dog Luna are extremely bonded, which is always a delight to see. I also had a strong connection with Luna, and enjoyed working with her very much. She was a little shy to have TTouch done on her initially but she grew more and more receptive to it. By the end, every time I walked by her, Luna looked up at me longingly as you see in the bottom picture, wondering perhaps if she can get her ears stroked :)

Luna can get very over-excited sometimes, and also can get into a freeze mode when Patty or others are walking her on a leash. One of the times I was working with her with one of the other women in the training, and we noticed that Luna was getting frozen when we were walking her in the labyrinth. However, when we took her outside of the confidence course space and were just walking her around, she was a much happier camper and kept on walking.

Thanks to all of you, I enjoyed you all and learned so much. I will post more about the training soon!

Santa Fe TTouch Dogs Part 1

Hi folks, this will take a few entries, but I'd like to share some more about some of the dogs that we worked with in the training in Santa Fe. Above you see two pictures of me with Rita's handsome Belgian Turvuren, Copper (the middle picture is blurry as I must have been in mid-ttouch!), and the bottom picture you see Rita holding him (he doesn't look too stressed out there, does he?). Can you tell that I really enjoy this dog?

Rita was one of the assistants in the training, who were all incredibly helpful. Rita has been very supportive throughout the training, has a great eye and also has a great sense of humor, which is always very much appreciated :)

Today I worked with Copper, walking him through the labyrinth, cones, over a wood board etc. First Copper walked in between Rita and me to get him used to walking with me. Then I began to walk Copper through the various parts of the confidence course, stopping every now and then, occasionally giving Copper a treat at first, but then I stopped the treat-giving to see if I could do that, and Copper was most cooperative. I also did some zigzag touches and abalone touches on Copper's body from time to time, as well as some ear strokes and touches on his head. Rita gave me really helpful feedback about my body position, how I was holding the leash, etc.

Then another level of change came when Rita went away from where Copper and I were working. Again, I have to say, Copper was most cooperative! He looked for Rita now and then but he came along when I asked him to, and when I stopped walking each time I would do some TTouch on him, speaking to him in a low, calm voice and Copper grew more and more at ease with me. Thank you Rita and Copper! This session helped ME to get a bit more confident with the process of working with the confidence course, and I appreciate you both teaching me more about that.

Now a bit more about dear Mr. Brown, who I have spoken about before. In the first picture you see him standing there with his very determined look, and then you see him walking along very proudly with a little wrap with his owner, Lauren, a delightful woman who used to live in my stomping grounds, New York, but is currently in San Diego. Today I helped Lauren put the wrap above on Mr. Brown. We used half-inch sewing elastic, as a 2-inch ace bandage is way too thick for the little fellow. Mr. Brown also gets quite concerned about being away from Lauren, so we did a little session where I had him on the leash and would lure him away from Lauren using a treat, then after I gave him the treat I would do a few TTouches. Little by little, I was able to touch him for longer periods of time. At the end, I found that using my whole hand on his body seemed to be comforting to him, and I got in a few belly lifts, which he also seemed to find calming. Lauren sweetly said she wished I was in San Diego to come and work with him, and I feel the same - I felt a strong connection with Mr. Brown and would love to have the opportunity to work with him again -- at the end of this session it felt at a point where some more sessions of work with him could have jumped to another level. Maybe we'll have the good fortune to cross paths at another training or elsewhere, I hope so!

Mr. Brown made a lot of progress during the course of the workshop thanks to the thoughtful work Kathy Cascade, Lauren and others did on him.

Thank you, Lauren and Mr. Brown -- Mr. Brown reminded me once again of how important patience and sensitivity is, particularly with small dogs. I really bring my focus down to their level to try to truly meet them where they are.

More about some of the dogs in the training will be coming soon!

Client Day in Santa Fe

Today was client day at the TTouch training in Santa Fe, and I had the pleasure of working with Ed and his lovely border collie Chica. They have a very strong and special bond, which is beautiful to see. I have to say, as this was my first official client session within the TTouch training with people observing etc, I was pretty nervous beforehand, and at various points I wasn't sure what to do next, but thankfully Kathy Cascade stepped in to help me when I got to those lost places. We did end up with a very much calmer dog by the end of the session.

Ed's main concern was Chica's barking. I could see that the dog's energy was ramped up, First I put a wrap on the dog, explaining to him the purpose of the wrap. I did some TTouch on the dog as I explained this to him, and the dog was completely receptive to being touched just about anywhere on his body. He said he did massage on the dog, and I got a bit tongue-tied trying to explain the difference between TTouch and massage, but again Kathy came to my rescue demonstrated on Ed the difference in feeling between the two, which was great because we had some laughs in this process, and it is a good thing to keep a sense of humor going during these sessions!

I also showed Ed how to use a balance plus leash configuration and showed him some of the basic TTouches. As Kathy and I were explaining things to him, I was doing quite a lot of TTouch on Chica (who still had the wrap on) and I could really feel her energy change and let go into a very settled level. Also, initially Chica had been hesitant to be away from her owner but by the end I was holding onto her leash and doing TTouch and she was not trying to get back to him while this was happening. And even though other people and dogs were passing by and in the near vicinity, she didn't bark the entire time.

At the end, I asked Ed if he wanted me to go over how to put on the wrap, and he did a lovely job of putting on the wrap without any coaching. I gave him the wrap so that he can continue to use it on Chica. Thanks, Ed, Chica and Kathy, this was a great learning experience for me. And I also appreciated some very on-point feedback which I received from my fellow TTouchers on this session, so thanks to you all as well.

P.S. re TTouch in Santa Fe Shelter

Something else I wanted to mention about the Santa Fe Shelter is that the staff at the shelter are very interested and curious to know more about TTouch. As Kathy explained more about it to them, they grew even more intrigued, as they could see how this work can be so beneficial for the animals. They will be bringing one of their dogs to the training on Friday so we can do a little demo for them, which is great!

Santa Fe Animal Shelter

Yesterday and today we went to Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society (http://www.sfhumanesociety.org/). Yesterday we all worked on cats, while today most people worked on dogs, though several of us, including me, continued working on cats today. The shelter is quite nicely laid out. Many of the animals are in small rooms instead of cages, and there is a lot of outdoor space for walking the dogs.



Yesterday I worked in a room with four cats. One of the cats, a grey long-haired cat named Elvin, was designated as a difficult cat. The other cats were Lua, a grey and white cat, Cammie, a black cat, and Sheila, a mottled brown and black cat. Cammie was by far the most social of the bunch, and she kept coming to my side when I was working on the other cats. I would periodically take breaks from working on the other cats and do some ttouch on her, which she really responded to, and at one point she looked me straight in the eyes to give me a kiss (Cammie is pictured above).



Elvin, as pictured above, was in his little fuzzy cylindrical space, so I approached him there. First I spoke to him, telling him I was going to be very quiet, and very gentle, and that I kept picturing in my mind someone very kind who would give him a new home. I first did small circles on his head with the wand and corndog, which he found relaxing and he began to turn his head, telling me where he wanted to be touched yet. I did these very lightly, as he is extremely sensitive. Then as he grew used to this, I then did some small circles using a fuzzy paint roller, and he enjoyed the soft surface of this. Then I was able to slowly begin to do some ear strokes and raccoon touches on his head. I periodically gave him breaks to make sure I was not overwhelming him. After a while he shifted in his little enclosure and had his back to me, so I slowly and softly tried doing abalone touches on his back, barely touching him at first to make sure he was all right with being touched there. He seemed to settle into it, so I continued for a while. I felt him relax with the continued contact.

Then I moved on to Lua (above), who was lying on top of the cat condo. He had a grumpy face initially, and squeaked when I first touched him because I think he was a little startled. However, he quickly settled in as I did ear touches and raccoon touches on his head and then chimp touches on the body.
Cammie was checking all this out and I continued to alternate to her from time to time, as she kept nuzzling up to me as though she wanted me to do TTouch on her. She particularly responded to zigzag touches

Sheila (pictured above with Elvin) was hiding in the back of the enclosure this whole time, so I approached her very slowly and quietly with the wand and corn dog. She ran away from me at first, but when I waited, then tried again several times, she settled down as I did circles on her back with the wand. This was enough for her today. Around this time, food was brought in for the cats so I told them all goodbye and that I hoped all the best for them.

I was happy to have the chance to revisit these four cats today. With Elvin, I was able to quickly transition from the wand to using my hand to first do raccoon touches on his head and ear strokes. He became more and more relaxed as I worked, and from time to time I would take a break and did some TTouch on the other cats, and when I came back to him, he grew more relaxed. I even was able to do some TTouch around his mouth and jaw. Eventually I was also able to do some abalone touch on his body. This all took place in his cylindrical space. He grew so relaxed that he curled up cozily in there while I worked and was ready to sleep. Then, to my delight, he came forth from the cylinder and out into the open. He ate some of his food, and then I was able to continue doing TTouch on him for a while out in the open space.

Meanwhile, today the other three cats were also very receptive. Cammie right away gave me a kiss and continued to be at my side, waiting for TTouch which I did on her intermittently, and Lua kept squeaking at me from his cat condo for me to do TTouch on him. He readily accepted TTouch on his head and ears and abalone touch on his body. He relaxed and spread himself out on the cat condo. Sheila was still a bit skittish but less so than yesterday and I was able to do TTouch on her directly with my hand, rather than having to reach for her in a corner. When I left, I told them all I wished the best for them, and Lua squeaked goodbye to me.

Next, I worked on the above cat, Roo. Unfortunately this picture does not do him justice. He is a gorgeous long-haired cat, who looks to be possibly part Maine Coon. He was designated as a difficult cat, though I found him to be friendly and he was not the least bit aggressive with me. I wanted to try to work on him outside his cage, so I was able to let him out in the room for a while. Unfortunately, he was so excited to be out of his cage, he was not really in the mood for TTouch, but I did manage to get in some touches on his back while I played with him with a cat toy.

I also had the opportunity to work on a bunny. The lovely lady above is named Tessa. I did some nice ear slides and then some chimp touch and abalone touch on her body. She was quite cozy and settled with all of this.


Above is Lita, who was initially a little shy but once she got accustomed to some small raccoon touches on her head, she settled into a cozy sleepy position. She wasn't ready to be touched on her body but she was very content with touches all over her head.

Finally I made it into the dog portion of the shelter and promptly fell in love with this charming girl above named Wanda. She is a German Shepherd mix, probably part Chow. She has a very sweet disposition and gave me a big kiss right away. I did ear touches, mouth work and clouded leopard on her body, then some python lifts on her legs. She seemed a little surprised by the python lifts but then settled into them, and they seemed to make her more grounded.

All of the above animals and more are up for adoption so if you are in or near Santa Fe, stop by the shelter!