Pets, people will benefit from touch
Petting an animal is a mutually rewarding activity. While some pets are naturally fearful of touch, the majority of domestic household pets like to be touched by a human they trust. Plus, petting is nice for the human — we like to touch our pets’ soft fur and see them happy.
The power of touch has been well-documented in humans. Studies show that touch therapy leads to healthy weight gain, enhanced growth and social development in babies. In fact, the effects of touch on ill or premature babies has been researched extensively to find that soft, stroking touch or soft massage can help a baby recover and gain strength more quickly than a baby not given the same touch. Babies denied touch have a harder time growing and thriving.
So it makes sense that petting, soft touch and massage can help our pets feel more comfortable. Animals that are sick, anxious or stressed may especially benefit from a massage technique called Tellington TTouch. TTouch is a method of using circular movement of the fingers and hands on an animal’s body.
“The TTouch is done on the entire body, and each circular TTouch is complete within itself,” says an explanation at tellingtonttouch.com.
“Therefore it is not necessary to understand anatomy to be successful in speeding up the healing of injuries or ailments, or changing undesirable habits or behavior.”
Whenever you spend quiet time with your pet, it’s going to help you both relax. But TTouch goes beyond that to reduce tension so that your pet can better heal from a physical ailment, or cope with an emotional problem. Fans of TTouch claim it can help dogs with leash pulling, barking, shyness, grooming issues and fear; cats may improve litterbox habits, deal with changes or become less aggressive.
Qualified TTouch practitioners are available to help you learn the technique or to use it on your pet, but it’s not hard to learn. Using slightly curved fingers, move clockwise in 1-inch circles over your pet’s skin. Make one-and-a-quarter revolutions for each circle, and then move on to the next circle. You can either make circles randomly or follow a linear pattern. Use your other hand to support your pet’s body by placing it opposite the hand making the circles.
You can be very soft or more firm, depending on what the animal appears to enjoy. Think of the pressure you use as being on a scale of one to nine. To figure out what “one” is, put your middle finger on your own eyelid and lightly push the skin in a circle. A “three” level of pressure would be circles on your eyelid as firm as feels comfortable. You probably wouldn’t want to use more than a “six” on your pets — levels “seven” through “nine” are best for horses and humans.
This technique, using the curved fingers in a circle, is called “The Clouded Leopard.” Other techniques are suitable for very large or very small animals, or for different needs.
People who use TTouch often cite an increased level of communication between themselves and their pets. The thinking behind this is that the massage activates a certain type of brain wave (proven to happen in humans) that make learning easier. Your pet then picks up more quickly on what you want him to do, leading you to believe that you and your pet are more in synch. That’s where the behavioral improvement comes from.
This concept can be taken a little too far. If you do online searches or pick some books on the topic, you may find references to animal communication or spiritual healing that make you uncomfortable. While there can be some of this spiritual talk surrounding TTouch, please understand that it works because of proven connections between touch and stress reduction. Stress can cause a lot of problems, both physical and emotional, in pets as well as people. Anything that can be done to reduce this will benefit both pet and owner in the forms of better health, more patience and better receptivity to learning.
If you’d like to get more information, look for a local TTouch practitioner, participate in a workshop or visit www.tellingtonttouch.com. Some vets, trainers and animal supply stores may have information about TTouch in the local area. While I’ve successfully used the technique myself on my own animals, I’ve never utilized the services of a practitioner and cannot recommend one.
