Tellington TTouch Groundwork for loose lead walking and connection.
Tellington TTouch Groundwork (the confident course), and loose lead walking.
This is Ronnie. 10mins earlier he was tanking around the field, totally out of balance, with little connection to his person Jackie, and on high alert to everything around him. Due to Covid-19 restrictions I couldn’t give Jackie a liberty leash or TTouch connector, so we fell back on the super-balance leash, (the lead fed through the front of the harness and attached to the opposite shoulder). After a few minutes of pattern games to start to slow him down and build connection, I asked Jackie to guide him through some TTouch confidence course elements. Bear in mind that I hadn’t been able to demonstrate to Jackie how to use this tool or in fact the leading either, you can see that its effective coaching these tools. This is their first attempt at groundwork. Not only does it help Ronnie to organise his body improving with preconception, but it builds connection and cooperation with Jackie, something that Jackie has struggled with on walks. Do listen with the sound up so you can hear we coaching Jackie and Ronnie.
The confidence course has many benefits including helping reactive dogs, it’s an excellent tool for reactive dogs as it can teach self-carriage which is linked to self-confidence and self-control. For dogs who previously lunged and barked at other dogs or people, they start to offer alternative behaviours like calmly looking towards the dog, choosing to move away or looking to their carer for support. It is easier to introduce a trigger - be that dogs, people, bikes, joggers etc. - whilst they are occupied in the confidence course; they have a focus, and the proprioception system helps them remain in physical balance which in turn influences the mental and emotion state.
In the real world you can ask your dog to walk around bollards, trees or bushes, up and down curbs, over different surfaces etc. This can help bring a dog back into balance and provide a focus away from a
She works with and specialises in the stress management and emotional anxiety of ani
