What The Tellington Touch Is

Ever since childhood, Linda Tellington-Jones has had a passion for animals. Well, so do lots of people... but for her, this has translated into close attention to what works and what doesn't in helping animals to perform and feel better.

She worked with horses in innovative ways for many years before creating TTEAM, the Tellington-Jones Equine Awareness Method, in 1978. The Tellington Touch grew out of that and has continued to develop since then.

The Tellington Touch is simple to do and easy to learn. Improvements frequently come after only one or a few sessions, and the health and behavioral changes are often amazing! There are a variety of touches. Some are based on a simple circular motion, while others involve softly stroking the ears, rubbing the gums, or doing gentle lifts. These touches are not the same as regular massage.

Is this process called the Tellington TTouch or the Tellington Touch? It is properly spelled with two TTs, which resemble the symbol for pi, associated with circles. I have mostly spelled it "Tellington Touch" in these webpages simply because that is how most people search on search engines. So to reach the largest number of people, I've done that.

Our DVDs About the Tellington Touch

Click the link for our page about our DVD, The Tellington TTouch for Happier, Healthier Dogs.

Or this for our DVD, The Tellington TTouch for Happier, Healthier Cats.

Recommended Books on the Tellington Touch

On most topics, I would rather read a book than watch a DVD myself. But with any hands-on technique where timing is involved, I think DVDs are much better for learning the method and books are handier for picking up and reviewing.

I highly recommend the books she has written.

Click on the image to go to the Amazon.com page about this book.

Getting in Touch With Your Dog: A Gentle Approach to Influencing Behavior, Health, and Performance, by Linda Tellington-Jones.

The book starts with an introduction by Linda Tellington-Jones in which she describes the evolution of the Tellington Touch, especially as it relates to dogs.

After short chapters by a veterinarian and a dog trainer on their experiences with the touches, there is a useful checklist of dog behavior and health problems (barking uncontrollably, pulling on the leash, hip dysplasia, etc.) and which of the methods described in the book are recommended for them.

Then each touch is described in a one or two-page section, with clear color photos. Often a case history follows these descriptions. As well as the touches, leading exercises and a course to build confidence are shown. The book wraps up with a chart to plan your TTouch work for your dog, a section on solving behavior problems, and a list of TTouch resources.

Click on the image to go to the Amazon.com page about this book.

Getting In TTouch with Your Cat, by Linda Tellington-Jones and Sybil Taylor, brings the same revolutionary approach to the world of cats.

While Linda has used these methods with lions, tigers, and other non-household cats as well as with pet cats, we assume your usage will most likely be for cats you live with!

I haven't seen this book myself, though I own the other two on this page. Since we made a video about Linda working with a multi-cat household, I guess I learned enough there to keep me happy!

I do use the Tellington Touch with my own cats, and I am familiar enough with the high quality of Linda's work to be sure that this book is up to her usual standards.

Click on the image to go to the Amazon.com page about this book.

The Tellington TTouch : A Revolutionary Natural Method to Train and Care for Your Favorite Animal, by Linda Tellington-Jones with Sybil Taylor.

This is a more general book, one which came out before the dog and cat books. It goes into more detail about how the TTouch came about, and is fascinating reading as the story unfolds.

Chapters include stories of working with cats, dogs, horses, birds, reptiles, wildlife, and dying animals. How-to information is woven into the chapters. There are black-and-white photos and line drawings.

For more information, and dates of clinics, her horse products, etc., see LInda's website, www.lindatellingtonjones.com -- there is a page of her biography that is quite amazing!

How We Came to Produce Videos with Linda Tellington-Jones

Kelly and I first met Linda when she demonstrated her techniques at a llama conference. At the time, our Juniper Ridge Press line of llama books and videos was one of the main sources of llama information.

I had been feeling some frustration in my own skills with llamas, and after the conference, I tried a few basic things I had picked up from Linda.

They worked. Certainly not as dramatically as when she had done them, but that they worked at all thrilled me. I was fascinated. And soon we produced a llama video with Linda and with Marty McGee, who has done more than anyone else to bring TTEAM to llamas. (That video is now out of print, superseded by newer ones Marty has made.)

I said to Linda at the time that if she ever wanted to do a dog or cat program, we would be interested, and so a few years later, we worked together with these animals. I loved being able to watch Linda and her sister Robyn working with animals. I think the programs do a good job of capturing the magic. Recently we upgraded formats to DVD.

We are very pleased to offer you this wonderful way to work and play with your animal friends!

Click these links to read about our Tellington Touch dog DVD or our Tellington Touch cat DVD.

One Simple Tellington Touch You Can Try

One simple thing you can do is to stroke your animal's ears. Put one hand on each ear, at the base of the ear, with your thumb opposite your fingers. Then very gently stroke all the way to the end of the ear, and let your hand move right off the ear and out into the air. Then return to the base of the ear, right next to where you were, and do it again. Be sure you do enough strokes to cover the whole ear, and you can keep on doing it for quite a while.

Our dogs and cats love it and don't want us to stop!

The key to this technique is to make your touch incredibly soft -- Linda suggests imagining that you are stroking rose petals.) The benefits of this basic technique are varied, and Linda talks about them on the program. It is relaxing, to both you and the animal -- be sure you are sitting in a comfortable position when you do it!