- arousal – state of alertness – mind and body
- adrenalin and cortisol – needed for survival – too much is counter productive – switches off the rational part of brain and flips over to survival part
- over arousal detrimental to every day life over long period of time
- impact on neural pathways if behaviour practiced regularly
- signs
- vocalisation
- zoomies
- pacing
- circling
- restlessness
- lunging
- can’t listen
- mouthing
- humping
- fear responses
- OTT greetings and play
- not being able to calm quickly
- panting
- increased heart rate
- TTouch
- input to sensory systems
- tactile
- discriminative pathway
- used in TTouch
- good for calming
- trigger parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest, not flight or fight)
- protective pathway
- bug landing on skin
- touching something hot
- discriminative pathway
- vestibular
- proprioceptive
- tactile
- influences on body
- pressured touch = calming and comforting (like a hug)
- neurotransmitters
- informational network
- some calm
- serotonin
- oxytocin
- dopamine
- some arouse
- adrenaline
- serotonin
- non habitual movement = enhanced learning in shorter time – proprioception
- able to remain rational
- promotes cooperation, coordination and concentration
- lowered stress levels
- reprogram muscle memory
- TTouch doesn’t change personality, helps to manage arousal
- posture effects behaviour
- tension patterns
- fear
- training
- injury
- trauma
- equipment
- training
- appear as
- temperature changes
- areas of skin that feel tight
- areas animal is reluctant to be touched
- teenagers that are growing
- ill fitting harnesses
- hair change
- areas of dandruff
- muscling differences
- look out for
- how dog moves
- choppy, short strides?
- weight bearing in a stand position
- aroused – more weight at front – front leg difficult to pick up, back leg not?
- nail and pad wear
- calming signals
- what’s happening just before arousal?
- change in breath rate, eye expressions?
- what’s happening just before arousal?
- muscle spasms when touched
- ill fitting harness?
- self carriage
- emotional and mental state
- how dog interacts with environment around them
- how dog moves
- fear
- input to sensory systems
- TTouch helps with
- noise phobia
- fear aggression
- handling issues
- travel sickness/car issues
- separation anxiety
- excessive vocalisation
- nervousness
- excitability/high arousal
- Body work
- circular touches
- lifts
- strokes
- extremities
- TTouches
- non habitual movement of the skin
- done slowly but make need to be speeded up if dog aroused
- random ttouches to get dog’s attention to bring back down
- look at posture, work on areas of pressure
- ttouches
- clouded leopard
- ear
- tail
- mouth
- zebra
- springbok
- Ground work
- improves self carriage, self confidence and self control
- improved coordination, concentration, cooperation
- improved self awareness
- good for busy dogs
- fun and tiring