Podcast appearances and mentions of linda tellington jones

Robyn Hood, sister of Linda Tellington-Jones and a leading figure in the development of the Tellington TTouch Method, joins Rupert Isaacson in this insightful episode. Robyn has dedicated her life to refining and teaching TTouch, a revolutionary approach to working with horses, dogs, and other animals that fosters trust, connection, and healing. In this conversation, she delves into the origins of TTouch, its impact on equine well-being, and practical techniques that horse owners and equine-assisted practitioners can integrate into their work. Whether you're looking to deepen your relationship with your horse or explore a more mindful approach to training, this episode is filled with wisdom and practical insights. Learn more about Robyn's work here: https://learn.ttouch.ca | https://ttouch.comWhat You'll Learn in This Episode:The Origins and Philosophy of TTouch (Starts at 02:31)How Robyn and Linda developed TTouch.The inspiration behind the method and how it differs from traditional equine bodywork.Understanding the nervous system's role in movement and behavior.Key TTouch Techniques for Equine Well-being (Starts at 16:03)The Clouded Leopard touch and why it's a cornerstone of TTouch.The importance of gentle, mindful contact in building trust.How to identify and respond to equine tension and discomfort.Body Wraps and Their Impact on Equine Balance (Starts at 36:27)What body wraps are and how they work.How they help horses with proprioception, relaxation, and postural awareness.Practical applications for therapy horses and performance horses alike.TTouch for Enhancing Human-Equine Communication (Starts at 56:02)How to interpret subtle equine body language.Why intention matters in touch and training.How TTouch principles apply to groundwork and riding.Cross-Species Applications of TTouch (Starts at 1:14:22)How TTouch benefits dogs, cats, and even zoo animals.The surprising effects of touch on emotional regulation in animals.How to introduce TTouch to a new animal safely.The Role of TTouch in Equine-Assisted Therapy (Starts at 1:36:27)How TTouch helps therapy horses stay physically and emotionally sound.Why the well-being of the horse is just as important as the well-being of the client.Best practices for integrating TTouch into equine-assisted work.Memorable Moments from the Episode:How horses in equine-assisted therapy programs communicate their stress and how TTouch can help (12:03).The unexpected link between equine tension and emotional trauma (30:18).A fascinating case study on how body wraps helped a horse with chronic anxiety (49:52).The importance of mindful observation in horse training (1:07:15).How horses mirror human emotions and what that means for equine practitioners (1:22:40).The transformative effects of TTouch on performance horses, including those competing at the highest levels (1:48:15).Connect with Robyn Hood & Tellington TTouch:

In this episode of the Making Ripples podcast, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Daniela Zurr, a distinguished behavioral veterinarian from Nuremberg, Germany. With over 25 years of experience as a veterinarian and a Tellington TTouch instructor, Dr. Zurr combines her expertise in behavioral medicine, zoo animal consultations, and positive reinforcement training to create innovative approaches to animal care. Dr. Zurr shares her journey from an early passion for reptiles to her current role, where she works with a wide range of animals, from household pets to zoo residents. She discusses the profound influence of mentors like Linda Tellington-Jones, the evolution of her work with TTouch, and the development of her holistic method to improve animal behavior and welfare. Listeners will gain insights into the principles of TTouch, including its focus on mindfulness, trust, and connection, and learn how it can be used to address behavioral challenges, prevent stress, and improve the bond between humans and animals. Dr. Zurr also shares personal stories, such as her experiences with her own rescue dog and her work with shelter animals, highlighting the importance of adaptability and compassion in animal care. Whether you're a pet owner, trainer, or behavior enthusiast, this episode offers a wealth of inspiration and practical advice for fostering trust and connection with the animals in your life. Links www.ttouch.com www.tellington-methode.de www.ttouch-n-click.de www.tierverhalten-zurr.de Email; mail@tierverhalten-zurr.de  

Linda Tellington-Jones, a pioneer in equine welfare and therapeutic riding, is best known for the Tellington TTouch Method. A globally celebrated horsewoman, author, and teacher, Linda has spent decades redefining equine care, integrating holistic techniques that enhance horse and rider communication. Her unique methods, which blend science, compassion, and creativity, have transformed practices in equestrian care and therapeutic settings worldwide.In this inspiring conversation, Linda shares her lifetime of wisdom on equine well-being, human and horse emotional healing, and the role of gratitude and joy in achieving optimal health.What You'll Learn in This Episode:The Foundation of Equine Welfare (Starts at 0:46): Linda discusses the importance of gratitude and recognizing the individuality of horses, emphasizing how these practices elevate both horse welfare and human-horse relationships.The Science of Cellular Wisdom (Starts at 13:05): Drawing from years of experience and studies, Linda explores the cellular intelligence within horses and humans, explaining how TTouch methods enhance physical and emotional healing.Practical Applications of TTouch (Starts at 29:34): Learn how Tellington TTouch techniques like "the lick of the cow's tongue" and "tarantulas pulling the plow" help horses overcome physical challenges like back pain and stiffness.Enhancing Equine Assisted Programs (Starts at 45:20): Discover how gratitude, art, music, and sensory exercises transform equine-assisted therapy for clients and horses, creating a joyful and healing environment.Rehabilitating Therapy Horses (Starts at 1:02:15): Linda shares strategies for incorporating therapeutic rehabilitation into equine-assisted programs, using real-life examples of transforming "crocked" horses into thriving partners.The Connection Between Gratitude, Joy, and Healing (Starts at 1:20:50): Learn how gratitude fosters joy, and how both emotions play a crucial role in physical and mental well-being for both humans and horses.Memorable Moments from the Episode:Linda's reflections on gratitude as a starting point for equine care and healing (1:15:30).Insights into the power of light touch in activating the parasympathetic nervous system and fostering deep connection (29:50).A fascinating story about releasing fear through the "lick of the cow's tongue" technique (1:01:45).Linda's innovative use of tools like Beamer Blankets and LifeWave pain patches to aid in equine rehabilitation (33:20).Resources and Further Reading:LifeWave Pain Patches: https://www.lifewave.comMan on His Nature by Sir Charles Sherrington: https://amzn.to/3DpIy4hMolecules of Emotion by Dr. Candace Pert: https://amzn.to/3P9wffmHeartMath EMWave and Heart Coherence Tools: https://www.heartmath.com/emwave/Robert Monroe and the Monroe Institute: https://www.monroeinstitute.orgHeartMath Podcasts: https://www.heartmath.com/addheartpodcast/The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee: https://amzn.to/4gsCoz0Center for Attitudinal Healing: https://www.ahinternational.orgThe Book of Ho'oponopono by Ulrich Dupree: https://amzn.to/3DtjvgZTellington TTouch Training: https://ttouch.comLearn TTouch Courses: https://learn.ttouch.caLFRF Podcast with Linda Tellington-Jones: https://ntls.co/podcastContact Linda Tellington-Jones

„Mir ist wichtig, dass mich die Pferde nicht nur in der Arbeitsphase kennenlernen, sondern ich sie mal putze, mit ihnen herumtütele. Ich mache auch verschiedene Horsemanship-Sachen total gerne und auch da ist es mir wichtig, dass ich mir Zeit dafür nehme, ebenso für Ausritte mit den Pferden, also alles was uns Spaß macht", verrät #IngridKlimke - zu Gast AUF TRAB - ihr Erfolgsgeheimnis. Ingrid hat Linda Tellington Jones schon bei ihrem Vater kennengelernt. Linda hat die TTouchs bei Klimkes Dressurpferden gemacht. „Pferde sind ja so geduldig. Sie halten so viel aus. Sie geben immer ihr Bestes und wollen alles richtig machen. Da muss man sich als Reiter schon fragen, wie ich es dem Pferd verständlich machen kann, was ich möchte", appelliert Ingrid an alle Reiterinnen, an ihren feinen Hilfen zu arbeiten. So sei für den ausbalancierten Sitz „total gut und wichtig, viel ohne Steigbügel zu reiten, damit man losgelassen sitzt, ganz locker in der Mittelpositur mitschwingt. Dann reite ich auch sehr viel mit der Zügelbbrücke: Beide Zügel übereinanderlegen, aufrechte Zügelfaust. So übt man, dass die Hände vor dem Körper mit lockerem Gummi-Handgelenk aufrecht getragen werden , damit man eine Parade geben und auch nachgeben kann. " Auch sei die flache Wade immer am Pferd, mit ihr kann man im Wechselspiel treiben, aber nicht die ganze Zeit, sondern nur wenn ich es brauche. Ingrid Klimke setzt auch viel die Stimme ein: "Wenn ich einmal den Hals abstreiche und dann ,brav´ sage habe ich das Gefühl, viele Pferde warten auf das ´brav". Wie Ingrids abwechslungsreiches Training im Detail aussieht hörst Du in dieser Podcastfolge AUF TRAB. So viel kann ich spoilern: Geländeritte dind ein wichtiger Bestandteil. Daher lautet auch ihr jüngstes Buch „Reiten im Gelände", erschienen im Kosmos-Verlag. Viel Lese- und natürlich auch Hörvergnügen mit dem Podcast AUF TRAB wünschen Euch Julia und die Welshies. Wir würden uns freuen, wenn ihr uns bzw. AUF TRAB auf der Podcastplattform Eurer Wahl, auf YouTube, Spotify oder www.auftrab.eu folgt. Musik- und Soundrechte: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://auftrab.eu/index.php/musik-und-soundrechte/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#Horsmanship #Vielseitigkeit #pferde #Dressur #Pferde #Ausritte #Gelände #Podcast Foto: Kosmos-Verlag

“There's an intelligence that emerges out of being together in a connective way, that we can call The Keeper, or we can call it The Emergent Mind in interpersonal neurobiology.”"It was an example for me of what I want to build as a community and how I want to build it and participate with people."Susu, Martha, and Patrick joined us to share about their transformational experience designing a weekend program together for the first time, using principles like Designing with Natural Cycles and the Ten Stones. Everyone that participated was moved by the way the experience unfolded, and what is possible when we slow down and listen deeply to The Keeper, remaining present to what most wants to emerge in that moment within the group. If you have been considering starting a program or offering something, this conversation will inspire you and give you insight into what's possible. Enjoy!Janet (Susu) Marley is earning an MA in Ecopsychology from Naropa University. She is currently researching styles of governance in traditional indigenous societies of Turtle Island and how such wisdom ways can positively influence contemporary ecocentric and regenerative residential communities and bioregional initiatives. She is a dedicated student of the Tracker School, and committed to carrying the wisdom of the lineage into the future. Janet is a community organizer with an abiding interest in co-creating intentional living and learning centers that model and teach connection and reciprocity with the natural world. She is integrating the 8 shields design model into this work. Her gifts and roles include mentor, healer, event producer, and guide to ceremony, council, rites of passage, ecotherapy, and trauma integration work. She is a Montessori-trained educator and mom of two young children.Martha Meacham is a professional educator with a Ph.D. in Education living in the Austin, Texas area. After decades in higher education, she is focusing on bringing people together who want to explore deep relationships within nature, themselves and others. She brings natural design principles (8 Shields) to her classroom for first time-in-college students to reflect on what they need from their college experience to successfully accomplish what they want. As a Niasziih practitioner, she promotes mind~body~spirit~soul wellness, rooted in the Earth. Aligned with this, she is an Apprentice Tracker, and a Quest protector. She has also learned Tellington TTouch Method for humans and companion animals from Linda Tellington-Jones. Learn more about Martha's healing work at heartfelttouch.usPatrick Monroney lucked into some great mentors and teachers in the outdoors when he moved to Alaska in 1987. He learned fishing, plants, and survival, and started an outdoor school for kids and adults. Patrick has taught flora, plantlore, fishing, survival skills, leadership and community building to children and adults for thirty years. He is a cancer survivor, and his current communities are the Tracker School Keepers group and the Helpers Mentoring Society.Show Notes & ReferencesIf you want to learn more about the Ten Stones, join us for Embodying Unity With Nature, which starts on Oct 17, 2024. We are also holding a free event, Harmonizing with Nature, on Oct 3rd, 2024Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work.

Please call in with your BEMER horse questions, comments, and testimonials. With Cindy Schellenberg and Raini Hale.

This is Part 4 of a 4 part series on the Feldenkrais method. In Part 1 I shared some personal history in which I looked back to two innovators in the horse world, Sally Swift and Linda Tellington-Jones. In Part 2 Anita Schnee, a Feldenkrais Practitioner who is familiar with my work, introduced us to the Feldenkrais Work. In Part 3 she shared an Awareness Through Movement lesson. And now in Part 4 Dominique and I share our impressions of that lesson and the questions that emerged from it. Dominique is new to the Feldenkrais work so she asked questions I am sure many of you must have. So before Anita and I could get too carried away into the poetry of this work, Dominique kept us grounded in some practical questions that I think contribute very much to a basic understanding of the method.

With Raini Hale and featuring special guest Linda Tellington-Jones.

"Das Pferd spürt Stress in jeder Form und wenn es das spürt, nimmt es mich nicht mehr als Führungsperson wahr", betont Martin Lasser, lizensierter Tellington Pracitioner 3, wie wichtig es ist im Umgang mit dem Pferd Ruhe zu bewahren. Nur so kann man das Vertrauen des Pferdes gewinnen. Für den Vertrauensaufbau eignet sich auch die Tellington-TTouchmethode, die von Linda Tellington-Jones entwickelte Körperarbeit. Das zweite „T“ im Wort TTouch steht für „trust“, also für Vertrauen. Die Philosophie dahinter: Mit TTouch knüpfst du eine tiefe Verbindung zu deinem Pferd. „Ti-Touches“ bestehen aus kreisenden, hebenden und streichenden Bewegungen, die man am Körper des Pferdes ausführt. Mehr hierzu auch in dieser früheren AUF TRAB-Podcastfolge: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4g6VGJ4v7XPGQttGKFpgYZ?si=b09f2591c5e743f5 So viel zur Theorie, die ihr in Linda Tellington-Jones Buch „Vertrauen Stärken mit Tellington Training", erschienen im Komos-Verlag nachlesen könnt. Beim Podcast Auf Trab erklärt uns Martin Lasser, wie man in der in der Praxis mit TTouches bei seinem Pferd ein neues Vertrauensniveau erreicht. Etwa mit dem Haargleiten-Touch, der sehr einfach, dafür wirkungsvoll sei. Dies, weil an jeder Haarwurzel auch eine Nervenende sei. So könne mandas Nervensstem über die vielen tausenden Haare beeinflussen, in dem man die Haare leicht ausstreicht, mache ich einen leichten Zug auf die Haarwurzel und gebe so einen Impuls auf die Nervenfaser und dadurch entspannt man das gesamte Nervensystem. Einfach mit den Finger sanft durch die Haare von der Wurzel aus streichen und die Pferde werden abschnauben. Gegen den Stress helfen alle TTouches, die flach sind, wie die Muschel zum Beispiel. Am Besten ihr hört selbsr in diese AUF TRAB-Podcastfolge mit Martin Lasser rein. Viel Hörvergnügen wünschen Tessa, Velvet, Dancer und Julia. Vor allem aber bleibt AUF TRAB bis zum nächsten Samstag … Musik- und Soundrechte: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://auftrab.eu/index.php/musik-und-soundrechte/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ #Pferde #TTouch #Tellington #Vertrauen #Tierschutz #Feedback #pferdegerecht #Podcast Foto: Kosmos Verlag/Buch: Vertrauen stärken mit Tellington Training

If you have ever taken a riding lesson, you've probably experienced how confusing the instructions can be. You're being told to: “fill your back, push with your seat - no not like that, bear down, lift up, lean forward, lean back!” You can be forgiven if you feel like shouting back: “Make up your mind! I can't do both at the same time!” Riding instruction is a challenge because we are attempting to translate into words physical actions. And my starting point, what works well for me probably isn't your starting point. Generalities are useful, but at the end of the day, instruction needs to be a study of one. It works best when it is tailored to each individual. My clinics almost always include opportunities to explore handling and riding details without the horses being present. You slide down lead ropes that are being held by “human horses”. Another rider gives you direct feedback which means your horse is spared some of your learning curve. Various body awareness lessons let handlers make discoveries about how best to organize their own balance. Through this process we can create verbal translations for desired physical changes. Now when the instructor tells you to “fill your back”, you aren't left thinking: “fill it with what!?” Instead you know how to translate this phrase into a meaningful physical response. I originally saw this style of teaching being used in the 1980s by two innovators who helped bring riding instruction and horse training into the modern world. I'm talking about Sally Swift, the developer of Centered Riding and Linda Tellington-Jones, the founder of TTEAM (the Tellington-Jones Equine Awareness Method). In this week's episode we're going to use a look back at their work to introduce a new series on the Feldenkrais™ work. Next week we'll be joined by Anita Schnee. Anita is a Feldenkrais™ Practitioner who is very familiar with my work. She'll be sharing a Feldenkrais™ Awareness Through Movement lesson with us so you will have an opportunity to experience the Feldenkrais™ work directly. This look back at the work of two great innovators gives us a starting point for the conversation that we'll begin in next week's episode.

Interview with Linda Tellington-Jones.I'm very excited and pleased to announce an interview with the delightful Linda Tellington-Jones.Not only is Linda an amazing horse woman, she is also a very intuitive lady who has carved her own path in this world.Her skills and knowledge she has developed over the years was (and still is in parts) way ahead of her time.The more I listened to Linda talk, the more I  realised what an amazing lady she truly is, and so humble in the process.So sit back, relax and I hope you enjoy this episode, where you will hear all about her work with horses, humans and so much more.Linda Tellington-Jones.Founder of the Worldwide Renowned Tellington TTouch MethodLinda Tellington-Jones is a world-famous horse expert. With her innovations, she has significantly contributed to the horse world for more than five decades. But not only the horse scene profits from Linda's ideas: The Tellington TTouch Method is just as successfully applied to domestic, wild, and zoo animals as well as humans.Linda Tellington-Jones has published over 20 books and 10 educational films in 15 different languages over the years. There are over 1,700 certified Tellington-TTouch trainers for horses, dogs, and people in 27 countries who use and teach the methods.In 2008, Linda Tellington-Jones received an honorary doctorate from Wisdom University in California for her services. Linda Tellington-Jones lives with her husband, Roland Kleger, in Hawaii and still teaches TTouch worldwide.In 1975 Linda began her 4-year long training as a Feldenkrais teacher at the "Institute of Humanistic Psychology" in San Francisco. At the same time, she began to develop the Tellington Method for horses. In Germany, she published the book "How to educate your horse" together with icon Ursula Bruns, which has become a classic among guidebooks for horses.In 1983 she invented the famous circular touches, called Tellington TTouch. She holds lectures at veterinary congresses in Europe and in the USA. In 1987 a research project on the effect of TTouch on the brain waves in humans was started, marking a breakthrough for her method. For any further information on linda click on the links below.People Linda mentioned in this episode:https://feldenkrais.comhttps://greggbraden.comhttps://judeegee.comhttps://ttouch.com/https://www.facebook.com/TellingtonTTouchWorldhttps://www.youtube.com/@T Video version (alongside applicable podcasts) can be viewed on facebook and YouTube.https://www.facebook.com/equinevoices.co.ukhttps://www.youtube.com/@equinevoicesukhttps://www.instagram.com/equinevoices.ukContact Ronnie.mailto:equinevoicesronnie@gmail.com

Linda Tellington-Jones is a true icon in the horse world. With her innovative method, the Tellington TTouch method, she has helped countless horse owners to establish a deeper connection with their beloved four-legged friends. In this episode, Linda shares her unique insights and experiences of how the Tellington TTouch Method can successfully enhance the connection between humans and animals. She shares how these gentle touches and movements can help build trust, relaxation, and harmony between horse and rider.

Happy Birthday to yoooouuuu….. Heute, am 30.06.2023, wird die liebe Linda Tellington-Jones 86 Jahre alt.  Sie wurde 1937 in Edmonton, Kanada geboren und begründete 1975 die Tellington-Jones Equine Awareness Method, ein gezieltes System von manuellen Techniken am Körper, speziellen Führtechniken und lernfördernden Hindernissen. Im Interview erzählt Kerry Spiess Loane wie sie Linda getroffen und ihre Ausbildung bei ihr mit Begeisterung begonnen hat. Kerry ist Tellington TTouch Practiconer für Pferde (Level 2) und als mobile Trainerin in Kärnten/Österreich unterwegs. Diese „Sonderausgabe“ unseres Podcast widmen wir dem Geburstagskind Linda zu Ehren. Karen Golz www.golz-ps.at Kerry Spiess Loane https://www.kerryspiessloane.at/

In this episode, Anita talks about TTouch®TTouch® was developed by internationally recognised animal expert, Linda Tellington-Jones, over 30 years ago. It is used around the world by animal owners, trainers, veterinarians, zoo personnel and rescue shelters.The Tellington method can help to deepen the relationship with your animal, Improve behaviour, enhance performance, support health and well-being and foster new learning. The method is based on cooperation and respect for all animals and their people, which honours the body, mind and spirit of animals. It helps to develop trust between humans and animals.TTouch® supports cellular communication and enhances the healing potential of the body.TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ANITA:Visit her website: Home ⋆ Anita Denise Psychic MediumJoin her on Facebook or over on Instagram (@anitadenise1)

Linda Tellington-Jones ist eine wahre Ikone in der Pferdewelt. Mit ihrer innovativen Methode, der Tellington-TTouch-Methode, hat sie zahllosen Pferdebesitzern geholfen, eine tiefere Verbindung zu ihren geliebten Vierbeinern herzustellen. In diesem Gespräch teilt Linda ihre einzigartigen Einsichten und Erfahrungen, wie die Tellington-TTouch-Methode erfolgreich die Verbindung zwischen Mensch und Tier verbessern kann. Sie erzählt, wie diese sanften Berührungen und Bewegungen dazu beitragen können, das Vertrauen, die Entspannung und die Harmonie zwischen Pferd und Reiter zu stärken.

Robyn Hood, Linda Tellington-Jones sister, has been starting horses for many years. Raising over 200 head of Icelandic Horses with breeding stock she has vast experience working with young foals, yearlings and starting horses under saddle. Listen to this fascinating discussion of how to halter a foal safely and with intention as well as other great tips for working with young stock.

Alte Pferde brauchen besonders viele Streicheleinheiten, das weiß ich von meiner Tessa. Und doch übersieht man sie oft, weil man sich auf den schönen Ausritt oder das Training mit den jungen, fitten Stallgenossen Konzentriert. Bitte, bitte, nehmt Euch so viel Zeit wie möglich mit Euren alten Vierbeinern und ihr bekommt alles doppelt und dreifach zurück und es macht Spaß zu sehen, wie sehr und wie schnell sich ihr Wohlbefinden steigert. Dafür braucht es nicht viel, nur etwa zusätzlich zu den Streicheleinheiten ein paar TTouches von Linda Tellington Jones. Wie man sie ausführt, dazu mehr in der aktuellen Podcast-Folge Auf Trab. Zu Gast ist Martin Lasser, Tellington Practitioner 3, der bei alten Pferden vor allem viel um die Ohren touchen würde , weil hier ein wichtiger Meridian um das Ohr läuft der zuständig für Herz-Kreislauf und vor allem auch für die Verdauung ist. Hier haben ältere Pferde ja des Öfteren Probleme, weil sie die Nahrung mit schlechten Zähnen nicht mehr so gut verkleinern können. Mit der Ohrarbeit kann man das Zufüttern von Mash oder Kreislauftropfen unterstützen. Das geht so: Beim Ohransatz macht Martin der Waschbär-Touch mit steileren Fingern mit der Fingerkuppe. Das hilft bei Kolik, Kreislaufbeschwerden oder auch Erschöpfung. Zum Aktivieren macht man die 1 ¼ Touches je Ohr fünf bis zehn Minuten je Ohr. Lässt sich das Pferd am Ohr nicht anfassen, nähert sich Martin über Kopf und Hals vorsichtig den Ohren. Neben den Touches braucht das Alte Pferd auch geistige Beschäftigung, etwa das Führen durch das Labyrinth und das Stehenbleiben im Labyrinth. Hierzu eine Anleitung: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbxjrIovKuE Viel Vergnügen mit dieser wunderbaren AUF TRAB-Podcast-Folge. Und wenn Euch diese gefallen hat, würden meine Welshies und ich uns freuen, wenn Ihr sie weitempfiehlt, liked, bewertet, wo dies möglich ist, abonniert. Vor allem aber bleibt AUF TRAB, bis zum nächsten Samstag. Noch einen Tipp für die kommende Woche: Da findet ab Montag, 13.2. der einwöchige Equidemia Online Sumit statt mit Celina Scogan und Bent Branderup. Hier geht´s zur Gratis-Anmeldung: https://equidemia.com/ #AltePferde #TTouch #Schneeleopard #Fingerkuppen #TTouch-Labyrinth #Ohren #Meridian #Versdauung #Kreislauf #Zähne #LindaTellington #CelinaSkogan #Training #Herz-Kreislauf Foto: Martin Lasser /Tellington

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World-renowned equine expert Linda Tellington-Jones' healing equine bodywork and innovative training methods have revolutionized the horse training landscape over the last 50 years. Her unique blend of hands-on TTouch (a collection of circles, lifts, and slides done with the hands over various parts of the horse's body), combined with humane groundwork and under-saddle exercises, has helped solve training and behavioral problems for horses of every breed, every discipline, every age, and all levels. Her books, including The Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training Guide and Dressage with Mind, Body and Soul have helped horses and horse people around the globe find better, more humane ways to solve both behavioral and training problems.Linda and Warwick discuss the events that lead Linda to think about horsemanship and healing differently, a trend that has been the precedent for modern horsemanship practices.Linda's Website: https://ttouch.com/Warwick has over 650 Online Training Videos that are designed to create a relaxed, connected, and skilled equine partner. Start your horse training journey today!https://videos.warwickschiller.com/Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WarwickschillerfanpageWatch hundreds of free Youtube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/warwickschillerFollow us on Instagram: @warwickschiller

Former Galisteo resident Linda Tellington-Jones who is a visionary pioneer of the human/animal connection, speaks with Radio Free Galisteo's John Shannon & Denise Lynch about her world renowned, Tellington Method.Tellington-Jones Website: https://www.ttouch.ca/Tellington Training Website: https://learn.ttouch.ca/Support the show

Linda Tellington-Jones, creator of TTouch, studied with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais in the 70's. Wendy first met Linda in 1985 a year after a serious riding accident. Six years ago Linda saw SURE FOOT for the first time. The TTouch and SURE FOOT have a philosophical root in the understanding based on the ideas fostered from Dr. Feldenkrais. In this webinar Wendy and Linda share their thoughts on SURE FOOT.

Esta semana, recibimos a Peggy Cummings, la creadora del método Connected Riding o Equitación Conectada. Hace unas semanas, Peggy vino a realizar un clinic en Horseway - el centro de formación co-creado por Melín Farriols quien habéis descubierto en el episodio uno -  por lo qué aproveche la ocasión para ir a entrevistarla. Peggy ha estado dedicando su vida a transmitir sus conocimientos y experiencia.Su enseñanza es como un vector de transformación para cada jinete y caballo que pasan por sus manos.A lo largo de su carrera, logró desarrollar un método único de entrenamiento y monta, siendo el resultado de su aprendizaje con mentores como las conocidas Sally Swift o Linda Tellington, pero también de todo lo aprendido gracias a sus mejores maestros… los caballos mismos.Peggy enseña alrededor de todo el mundo y crea nuevos materiales educativos para jinetes, asesora a instructores de equitación y supervisa el desarrollo de caballos siguiendo el método.Nada más sentarse con ella y escucharla es enriquecedor, además de apasionante.Es una gran oportunidad tenerla en The Modern Rider y espero que os guste descubrir su recorrido, conocer su visión innovadora de la equitación y disfrutar de sus consejos.Antes de dejaros escuchar está entrevista, aprovecho para agradeceros por escucharnos una vez más y si os gusta este episodio no olvidéis de dejar un like o un comentario si nos escucháis desde apple podcast. Pero, la mejor forma de hacérmelo saber y ayudar a que The Modern Rider tenga más visibilidad es compartirlo con vuestro entorno.Así que suban el volumen y poneros cómodos para escuchar esta nueva entrevista apasionante... *****BIBLIOTECA :"Connected Riding : An Introduction" - Peggy Cummings" Comprender el caballo" - Linda Tellington-Jones "Horse Gaits, Balance, and Movement: The natural mechanics of movement common to all breeds " - Susan E.Harris Para descubrir el método "Connected Riding"https://www.connectedriding.com/https://www.facebook.com/connectedriding https://www.instagram.com/connectedriding/  ***** Para apoyar el proyecto : https://es.tipeee.com/the-modern-rider-podcast-ecuestre/Sigue a The Modern Rider :https://www.instagram.com/the_modern_rider/https://www.facebook.com/The-Modern-Rider-Podcast-172209469997478 

Debby Potts have been teaching TTouch for over 30 years. She is also a 4 HOOF SURE FOOT Practitioner. Listen to how Debby found SURE FOOT (a horse of course sent her to the first training with Linda Tellington-Jones) and Wendy has known Debby since 1986. Learn more about SURE FOOT and the Practitioners levels in this webinar.

In this Podcast Episode we have the world-famous Linda Tellington Jones as a guest. She is well known for her Tellington TTouch Method, which is also scientifically proven. Linda speaks with us about her view and beliefs about horses and how her famous TTouch can improve the well-being and performance of every horse. As the TTouch Method can bring your horse in a mental, physical and emotional balance. She also explains how each TTouch works and how the method can be perfectly integrated into everyday life.

Linda Tellington-Jones, creator of TTouch, studied with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais in the 70's. Wendy first met Linda in 1985 a year after a serious riding accident. Six years ago Linda saw SURE FOOT for the first time. The TTouch and SURE FOOT have a philosophical root in the understanding based on the ideas fostered from Dr. Feldenkrais. In this webinar Wendy and Linda share their thoughts on SURE FOOT.

This episode shares valuable life experiences for anyone grieving the loss of a loved one, pet, freedom or hope. One of the stories Hana shares here is an experience with her father, who was slowly slipping away due to alzheimer's (this is something I, too, am currently dealing with). Here is part of what Hana shared:"All I had was each moment and conversation - in the now. And there were days when some of those nows were extremely painful, but I was like, I'll deal with my emotion after. I want to give him everything I've got because I want to literally savour this moment to the depths... to create a memory.He and I would have conversations, and I was like, Oh! There's Dad! Oh, there's his alzheimer's. Oh, there's his spirit. And I would find ways to make him laugh. I just wanted to spend time with this man who was slipping away from me and treat him with love and respect."Other topics discussed include:Pet lossOpenly communicating about griefWhat is griefWays to cope with lossThere is no wrong way to grieveHow to find the beauty and joy in griefConsiderations for those dealing with past trauma from loss of a loved oneWays to cope with and support an aging loved one Connect with Hana and all her wisdom at endandafter.com and on Instagram @endandaftermedium.Connect with the Fempreneur Community: FempreneurLand.com.Learn more about Fempreneur Marketing School by clicking here.Connect with us on Instagram @yycfempreneurs. Thanks for tuning into this episode and sharing it with other women like you!Until next time,~Lyndsie BarrieAuthor & Marketing Mentor

Debby Potts have been teaching TTouch for over 30 years. She is also a 4 HOOF SURE FOOT Practitioner. Listen to how Debby found SURE FOOT (a horse of course sent her to the first training with Linda Tellington-Jones) and Wendy has known Debby since 1986. Learn more about SURE FOOT and the Practitioners levels in this webinar.

A salute to female influencers of the horse industry, Trailblazing Horsewomen speaking with award-winning writer L.A. Sokolowski and StreamHorseTV’s Director of Content Natalie Mayrath #choosetochallenge.  Guests include Patti Colbert — Extreme Mustang Makeover founder, Patricia E. Kelly — Ebony Horsewomen, Inc. founder, Anne Kursinski — five-time Olympic show jumper, Debbie Roberts Loucks — The Movement and Horsemanship Radio podcast, Lynn Palm — four-time AQHA Superhorse trainer, Linda Tellington-Jones, Ph.D.(H) — Tellington TTouch Training founder.  Recorded on International Women’s Day - Monday, March 8, 2021 on StreamHorseTV's Trailblazing Horsewomen. Listen in... Show Host: Debbie LoucksTitle Sponsor:  HandsOn Gloves, All-In-One Shedding/Bathing/Grooming GlovesStreamHorseTV's Trailblazing HorsewomenSupport for this episode also provided by Monty Roberts EQUUS Online University Monty's CalendarPlease follow Monty Roberts on FacebookFollow Monty Roberts on Twitter or on InstagramHear all the shows on the Horse Radio NetworkSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=87421)

A salute to female influencers of the horse industry, Trailblazing Horsewomen speaking with award-winning writer L.A. Sokolowski and StreamHorseTV’s Director of Content Natalie Mayrath #choosetochallenge.  Guests include Patti Colbert — Extreme Mustang Makeover founder, Patricia E. Kelly — Ebony Horsewomen, Inc. founder, Anne Kursinski — five-time Olympic show jumper, Debbie Roberts Loucks — The Movement and Horsemanship Radio podcast, Lynn Palm — four-time AQHA Superhorse trainer, Linda Tellington-Jones, Ph.D.(H) — Tellington TTouch Training founder.  Recorded on International Women’s Day - Monday, March 8, 2021 on StreamHorseTV's Trailblazing Horsewomen. Listen in... Show Host: Debbie LoucksTitle Sponsor:  HandsOn Gloves, All-In-One Shedding/Bathing/Grooming GlovesStreamHorseTV's Trailblazing HorsewomenSupport for this episode also provided by Monty Roberts EQUUS Online University Monty's CalendarPlease follow Monty Roberts on FacebookFollow Monty Roberts on Twitter or on InstagramHear all the shows on the Horse Radio NetworkSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=87421)

If you’d like to support the podcast and all the work that I do then you can! Just head on over to patreon.com/comealongfortheridepodcast and sign up. From as little as a cup of coffee a month, you can help me keep this podcast going. There are many tiers that you can choose from and if everyone who listens gave only $5 per month, it would make a massive positive difference to me.There is a tier in there for a small business subscription just like the one Peter Papp took up from Peter and the Herd, this is the one where your business gets a mention each week on the podcast. Peter works with equine behaviour and trauma recovery. Equine communication. Human and horse relationship building. Peter has had communication with my mare Gypsy, who is the mare with me in the podcast picture and he was spot on about everything so I can highly recommend his work personally. Click here to connect with Peter and the Herd.A huge shout out to our new Patreon subscribers. Jennifer Morris, thank you for joining the Patreon Community.In this episode I spoke with Robin Hood. Robin is the sister of Linda Tellington-Jones, the creator of the Tellington TTouch method of bodywork.Robin and I talked about the Tellington TTouch Method and how it came about in the first place. It is amazing to hear how someone was able to experience something for themselves and then go on to create their very own form of bodywork to help horses.Robin is an amazing woman and horse person in her very own right. We spoke about so many topics in the horse world including how we as women need to advocate for our horses and be in our power.We also talked about how to choose a trainer of any kind.About their words matching their actions. Robin suggested we look at what do they do when what they are doing doesn’t work.We even talked about why having water available for your horse during any training or body work session is really important for both you and your horse.This is a rich conversation that I enjoyed immensely.I have put a couple of links in the show notes but there are so many different pages and groups on facebook that I suggest if you want to follow the Tellington TTouch Method that you put Tellington TTouch into the search bar of Facebook and find the one that is in your country. As Robin says, there are a lot. So head on over there after you’ve listened to find out more about what is happing in your area.You can also gather more information on Tellington TTouch here https://ttouch.com/index.htmlhttps://ttouch.ca/© Copyrighted

Born and raised in Nebraska, I graduated from vet school at Iowa State University. Following graduation I headed west To southwest Utah where I heard about the likes of Linda Tellington Jones and Dr. Kerry Ridgway. I landed in Colorado after a stint in Montana and meeting Linda and Kerry there. I have practiced in Colorado for 27 years. I had always had an interest in acupuncture, but when it did so much for my own health I needed to offer it to my patients. From there I have been fascinated on how bodies can heal. I became acupuncture certified in 2002 and eventually obtained my Master's in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine In 2019. Laser, herbal therapy, food therapy, craniosacral, Ttouch, ozone and now Surefoot are other therapies I incorporate in my practice.

Als Leiter des Hauptstadtbüros der Deutschen Reiterlichen Vereinigung repräsentiert und vertritt Bernhard Feßler die FN und ihre Mitglieder auf bundespolitischer Ebene. Du hast über ihn oder seine Arbeit bisher wenig erfahren können? Das ändert Christian Kröber mit diesem wehorse-Podcast. Denn mit seinem Draht zur politischen Spitze ebenso wie zu einflussreichen Verbänden gestaltet Feßler die Zukunft des Reitsports und der Pferdehaltung entscheidend mit. Du hörst in diesem Gespräch, wie das Pferd in der Politik wahrgenommen wird, welchen Stellenwert der Tierschutz wirklich hat und wie sinnvolle Jugendförderung im Reitsport aussehen kann. Feßler selbst bezeichnet sich als Interessenvertreter aus Leidenschaft und setzt sich unermüdlich für unsere Pferde und unseren Sport ein. Dabei muss er sich auch kontrovers diskutierten Themen stellen und Position beziehen. Wie zum Beispiel bei der Frage: Was tun in Sachen Wolf? Wie es in dieser Streitfrage weitergehen kann und viele weitere Insights erfährst du in diesem wehorse-Podcast. _____________ www.wehorse.com ist die Online Reitschule mit 300+ Onlinekursen der besten Trainer der Welt, wie Ingrid Klimke, Uta Gräf oder Linda Tellington-Jones. Instagram: www.instagram.com/wehorse_de Facebook: www.facebook.com/wehorseofficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/wehorse TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wehorse

In our final episode with Linda Tellington Jones -internationally  irecognized equine expert who developed the Tellington Method approach to healing, training, and communicating (and author of more than 20 books) Linda discusses tips to help with a particular horse. Sponsored by:

Welcome to Episode 2 of our interview with Linda Tellington Jones. Linda is the internationally recognized equine expert who developed the Tellington Method approach to healing, training, and communicating that can be learned and practiced by horsemen and women of all levels. In this week's episode Linda discusses more about her methods. Sponsored by:

  This week and for the next 2 weeks we are proud to present an informative interview with Linda Tellington-Jones. Linda is the internationally recognized equine expert who developed the Tellington Method approach to healing, training, and communicating that can be learned and practiced by horsemen and women of all levels. In this week's episode Linda discusses how her history and how she developed her methods. Sponsored by:  

Please call in with your horse questions, comments, and testimonials.  With Raini Hale, Linda Tellington-Jones, Tiff Schutt, and Nate Beyler.

Please call in with your horse questions, comments, and testimonials.  With Raini Hale, Linda Tellington-Jones, Tiff Schutt, and Nate Beyler.

Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/qChWERhHFzA Linda Tellington-Jones, Ph.D. (HON) is the creator of the renowned Tellington TTouch method. Developed over four decades ago, Tellington TTouch has provided a positive, effective and gentle means of helping animals with common behavioral and physical problems that you can start doing immediately in your own home. Learn why veterinarian's around the world recommend TTouch for their patients and how TTouch can dramatically improve your pets' well being: Improve digestive, respiratory, and overall physical and emotional health Connect animals into their body instead of reacting to triggers Learn to deal with stress by relaxing Reduce fear, pain and bring an animal out of shock Enhance cellular function and communication and support the healing potential of the body Find out how to treat animals like they understand to behavior better TTouch has been taught worldwide and is one of the most broadly-recognized methods of improving behavior, enhancing performance and health, and teaching animals to learn willingly.   https://intuitivetouchanimalcare.com/

Linda’s photo courtesy of Gabriele BoisellePlease note that this interview was recorded with Linda from her home in beautiful Hawaii. You might hear lots of birds in the background that we were unable to completely edit out.Linda, what is TTouch® and could you share the story with us of how it came to be?What are the benefits?And there have been Studies and research about the effectiveness of your Method and principles right?How does TTouch® work specifically in dogs?And if we do TTouch® with our dogs, what benefits are there for us?I would love it if you could share some success stories. I know that you told me about the terrier who for her whole life wouldn’t let anyone touch her…As a teacher, trainer and author, Linda Tellington-Jones has created a highly effective and revolutionary approach to working with animals by developing the Tellington TTouch Method®. Beginning in the equestrian world, her method has also proven highly effective for dogs and other companion animals.Linda has written twenty-two books about Tellington TTouch® which have been printed in sixteen languages. Her book, Getting in TTouch® with Your Dog: A Gentle Approach to Influencing Behavior, Health, and Performance is published in eight languages including most recently in Korean.There are certified Practitioners teaching the Tellington Method for dogs in more than 30 countries.Linda lives in Hawaii with her husband, Roland Kleger, and still teaches around the world eight months each year.Freedom No-Pull HarnessMolecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body MedicineMORE ABOUT LINDA AND THE TTOUCH® METHOD:https://ttouch.com/https://www.ttouchforyouonline.com/immersion-series/https://www.facebook.com/groups/tellingtonttouchcommunity/https://www.facebook.com/LindaTTellingtonJones/https://www.facebook.com/TellingtonTTouchWorld/

Die weltberühmte und bekannte Pferdeexpertin Linda Tellington-Jones erklärt dir im Interview, wie du Herz und Vertrauen deines Pferdes gewinnen kannst. Warum Vertrauen so viel wichtiger ist als Kontrolle und wie wir unseren Pferden ganz einfach die Sicherheit geben können, die sie brauchen, um ein echter Partner an unserer Seite zu sein. Sie erzählt von ihrer Kindheit, ihren ersten Erfahrungen mit den Pferden und wie sie die TTouches erfunden hat. Außerdem beschreibt sie im Interview wie wir an uns selbst arbeiten können, um gute Pferdemenschen zu werden.

All about Elephants! With Dr. Gerald Buchoff, Linda Tellington-Jones and Raini Hale.  With special guests Sandy, Anne, and Helena to talk about their past and future work with rescue elepphants.

The founder of T-Touch explains how the system of gentle movements works.T-touch is a system of gentle, circular movements which, when practiced on animals including dogs, can release tension, activate cells, promote healing and solve a range of behavior challenges. Linda Tellington-Jones developed these techniques 40 years ago and certified practitioners now teach T-Touch all over the world. Learn some simple movements that you can use on your dog today in this episode of "Good Dog" featuring Linda Tellington-Jones.

Ljudje od živali zahtevamo, da nas razumejo, mi pa se ne trudimo, da bi razumeli njih, pravi Darja Žnidaršič, sicer medicinska sestra, pa tudi terapevtka TTouch in učiteljica za pse. In nadaljuje, da šele ko nekaj spoznaš, veš, kako s tem ravnati. Nič drugače ni pri naravi in živalih. Ko jih razumeš, jih začneš varovati sam od sebe, brez zakonov in prepovedi. Ena od metod, kako se jim približati in z njimi navezati stik, je tudi dotik. Nadgradnja dotika pa je metoda Tellington TTouch, neverbalna komunikacija, ki spodbuja povezanost med dvema živima bitjema. Metodo je razvila Linda Tellington-Jones, ki ji marsikdo reče kar šepetalka konjem. Osnov masaže se je naučila od dedka, ki je v Rusiji dresiral dirkalne konje, sam pa se je metode naučil od ruskih ciganov. Linda, ki je s svojim načinom dela z živalmi pomagala tudi orki Keiku iz filma Free Willy in številnim drugim divjim živalim, od slonov do snežnih leopardov, je bila gostja na Svetovnem kongresu Ambasadorjev živali in narave na Rogli.

Ihr Wissen mit anderen teilen und nicht für sich behalten - das ist die Philosophie von Linda Tellington-Jones. Im Interview mit Christian Kröber spricht die 80-Jährige über ihre eigens entwickelte und weltweit anerkannte TTouch-Methode. Seit Jahrzehnten verbreitet sie ihr Wissen über die TTouches und möchte damit nicht nur das Wohlbefinden und die Leistung von Pferden verbessern, sondern auch Reiter und Pferde näher zusammenzubringen. Im Podcast gibt Linda dir Einblicke in ihr Leben, in Schlüsselmomente auf dem Weg zur TTouch-Methode und in ihre Sichtweisen und Glaubenssätze rund um das Thema Pferd. Sie erklärt den wissenschaftlichen Hintergrund der TTouch-Methode und berichtet von spannenden Studien-Beispielen. Hör dir an, was TTouch für dich und dein Pferd bewirken kann und wie die Methode hilft, euch in eine mentale, physikalische und emotionale Balance zu bringen. Linda ist eine Pferdefrau durch und durch - lass dich von ihrer Erfahrung und ihrer Begeisterung inspirieren. Du lernst von ihr: - was TTouches sind und was die TTouch-Methode für dich und dein Pferd bewirken kann - inwiefern wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse die Wirkung der TTouch-Methode belegen - wie du mit TTouches die Leistung und das Wohlbefinden deines Pferdes steigern kannst Was ist die TTouch-Methode genau? (01:31) Was ist der TTouch genau, verglichen zu den anderen drei Aspekten, die die Methode ausmachen? (02:35) Wie bist du zu der TTouch-Methode gekommen und wie hast du herausgefunden, dass es eine andere Möglichkeit gibt, Pferde zu behandeln, so dass es einen echten Unterschied macht? (04:13) Es gibt einen starken wissenschaftlichen Hintergrund zur TTouch-Methode, anders als bei anderen Methoden. Wie kam es zu dieser Forschung und zu diesen wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen? (06:25) Was waren deine Schlüsselerkenntnisse aus der Forschung, die du in deine Methode hast einfließen lassen? (08:20) Wie können Reiter und Pferdefreunde die TTouches und die TTouch-Methode in ihren Alltag mit ihrem Pferd integrieren? (10:23) Wie kann aus deiner Sicht das Putzen des Pferdes verbessert werden und inwiefern beziehen sich die wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse auf dieses Thema? (14:21) Bei den TTouches sprichst du immer von einem "Eineinviertel-Kreis". Warum ist es "eineinviertel" und nicht zum Beispiel "dreidreiviertel"? (17:10) Es gibt aber auch Unterschiede in der Druckstärke bei den TTouches, oder? (19:23) Warum gibt es einen Unterschied zwischen Stärke 2 und 9 und wie legst du fest, welche Druckstärke du für welches Pferd anwendest? (20:15) Das Konzept unterliegt dem größeren Grundgedanken, dass alle Zellen untereinander verbunden sind? (22:00) Kann man mit der TTouch-Methode auch die Leistung eines Pferdes steigern? (23:07) Und auch du selbst, als du damals die Methode praktiziert hast, warst danach erfolgreicher als vorher, oder? (24:14) Die vier klassischen Fragen des wehorse-Podcasts (25:47) Viel Spaß mit dieser Podcast-Folge! Alle Links zu dieser Folge: Filme auf www.wehorse.com: Tellington TTouch-Training für Pferde: Die Philosophie http://www.wehorse.com/de/videos/show/426/tellington-ttouch-training-fuer-pferde-die-philosophie-linda-tellington-jones.html Tellington TTouch-Training für Pferde: So funktionieren die kreisenden TTouches http://www.wehorse.com/de/videos/show/435/tellington-ttouch-training-fuer-pferde-so-funktionieren-die-kreisenden-ttouches-linda-tellington-jones.html Tellington TTouch-Training für Pferde: Pferdekörper erforschen http://www.wehorse.com/de/videos/show/441/tellington-ttouch-training-fuer-pferde-den-pferdekoerper-erforschen-linda-tellington-jones.html Tellington TTouch-Training für Pferde: TTouches an den Ohren http://www.wehorse.com/de/videos/show/445/tellington-ttouch-training-fuer-pferde-ttouches-an-den-ohren-linda-tellington-jones.html Folge wehorse auf Facebook, Instagram, YouTube und Twitter und erfahre alle Neuigkeiten immer sofort.

Summary: Lori Stevens is an animal behavior consultant, a professional dog trainer, a canine fitness trainer, an animal massage practitioner, and a senior Tellington TTouch® Training practitioner. She continually studies how animal behavior, movement, learning, fitness, and health interact. She uses intimidation-free, scientific, and innovative methods, in an educational environment, to improve the health, behavior, performance, and fitness of animals. Lori gives workshops worldwide and has a private practice in Seattle, WA. She is also the creator of the Balance Harness. Lori's most recent of 3 DVDs By Tawzer Dog Videos is co-presented with Kathy Sdao and called 'The Gift of a Gray Muzzle: Active Care for Senior Dogs.' It focuses on improving the life of senior dogs. She will be teaching at FDSA in August for the first time, with a class on the same topic, called Helping Dogs Thrive: Aging Dogs. Links mentioned: The Gift of a Gray Muzzle: Active Care for Senior Dogs Helping Dogs Thrive: Aging Dogs Seattle TTouch (Lori's Website) The Feldenkrais Method Next Episode:  To be released 8/4/2017, featuring Amy Johnson talking about taking photographs of our pets.  TRANSCRIPTION: Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an online school dedicated to providing high quality instruction for competitive dog sports, using only the most current and progressive training methods. Today we'll be talking to Lori Stevens. Lori is an animal behavior consultant, a professional dog trainer, a canine fitness trainer, an animal massage practitioner, and a senior Tellington TTouch training practitioner. She continually studies how animal behavior, movement, learning, fitness, and health interact. She uses intimidation free, scientific, and innovative methods in an educational environment to improve the health, behavior, performance, and fitness of animals. Lori gives workshops worldwide and has a private practice in Seattle, Washington. She is also the creator of the balance harness. Lori's most recent of three DVDs by Tawzer Dog Videos is co-presented with Kathy Sdao, and called The Gift of a Gray Muzzle: Active Care for Senior Dogs. It focuses on improving the life of senior dogs. She will be teaching at FDSA in August for the first time with a class on the same topic called Helping Dogs Thrive: Aging Dogs. Hi, Lori. Welcome to the podcast. Lori Stevens: Hello. Thanks for having me on. Melissa Breau: I'm excited to shout today. Lori Stevens: Yeah, me too. Thanks, Melissa. Melissa Breau: Absolutely. So to get us kind of started out, can you tell us a little bit about your own dogs, kind of who they are, and what you're working on with them? Lori Stevens: Yes. So I'm going to talk about two. One is with me now because both of them actually got me into this business. So right now, I have a 12 year old Aussie named Cassie, and I got her when she was two years old, and at two, what I was working on is very different from what I'm working on now with her. At two we worked on a lot of behavior related issues, especially on leash, what you might label reactivity. She was barking a lot every day, she was unfamiliar, really, with being out in the world, and so I learned a lot from her. Basically, you know, how do you calm, and communicate, and build trust with the dog that basically didn't have trust in the world, so I learned loads from her, and we're always working on life with her. Our sport is fitness. We started out in agility, but over time, I figured out that, that was really hard for her, she wasn't really enjoying it, probably because of all the environmental sensitivity, and as much as I worked with her it just didn't seem like her thing. She loved it when she was running, but when she wasn't running it was really hard to hear all the noises and see the other dogs running, so we moved on, so now we do fitness, we do standup paddle boarding, we do lots of hikes, and now I'm living with an aging dog. So I actually have firsthand experience now in living with a dog that's getting older, but I wanted to bring up my first dog because that is the dog, Emmy, who got me into any of this work at all, and basically, she had a lot of health challenges, a lot of physical challenges, I learned just loads of stuff from her, and that's how I originally got into TTouch Training and massage, so I'll talk a little bit about that more, but I just want to bring up that Emmy is always present, even though she's been gone 10 years. She's been gone quite a while. Melissa Breau: They do manage to have quite a lasting impact sometimes. Lori Stevens: That is so true. So true. Melissa Breau: So what led you to where you are now? I mean, you started to mention Emmy a little bit, but how did you kind of end up working with dogs for a living? Lori Stevens: Well, so Emmy had all these physical issues and I just took a TTouch class, basically, to learn things to help Emmy, and I kept going to my vet, and my vet kept saying you're just doing wonderful work with her, if you would just get cards made up I would send all my clients to you, sent lots of clients to you, and it's kind of strange because…I won't say when, but way back when I ended up with a degree in computer science, but before that I was in occupational therapy, and I was also in the University Dance Company. I danced for many years, so I have this kind of weird dual interest, both in things physical, movement, bodywork. I always had that interest with occupational therapy and dance, but then I ended up in IT for many, many years. I just retired from the University in April 2017, from the university of Washington, but in 2005 I started my practice, and that was at the urging of a vet, so I got cards made up, and I didn't really think a lot was going to come of it, but in fact, that built my practice. So I went to four days a week at the University and had a practice one day a week for a long time, and then I went half time at the University. I just kept, you know, kind of building my practice and working in IT, and am out of IT, and totally focused on animals, which is fantastic. Melissa Breau: Indeed. Congrats. That's so exciting being able to focus on that full time. Lori Stevens: Yes, it is. Now I'm spending full time writing this course, which is really great fun, but it's a lot of work, and so it's a good thing I don't have my job too. Melissa Breau: So there are lots of kind of interesting pieces there, right? Just kind of all the different things that you work with, and all the different techniques you have, but I want to start with TTouch. So for those not familiar with it at all can you kind of explain what it is? Lori Stevens: I can. You're right, there's all those pieces, and oddly enough, they do all fit together, but what is Tellington TTouch Training? So people here touch and they think it's only body work, but Tellington TTouch Training is actually a lot more than body work. It is body work, and there are a variety of body work touch techniques, but there's also an element of it that is movement, which includes slowing down dogs and having them move precisely over various equipment on different movement patterns over different surfaces, stopping, turning, really slowing down the nervous system and letting them feel themselves, their bodies, in a way that maybe they haven't felt them before. It's interesting how many dogs move really, really fast, and it's uncomfortable for them to move really slowly when they're working with someone, so you learn a lot from that, and there's also several tools and techniques that go along with TTouch. One of those is leash walking and making it more comfortable for dogs to walk on a leash, and to fit well in their equipment, and that's pretty much how, you know, it's that awareness that caused me to develop, over years, the balance harness, but there's also the really learning to observe the dogs, and to give them choice. So there's a lot in TTouch that many years ago other people weren't really focusing on, and now, thankfully, many people are focusing on it all over the place, so it's kind of nice that, you know, it's now overlapping more with other work that people are doing, and anyway, I hope that gives you a better idea, but it's not just body work. Melissa Breau: Okay. So I wanted to ask kind of how it works too, and does it work for all dogs, is it something that works, you know, for some dogs better than others, is it something I could learn to do? I mean, how does that all kind of work? Lori Stevens: Absolutely, you could learn to do it. Does it work for all dogs? I have to answer that…and you know, of course, there's an element of it that works for all dogs, but you have to define what you mean by works, and everything depends on the dog and what you're trying to do, but the thing that makes Tellington TTouch work unique is that it's not habitual. In other words, the way you touch the dog is not the way the dog is used to being touched, so it sort of gets the attention of the nervous system in a different way. The way you move the dogs is different from how they typically move, so it kind of gets their attention in another way. It's almost as if they're listening to the work sometimes. It's super interesting. The nice thing about it is that I can get a dog that's so fearful in my practice that I can't touch the dog, but I have other tools to use with that dog, so I can move the dog, and over time, with that movement I build trust and we have a dialog going on between us, and eventually, that dog says okay, I'm ready to be touched now. I mean, they really do, they come up to your hands, and then once you start the touch work you've got another set of things you can do, so it's really got a depth to it that isn't so visible on the surface, and the fact that it's called TTouch often just leads people into thinking that it's just this one thing where you touch your dog. There's work in humans called Feldenkrais, so it was developed years ago, and it's a technique that moves people in nonhabitual ways to kind of develop new neural pathways to give them freedom of movement again. So people that have serious injuries, and they're, you know, varying them for whatever reason, a variety of reasons, have very limited movement, they can work with the Feldenkrais practitioner, or in a Feldenkrais class called Awareness Through Movement that really slows down and moves your body into nonhabitual patterns to regain new freedom of movement in your own body. It teaches your body to move in another way to get to the same place. Linda Tellington Jones, who developed Tellington TTouch Training, went through that Feldenkrais training for…she did it in order to work with the riders in our Equine Center, the horse riders, so then she started applying those ideas, and those techniques to animals, and that's where the work came from.      Melissa Breau: Interesting. Lori Stevens: I know. It's a well-kept secret. Melissa Breau: So you know, you're also a small animal massage practitioner, and you're a certified candidate in massage, so how did those pieces kind of mesh? What are some of the differences between something like TTouch and massage, how do you use them in conjunction? Lori Stevens: There is overlap and there's also quite a bit of difference, so with my massage training I can really focus on if I'm working with a dog who is super tight in the shoulders from doing too much agility over the weekend, and has big knots, you know, I can get those knots out because I have that training. Also, my training is in rehabilitation massage, so I can do manual lymphatic drainage, so if the dog has lymphoma say, and has huge swollen lymph nodes in the neck that you can actually see how swollen the lymph nodes are, I can do this very gentle work to bring that swelling down, to move the lymph node system lymph fluid again, so I can do very specific work that has a very physical effect. In TTouch body work I can work on a tail and change the behavior of a dog, so…what? So it's very different, you're more working with fascia and skin in the nervous system than you are working muscles, although muscles can change as well. Both of the techniques can change gate. It's all very, very interesting how, you know, both of them can change gate from working on the bodies, and I'm sure there's a lot of overlap, even when you're focusing on different things, but they really have kind of a different focus. And the TTouch work is much…I won't say lighter, because they both can be quite light, like even when I'm working on a knot in a muscle I don't dig in there, you know, I'm very…I go with the muscle, but I would just say they have a different focus, and therefore, you can end up with a different result. And the TTouch body work can actually…I see more changes in behavior than I do with massage, and I don't know if that's because I'm focused upon that, I don't know. I mean, it's kind of interesting, but you know, when a dog gets really uptight, often times out on a walk, my dog's tail will start to go up. That will be one of the first things I see. Maybe her ears and head, but I'll see her tail go up. If I actually reach down and just stroke her tail and bring her tail back down it actually brings her back down. Melissa Breau: Interesting. Lori Stevens: Yeah, I know. It's kind of interesting. I might have to teach that in my next Fenzi course. Melissa Breau: Hey, I'd certainly be interested in learning a little more about it. So it sounds like to me…and I could be totally of base, obviously, but if the TTouch is a little bit more focused on kind of the physical and behavioral tied together, whereas, the massage is more kind of on the physical and performance side. Is that kind of right? Lori Stevens: Well, sure. You can put it that way. I would just say they are different techniques. There is overlap, but there are different techniques. TTouch in no way does it do manual inside drainage, for example, that is a massage technique, and when I'm doing just message to get knots out I'm not generally looking for changes in behavior. I'm looking for changes in the body. So…I don't know, I mean, they're both touching the body, both body work. Melissa Breau: Now, you're also a certified canine fitness trainer, so how does that factor in? Lori Stevens: So that factors into the movement work, so I have been doing the Tellington TTouch training moment work for years, and it wasn't really getting dogs to the point that…it wasn't getting them where I wanted them to go if they were showing weakness in their muscles. Having a background in dance and being active my entire life, I was really looking for ways of helping the dogs be stronger, and more flexible, and more agile, and more confident, and blah blah blah, and some of those TTouch gave, and some of those it didn't, so it was natural for me to take it a step further. I mean, all the stuff I do sounds like a bunch of certifications, but they're all really interwoven. I had been doing some fitness with dogs for years, and then when the University of Tennessee offered the certified canine fitness trainer program and partnership with Fitpaws I jumped on it, because that was the first program that I saw that I thought would be worth doing, and just going ahead and getting my certification in it, plus I learned things. When I see…especially a dog's age, is weakness, or you know, I see habitual movement patterns that maybe a dog got injured when they were two, and at six they're still carrying the same pattern, they just never quit taking all their weight off their back right foot, say, so fitness really allowed me to take it a step further and help those dogs get back to being more functional, and stronger. And it's really fun, and it's a fantastic way of building trust, and enjoying communication with your dog. It's just another…well, like I said, it's my sport, one of my sports, so I just think it's fantastic. Melissa Breau: So I want to kind of shift gears for a minute and look at your interest in older dogs. What led to that? Was it Cassie getting older or was it something else? Lori Stevens: No, no. I've been working with older dogs for years. It's funny how long I worked with them before I had one, although, I have had older dogs before, but because of the kind of work I was doing the veterinarians were sending lots of senior dogs to me, and because I was helping them get functional again, and helping them feel better I just kept getting them, so I had a lot of experience. Even in 2005 I was getting the older dogs sent to me and I just kept building up that knowledge of working with them, and helping them feel better. I wonder what year it was. I want to say it was 2014, but I can't be certain. Kathy Sdao and I decided to do Gift of a Gray Muzzle together and really focus on aging dogs in a video in our workshop. We just gave that workshop recently again. It's kind of a passion of mine because you know, everybody when they get a puppy they're very enthusiastic about their new puppy, and you know, they have to learn a bunch of things, but there's a motivation to learn a bunch of things because you have a new puppy, you just went out and got it, but our dogs age gradually, and it's not the same kind of oh boy, I've got an aging dog, and I'll go out and learn all these new things. You know, books on aging dogs don't sell, and the thing is that there's a real joy of working with aging dogs, and watching them get new light in their eyes, and watching them physically get through things that maybe they weren't getting through before, so anyway, that's what led me to it. Melissa Breau: To kind of dig into that a little more, what are some of the issues that older furry friends tend to struggle with where your training and presumably, also your upcoming class may be able to help?      Lori Stevens: Well, I think even with people, keeping our dogs minds, or keeping our minds and bodies active is incredibly important, and this thing happens as dogs age is they all of a sudden get really comfortable sleeping for a very long time, and I think we go…especially if we have more than one dog I think we kind of say to ourselves well, our older dog's fine, you know, I'll put more energy into my younger dog, you know, maybe don't think that, but that's what ends up happening, and then one day you notice oh my god, the hind end strength is going, and the proprioception is going, which both of those naturally diminish with age. I better say what proprioception is. Proprioception is your conscience ability to know where your body is in space during movement, so if you think of a toddler at a certain age, they can't hold their cup up with juice in it, they're just pouring it upside down and then they're upset their juice is gone, but then at a certain age they suddenly know how to keep their cup upright while they move. That's proprioception. Well, you lose it with age, and so you have dogs that used to be able to step over and run over everything, running into low poles, or low logs, or whatever, and so hind end strength and proprioception naturally diminish with age, and so in the course, and when I work with older dogs, and when I do the workshops, that's what I'm helping people do is get those back. Also, I think we're not quite prepared as humans to all of a sudden, we have this senior dog, and our dog can't do as much as it could do before, and so we have to change as well, so how do our expectations need to change, and how can we make this time together, which hopefully, will be many years as wonderful as it can be. You know, we have to change our expectations, and rather them be disappointed, find joy in that as much as our dogs need to find joy in a different kind of life as well. Not meaning…this isn't bad, this is all good stuff. I mean it all in a very good way. It's just that's it's different, and so you know, in the course I give lots of tips on the easiest way to get your dog in and out of a car, or on the sofa, the functional things that dogs could do when they were younger, sometimes those go away, and so how do we bring back that function or maintain that function and joy with our aging dogs. So we'll be doing lots of activities in that course on keeping our dogs minds and bodies active, but also tools and techniques we can use to participate in making their lives as good as we can. Did that help? Melissa Breau: Absolutely. So if you were to make one recommendation for everyone listening who happens to have an aging or older dog, what would it be? Is it about mind shift, is it about, you know, exercise? I mean, what kind of piece would you pull out of that? Lori Stevens: Well, I certainly have one. Surprise, surprise. I would say be your dog's advocate, trust yourself. If you suspect something is wrong, be a detective until you get to the source. I can't tell you how many times the answer is well, your dog's getting older, you know, you're making stuff up, or that's just natural, your dog's getting older, and there really has been something, so I do think it's really, really important to be your dog's advocate, and to trust yourself, and it's okay to take your older dog to acupuncture appointments, or TTouch appointments, or massage appointments, or swimming appointment, you know, whatever you want to do to make yourself feel better. That's a good thing, but if you notice that…and your dog feel better, but if you notice something seems off it can be really hard to find what it is, and just be your dog's advocate is all I can say. Go to another vet if your veterinarian isn't willing to work with you through figuring out what it is. Melissa Breau: And finally, the questions I ask  in every episode. I want to ask you kind of the same three questions that I asked everybody whose come on so far. So to start, what's the dog related accomplishment that you are proudest of? Lori Stevens: My observation skills. I mean, they have developed since 2005 and I'm happy that I can now recognize how developed they are, and how important observation skills are, and really honoring the dog's needs rather than my own agenda, right. I mean, you know, sometimes it's natural when you have a practice to think through I'm getting ready to see this person and dog, and here's my agenda for the hour-long session, we're going to do it, X, Y, and Z, and then the dog gets there and goes no, we're not, you know, I want to do something else. So really being observant to be able to tell that, and then honoring the dog's needs, and the person, of course, has the say in what you do as well, but you know, really honoring the dog's needs. And I've actually…I will say it's only happened once since 2005, but I lost a client for not forcing a dog to do things, so I didn't mind losing that client, but… Melissa Breau: It's important to stand up for your principles and kind of do what you believe is the right thing. Lori Stevens: Yeah, and I'm just not comfortable forcing dogs into position for a massage. Melissa Breau: Right. So what about training advice, what is the best piece of training advice that you've ever heard? Lori Stevens: You know, it's funny. I don't really think these are what you have in mind, but… Melissa Breau: That's okay! Lori Stevens: Yeah. Meet the dog where she is or he is. That was the best piece of advice I heard and that was in TTouch, but just kind of change to meet both learners, the dog and the person, where they are. You can't really tell people to change, right, you have to guide them gently, and kind of move with them when they're really to move. People have to decide for themselves to make changes, and communication is so incredibly important. I've seen dogs and people go from, you know, a pretty dark place to an incredible place, and I'm so thrilled with what, you know, with the influence that I had on that. I would have to say just meeting everybody where they are, and recognizing how important communication is, and that it's not just about what we think, or how we think it should be done, but bringing the person and dog along at their own pace. Melissa Breau: And finally, who is someone else in the dog world that you look up to? Lori Stevens: Well, you know there's several, but I have to say Dr. Susan Friedman and Ken Ramirez probably are two top. Melissa Breau: Ken's well regarded among the FDSA staff. I've heard his name a couple of times now. Lori Stevens: Yeah. He's pretty great. So is Dr. Susan Friedman. I think you'll hear her name more and more if you haven't already. Melissa Breau: Cool. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast, Lori. Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on. Melissa Breau: I feel like I learned a ton. Lori Stevens: That's great. Melissa Breau: Yeah. And thank you to all of our listeners for tuning in. We'll be back next week with Amy Johnson to discuss photography and our dogs. If you haven't already, subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or the podcast app of your choice to have or next episode automatically downloaded to your phone as soon as it becomes available.      CREDITS: Today's show is brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Special thanks to Denise Fenzi for supporting this podcast. Music provided royalty-free by BenSound.com; the track featured here is called “Buddy.” Audio editing provided by Chris Lang and transcription written by CLK Transcription Services.  

Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an online school dedicated to providing high quality instruction for competitive dog sports using only the most current and progressive training methods. Today we'll be talking to Dr. Amy Cook. Amy has been training dogs for nearly 25 years and has been specializing in the rehabilitation of shy and fearful dogs for over 15 years. She's the creator of The Play Way, her process for helping dogs learn to cope with the world around them. She's also a certified dog behavior consultant, a long-standing professional member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, and has attended all four Chicken Camps in Hot Springs, Arkansas taught by Bob Bailey. Amy returned to school in 2006 to get her PhD in psychology from UC Berkeley. Her research there focused on the dog/human relationship and its effect on problem solving strategies dogs employ. She also recently started a blog at playwaydogs.com, and everyone should definitely go check it out. Hey, Amy, welcome to the podcast. Amy Cook: Hi, Melissa. Thanks for having me. This is so exciting. Melissa Breau: I'm very excited to talk to you. To start us out do you want to tell us a little bit about the dogs you have now and what you're working on with them? Amy Cook: Oh, my dogs. You know, when you start people talking on their dogs it's kind of endless, so you're going to have to stop me when you've heard about my lovely dogs. I have currently, I lost my old girl last year who I would have had a lot to say about, but I have currently Marzipan who some people know, she's my Whippet, she's five and a half, I want to say, or so, and with her I mainly do agility. She's been actually out with an injury for now what seems like a million years and since dinosaurs have roamed the earth. She got sort of her foot reconstructed, she had reconstructive surgery on her toe. So it's been a real adventure having a dog go from three classes a week and traveling every weekend to you live in a box. It's been hard on both of us, but also stretching for both of us because of how I can keep her happy in different ways than I used to before. And I have little baby Caper who I think you helped name if I'm not mistaken. She is a ten-month-old terrier, chihuahua-terrier is what she is. Melissa Breau: So what did Marzipan do to her foot that took her out of commission? Amy Cook: You know, yeah, you'd think it would be during sport or something since we do such crazy stuff, but no, we were hiking and I think the crime was that it was not quite winter, it wasn't winter, it was summer, and the ground used to be marshy and now was dry and cracked. I think she just tweaked a toe just running, just not even running a lot, just running kind of a normal amount, and it didn't look injured at all, and so it took so long, it's like, oh, rest it for three weeks, it'll be fine. Then it was like, oh, that wasn't long enough, rest it for eight weeks and it'll be fine. The specialists come in and they're like, you're going to take four months and it'll be fine. Then finally to the agility, fancy agility surgeon and he said, “Yeah, I think we should do some surgery on her toe. It's not healing.” So from that point, I know, it was six weeks of splint and six weeks of bandage and now it's going to be 12 weeks of rehab. You know, it was quite a shock to the system. She's my main partner, my main dog. I didn't have the puppy, she was the only dog I had at the time that happened. So our training life took a turn for a bit. But we're almost there. Almost there. Six more weeks, I hope. Melissa Breau: The end is in sight. Amy Cook: End is in sight. Very happy about that. Melissa Breau: So you mentioned the puppy. Where did the puppy come from? Amy Cook: Caper, she was my unplanned pregnancy as my friend likes to say. God, she was…a friend sent me a picture, I'm like, oh my God, she's so cute, it's a classic story, I just need a little pocket dog, I just need a little…Marzipan is going to be out for a while. My next sport dog will come in 2018, I thought to myself, and I just need a little dog to tide me over, I'll get a little Chihuahua or I'll get a little pocket dog, I'll have a little fun companion for a bit. So that'll be fun. So I get this little sort of try on as a foster dog and the first thing she does from week one is she's bringing me toys, she's pushing me, she's, “Why are we not doing more? I'm not a pocket dog. Put me down. Why are you picking me up? I don't want this. Here's a toy. Can you tug this?” She was so active. It's like I'd adopted a Border Collie puppy. It's crazy. I was like, oh, well, that's not who I thought you were, but I can roll with that. Okay. All right. That's fun. She's a fun little dog. She's really fun to train and she came with focus out of the box. I've barely trained focus in her and she doesn't take her eyes of me. It's crazy. It's really fun. Melissa Breau: She's really cute. Amy Cook: It's a real contrast to Marzipan. She's so cute. And it's a real contrast to Marzipan because I'm used to the sighthound way and she's all terrier, all terrier. I'm learning a lot from that, from working with that psychology, you know? It's different. Melissa Breau: So I know that one of the things about your intro that I don't think I'd known before I started doing some research for the podcast is that you'd been to Chicken Camp, especially four times. So I really want to hear more about that. Just like, what your impressions were, what your thoughts were about it, what was it like? Amy Cook: Amazing. Amazing. I went to Chicken Camp. It's like a friend of mine and I, we went together, and I'm really glad to see that Bob is still here and with us and doing Chicken Camps, but at that time I think it was right after his wife had died and they were doing the camps together, and he wasn't sure how much he was really going to continue. It was like, God, I've been putting this off way too long, we have to go, we have to go. So I actually did I think two in one summer and then two the next summer if I'm not mistaken. I kind of crammed them in. Melissa Breau: Wow. Amy Cook: Yeah. Because I really wanted to take advantage of learning from Bob. There's really nobody like him. At the time I was very, very into clicker trainer, I mean of course still, but I was much more so then. Learning it, learning it a lot on the internet, a lot from books, a lot from just every source I could find and I wanted to go to somebody who was so close to the, I guess I could say origins of it if that's fair to say, and learn as much as I could. Honestly it was absolutely life changing to learn both from him and to train an animal that does not meet you halfway, that does not help at all with the learning process, isn't trying to work with you at all. I think if you can train a dog that's one thing, but it doesn't guarantee you can train another animal. But if you can train a bunch of other animals you can probably train a dog because they make it so much easier on you and the other animals kind of don't, at least that's my impression. So it was wonderful and he's such a good teacher. He knows exactly how to lay just the right amount in front of you. There was one time when a chicken was pecking me like crazy and I was really afraid of her and he actually shaped us both without telling me that's what was happening. So I got the experience of just quietly being compassionately and respectfully shaped. It was just a beautiful experience. I loved chicken camp so much and it changed the way I train fundamentally. Absolutely. Melissa Breau: For anybody out there who might not be familiar with the concept do you want to just briefly kind of explain the idea? Amy Cook: Sure. So what you do is maybe you're a dog trainer, maybe you're a bird or exotic animal trainer, I went to camp with a few of those, or even a psychology professor. If you want to learn how to apply the techniques of operant conditioning in a very controlled environment you can go to Chicken Camp. You pay money to spend a week with Bob and two chickens and a partner and a _____ (16:26) doing the little exercises that he lays out for you. They get increasingly complex and you first start with how do I click and how do I feed this animal in a way that is correct? How do you feed a chicken? They peck. You can't hand them with your hand a piece of feed, right? So you go through all the mechanics of how to train a chicken, clicker train, and then he gives you these little tasks. So it's like, you know, here are some disks, have your chicken peck only the red one and not the yellow or blue one. You're like, oh, piece of cake. I can do that. Famous last words, right? Sure enough, one errant click somewhere because you're late, because dogs can kind of handle you being a little bit late, right, and still progress, one errant late click for the chicken and the chicken goes, oh, all right, got it, and starts doing that thing that you clicked over and over and over again. You're like, no, no, I didn't…wait. I just…could you not? I didn't mean that. No. One click could get you a hundred clicks in the wrong direction to get out. And you really learn to be accurate because you can't afford to make certain kinds of mistakes. And the chicken will get full, so every click and every food they eat is measured. You have to really, really be careful and very, very good, and you make all sorts of sloppy mistakes and you pay for them really harshly. Your chicken does not do anything you thought you were teaching, you're all over the place. You know, you find yourself maybe turning to things you otherwise do with your dogs that maybe you don't realize you do, like oh, come on, just could you just…then you're like, wait, I can't do that to a chicken. Do I do that to my dog? I shouldn't do that to my dog either. It pares you down to the pieces of the technology that actually work and the chicken forces you to get better because she's not going to cover a single mistake that you make, ever. That's it. Click once wrong and oh, boy. You're going to be there all day. Melissa Breau: I definitely think Chicken Camp is on my someday list, on my bucket list, something I would love to do. Amy Cook: For sure. Absolutely. Run, don't walk. For sure. Melissa Breau: So I wanted to ask you too about the early days of FDSA because I believe, I think you actually told me that you were one of the first teachers that Denise brought on at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. So I was really curious to get some of your impressions on how you think it's changed and kind of what happened when she initially approached you. Amy Cook: Oh, boy. You know, it was standing in the right place at the right time, I swear. You know, she had taught online elsewhere and decided to do this endeavor, and I was just…I'm pretty sure I was just finishing grad school and saying, well, I guess I'm going back to dog training. I wasn't sure what I had in store, I'll just revamp or ramp up my business again, fine. And I can remember, I was standing near a freezer in her garage and I can't exactly remember how it came up but she said, “We have a behavior arm, could you teach what you teach, teach a class in what you do?” Boy, I felt…the answer was both yes and no. The answer is no because I've never done that, but the answer is yes because well, it has to be possible, right? Sure. I'll certainly try it. I really wanted to do something like that. But for a second there I was like, really? Behavior? Behavior, though. I mean, behavior. It's complicated. People are all over the place. Dogs are behaving all over the place. It's a lot to…how will I do this online? But I had faith. She really had vision early on for how this was going to go and we brainstormed, I was really excited about it. She actually came up with the title of the class, Dealing with the Bogeyman, that's hers. She's like, let's call it that. I was like, sure. It was exciting. It was exciting times and I was really just like, well, I'm happy to run a class and see what I can do for people. If it's something I don't feel is resulting in improvements that are reasonable for the dogs I'm helping then it's not right, then online is more suited for skill-based stuff and not so much the concepts or the complicated behaviors. I shouldn't have been afraid because it's been amazing. It's been amazing. I got to say, I think that my online students…oh, well, I wrote a blog post about this because I was just so moved by this. My online students get to their goals faster than in person students do, and there's something very intoxicating about that. To get somebody closer to the resolution in such a shorter amount of time, you know, I was like, well, then I want everybody online. Everybody get online. Everybody, quick. You know? And it's amazing how much contact I have with somebody who takes an online class. They can talk to me every day whereas no in-person client does that or can afford to really. That's the reason. And I get every day almost contact with people trying to apply the lessons, run into problems, and ask again. I get to fine tune it so much. It's like living with people which is what I always want to do when I get a new client. I'm always thinking wow, if I could just move in, you and I together, we could fix your situation and I could help you. But you get an hour a week. It's not enough, you know? And boy, being online with people in amazing and the community that Denise has been able to build through Facebook and all of that. I don't know. I think about it all the time. I think about how much access we have to changing…I know it's ____ (22:34) any other way to say it, changing the world. You know? It's the ripple effect. You have to put it out there and say, this is the way I think we should be doing this, and let me help you with it. And the changes I've seen just in these short few years have been really, really inspiring. I'm so grateful to be a part of it. Melissa Breau: So my understanding is the very first class that you started offering right out of the gate with Denise was the Bogeyman course, right? Amy Cook: It was. It was. And that's all I ran for a long time. Melissa Breau: Do you want to just explain briefly to listeners kind of what the course is and a little bit about the methodology that you use? Amy Cook: Yeah. So the course is Dealing with the Bogeyman, and it's designed for fearful, stressed, reactive dogs, dogs that are overwhelmed with what's going on for them, what they're afraid of, and really getting to the root of problem and really trying to get to the source, get right to the bottom of the problem rather than just kind of manage it which is what we end up doing a lot of times. We find a way to get to about a stasis and we kind of coast along there. But stress is a hard thing to experience. Everybody listening knows exactly what I mean. Wouldn't we all not want to have the stress we have in our lives? Every one of us wants to have a less stress life pretty much because it's hard and I feel that for dogs. It's hard for them to live in our world when they're so stressed. So this class is designed to help with that at a root level. What I do is I use social connection and social play to help get them in a state where they can process their triggers a lot better, and I reduce the use of food, I reduce the use of toys sometimes to zero, but not always all the way to zero, to help them. And it didn't start out…like, it started out, the first iteration of the class is not like the current iteration that's running right now. It has evolved a lot over time. As I watched students have more success with even more play I started emphasizing more and more play. It was a part of the program before but it wasn't as emphasized as it is now. But I've seen the wonders of what it can do, and so now it's really the bulk of what the approach is. I think I might have lost your question in the fact that I'm just talking on. Is that what you're asking? Melissa Breau: Not at all. You actually answered it pretty well. I just wanted you to kind of explain what the Bogeyman course was and kind of what's involved and I think you did that very nicely. I do… Amy Cook: People are going to play. If you take the class you're going to play, play, play, play, and then you're going to play some more, and then your dog is going to get better. That's _____ (25:35). Melissa Breau: So that leads me very well into my next question which is asking you to kind of…I know when you and I talk about it usually you call it kind of The Play Way is like, the name of the methodology even though the course if the Bogeyman course. So I was curious if you wanted to sum kind of what the play way is up in a short blurb. I mean, you talked about it a little bit, but if there's anything kind of you want to add there. Amy Cook: Yeah. The play way is specifically using social play and social connection, so not tug, not fetch, not that kind of thing, but being goofy and silly and making your dog laugh and having a fun time with your dog, and taking that play and using that to directly solve problems that they have with fear. So it's dog centric, it's about the dog, him or herself coming to a new understanding of the thing that they don't currently understand. So if they're afraid of strangers it's because they have a misunderstanding of what the strangers are about, because none of the strangers really mean to hurt them, and I think they don't have enough information. Now it's hard to get dogs to get new information about things that are scary to them because they're scared of them and you can't look at it openly and you can't deal with it as well. Like, I can't deal with spiders. You put one on me, I'm done. I can't deal with that. So if you want to reframe that it's not going to work until you get me distance, you get me in a calm state, and I really found that play puts them in this completely different emotional space that allows for our therapeutic attempts to really take root. And I realize none of that is brief, none of what I just said is brief. I don't think I can be brief. I think I'm genetically wired to be the opposite of. Melissa Breau: But I think it gives people a good idea, right, of what the methodology is and kind of what you're endorsing here. I mean, I think that it's very different probably than what most people are used to hearing about dealing with fear and dealing with dogs' sensitivities which is so often food-based. Amy Cook: It's different from anything I had ever done. I mean, I've been doing this a long time and it's a complete departure for me. It's not at all what I've done most of the time in helping dogs. Melissa Breau: So where did it come from? Where did the idea… Amy Cook: Well, yeah. Kind of…it's an evolving idea I should first say, right, I'm not finished. I mean, I want to keep investigating all of this and putting all the little pieces together. Right now I'm at a place where I've put some pieces together and it's hanging together, it's helping, and that's really exciting. It's sort of this big evolution of influences. I first got together with Denise because I had known her before kind of just from our local training circles, but she and I both got puppies at the same time and they both turned out to have every similar sorts of views on the world and challenges and training. It made us get together kind of more often. Once a week we would talk about it and shoot the breeze about these different things. I started watching her train in person more which I hadn't really done a lot of previous. And the amount of social interaction and the way she was working with her dogs was sort of reminding me of how I had been feeling lately about a lot of clicker training was feeling remote to me, at least at the time. It was feeling like very Chicken Camp. I'll tell you maybe a little bit about that later, but where you observe your animal a lot, so you're watching, and you're holding your clicker, and you're kind of being still and letting your animal think. Or maybe it was just me, I was making learning a little more sterile than I needed it to be, and she had so much more play and relationship in it. And through watching her do that and training with her and exploring that with my own dog I started just to…some things were clicking in my head. Then I'm also friends with Grisha Stewart and when she was creating BAT which is behavior adjustment training she was really exploring how dog centric training could be. Like, how much can I let the dog do for him or herself without intruding so much and let the process happen so naturally? And it was inspiring to me because we were tending not to do that, we were tending to make a lot of associations. Here's a cookie, I'm making an association for you, I'll be there in your process with you. That was percolating a bit too, about how to…I mean, really dogs, all of us should know how to deal with our fears if we're given the right environment to do so. An animal should know how to calm him or herself. An animal should know how to become less afraid, to investigate something that's frightening. It just isn't available if the stimulus is too high. If you're too afraid you can't do it, but all of us have that kind of wisdom in us. We all know how to make something better. So with that percolating. And then I sort of had this undercurrent of a bit of dissatisfaction with the way rehab was going with the basic tools that I had. It worked, but I don't know, I felt that there was something more. And when I was in grad school I got a chance to actually read a whole bunch more literature than I had been able to read as a nonstudent, although I was studying Skinner and studying Pavlov and using science to train dogs, for sure science based all the way. Now I had big libraries behind me and a whole bunch of information and people I could ask, and I realized when we're dealing with human fears we don't really do it like we do with dogs, we don't really classically condition them in that same way. And more importantly, when children have fears we don't classically…or maybe someone does, but I was seeing that a lot of therapy has to do with play and has to do with relaxing and talking things through. I thought, how can I do this with dogs? I can't talk things through with dogs. So all these pieces were just kind of in the air for me. And as each influence kind of came in I started to think, well, okay, I like what this distance is doing, but the dogs are on their own, and for our sport dogs we need them to be turning to us and be more interactive and wanting to do things with us. How can I put myself in this picture with them, with their dog centric work without impeding it, without taking it over, without going back to trying to click or make associations with classical conditioning? How can I blend them? And I started to just experiment and see what dogs needed. And it kind of all came together. It took a few passes through Bogeyman for me to see just how I wanted to impart it to people. Honestly that's not even true because I keep tweaking it, I tweak it every time figuring out how to explain it better and more. But that's where it came from. It's partly human psychology, human therapy, and partly the great distances that Grisha is experimenting with and letting a dog solve her own problems, and then the great relationship building stuff that Denise is just amazing at, and reading when you are being too much for your dog and when you're not giving them enough agency to come at you. You know, she's just so good at that and I drink everything…every time I get to see her do anything like that I drink it up and think how can this apply to dogs in trouble? How can I use this? You know, it's very inspiring. Melissa Breau: Yeah. I mean, I have to say, having had the chance to watch Denise train a couple of times now I feel exactly the same way. When you see somebody who is really incredible at what they do and you just get a chance to watch it's just, I mean, it's fascinating. I'm looking forward to camp again this year so much because last year…you get to watch, I mean, all the instructors at FDSA are so incredible, and to be able to spend a couple of days doing nothing but watch these incredible trainers do what they're best at, it's a really neat experience. Amy Cook: It really is. I change every time and I would have my lesson with Denise and then I would sit there and watch her do whoever came after me just to kind of watch what she did and go, how come what she's doing here isn't what I have access to in the pet world? I came from…I did pet dog training all of this time, my whole career, my whole life, pet dog training and behaviors in pet dogs, aggression and fear, stress, all that stuff, not really sports stuff. Sport I got into late and I just did for myself. And it's a whole different world. Pet dog trainers don't have access. It's almost two non-overlapping circles. It isn't quite true but it felt that way. When I watch a lot of…Shade is one of those people too, I watch her and I go, how come that wasn't something I could have learned when I was learning how to train dogs? That part is missing from the pet dog trainer education and I wish we were a lot more…I wish there was a lot more overlap than there is. I hope that's in our future. Melissa Breau: That makes both of us. So we got a little bit away from kind of what we were talking about originally, but that's okay. I think the conversation went good places. But I want to kind of bring us back for a second to the Bogeyman course. We talked through that a little bit but you also now teach the Management for Reactive Dogs class. So I wanted to give you a chance to tell us a little bit about how that course is different, and what that course covers, and kind of why you felt the need to add a second course. Amy Cook: Yeah. That course is different. I teach that as an adjunct or kind of a package, but I mean, you can jump in at either point, they're not sequential. Because when you live with a dog who has some troubles it's great that you can put aside time for therapy, and those therapeutic moments are really impactful, they really make a difference and that's all great. It takes time to do it though, and in the meantime you still have to potty your dog and you still have to get your houseguests in, right, and in the meantime you still have to drive somewhere. Life goes on. You can't stay under threshold. I have a way more conservative definition of threshold than most people do, so staying under it gets even harder if you're going with my definition of threshold. So that doesn't solve everybody's problem. That's great, you can go through Bogeyman but you can't potty your dog, right? So management class is for the times when your dog is going to be over threshold. Maybe not massively so, maybe not full on into the biggest display over, but worried, actually triggered by being scared, seeing somebody outside or seeing a strange dog, and it covers all of the strategies to get you through daily life. How do you get a positive leash walk going? What do you do when your dog barks at a window when someone is walking by the house? How do you get your dog outside without rehearsing the worst behaviors of their stress and their fear and their anxieties? I don't want anyone to worsen anything. Management is what you put in place first, you just say, how can I make sure nothing gets worse than it currently is? How can I relieve the pressure as best I can, keep everything as positive as possible, what skills do I need to do that? Once that's in place you're like, all right, now let me set aside some time for therapy to get at the root of this. So management is how you can get through your leash walks without getting your leash all tangled, how to feed in a way that keeps the dog's nose right on that cookie magnetically. I'm continually surprised that that's hard for us all because we're trained to keep the cookie off, it's not a lure, we're supposed to reward after. So a lot of little details that way, and the two together get you through kind of the problems you're having with your dog. I also teach a learning theory class but it hasn't been on the schedule for a bit, but I think that one is coming back too. So I do have three classes that I currently teach as well. Melissa Breau: Well, that's exciting. Do you want to briefly tell us what that kind of… Amy Cook: Yeah. Yeah. I'm thinking…yeah. I'm thinking of revamping that one. I do a learning theory class that's a bit of the basics to catch up, make sure we're all on the same page with operant and classical conditioning and how it works, what it's for. But I've been doing this for a long, long time, and there's a lot of interesting practicalities when using those models. There's a lot of overlap between the two models. There's a lot of times when you're not sure which one to use. So I wrote this class to be a practical introduction for people who had been trying this stuff. Like, I'm trying to use operant conditioning but this is the common thing I run into. I look for all the common pitfalls, all the holes, all the should I do this or that, because I've heard if I do that it's going to make this happen. I'm like, aha, glad you asked, I'm going to write a whole lecture on it. So it's sort of very practical, very nitty gritty, very what a dog trainer actually needs to know. Like, you really don't need to know all the schedules of reinforcement. All of you out there, if you studied all the conditioning models, you also studied schedules of reinforcement, but you don't really use them in real life, right? So I pared this down to the stuff you actually do every day of your life, and then we talk for fun about things like can dogs feel jealous or can dogs tell time, can they estimate things, what kind of a life does a dog lead inside their brains? We foray into that for fun. Amy Cook: But I'm currently revamping it a little bit. Melissa Breau: You can't dangle those two questions out there without giving us at least a brief answer. So can dogs feel jealous? Can they tell time? Amy Cook: Well, that's what we discuss, right? That's what we discuss. If you lay out the evidence for jealousy I think it doesn't pass. I think what they feel, and this is a guess, I'm not saying I have a fact, right, I think they feel a precursor to jealousy. I think they feel the thing that is like, oh, I want that, no, why does…I want. A very basic version of feeling upset and wanting that if it had more self-awareness we would be comfortable calling jealousy, because jealousy has this sense of she shouldn't have that and I wish I had the thing she had. It's got more layers to it. But just because it doesn't have the outer layers doesn't mean it doesn't have the core. So it's my guess knowing what emotions they do have and what emotions they don't have. They don't seem to have secondary, they do seem to have primary emotions. They probably don't have well developed jealousy but everything is a continuum and having a basic version of jealousy, it becomes a semantic argument. Like, maybe we would just call that jealousy then, why can't we just say that's what jealousy is in dogs and say they have it? You know? So we toss that around a lot. It's a class for talkers and thinkers and tweakers and people who like to debate back and forth about definitions. It's that kind of geeky class. Melissa Breau: That sounds excellent. Amy Cook: It's like me. Melissa Breau: Hey, it sounds pretty good to me. I'll have to take it next time it comes around. Amy Cook: You're welcome. Melissa Breau: So now that we've talked a little bit about that, I mean, looking at a puppy who doesn't necessarily have a fear issue, or you mentioned you did get Caper fairly recently, how do you kind of try to raise that puppy in a way or lay groundwork for that puppy in a way that really allows them to become a healthy adult dog so you don't see some of those issues crop up? Amy Cook: Yeah. It's been fun. Every puppy is this adventure gift, right? I mean, part of why her name is Caper is because we're on a caper, we're on an adventure together. You can think you have one thing when you meet your dog or when you get to know a dog and have something entirely else at any point. And you know, as Denise would say, you train the dog in front of you today, right? So I say great, I've started with a brand new puppy, she's not really a blank slate because we know nobody is really a blank slate, but she hasn't had anything really happen to her, but you know, really she's a dog that was found stray in the streets of Fremont and picked up and put into a shelter and then into a rescue, and she certainly has a history. So what's been really fun is using the sensitive tools I have now that I didn't have before, or you know, that you're always a better trainer this year than you were last year, right? Oh, boy. Please, God. You know, so I feel like she's the Fenzi puppy in a way because Marzipan kind of wasn't. I mean, she was, but this one, I don't know, this one feels like she really is. So I think of that and I think, who do I have today? Who are you today? How do you feel today? I get to keep asking her how she feels, and I feel like I can hear more clearly what her answer is than I have every felt before with other dogs. It's really exciting. She has her issues, we went through a season, her heat cycle and a false pregnancy, and maybe from that or maybe a kind of fear period, I don't know, where she was all of a sudden some other kind of puppy. I thought wow, okay, I don't have the puppy I had a minute ago. What do I have now? And it's been just, at times a not so fun challenge, but mostly a fun challenge while I figure out what her needs really are, and she's completely different. I mean, maybe everybody says this, I'm going to go back and see if you ask this of everybody or what people say now, but thinking of my last four dogs, not a stitch of similarity in any of them to each other, you know? Like, I'm going to get a dog who's going to be like this and we're going to do that. You get the dog and you're like, oh, hi, nice to meet you. Who are you? What _____ (43:30). You know? She's enormous fun and I'm taking a lot of time with her. I don't care. A lot of people would just…you know, there's this pressure in puppyhood to get a bunch of skills in because they're just so malleable and you can start all this stuff and they love to learn and all that is true, but I also know that I can teach an older dog, any dog those kinds of things, and the time in immaturity, the time when they're growing up is the time to actually smell the flowers, you know? To chase the actual butterflies, to let them take in the world without so much interference from my input and from training. We go out and we exist together. We see the world and I resist the urge to try to take advantage of every second and train all the fun stuff. It feels more holistic and it feels more like we're bonded in a way that it just feels richer because I'm spending so much time listening and asking her how she feels and what she'd like to do. She's just an n of one, we like to say. It's not like I can say, and that leads you to the best dogs in the world, because I don't know. It's her. But I feel like when she does then say yeah, I can work, I'm ready to work, the quality of the connection that we have is much, much better after I've let her. And I directly learned that from the stuff that Denise was investigating with Brito. I mean, it's really…I'm just so grateful she got a little dog before I did, you know? Next I want her to get a Border Collie so then I can get one of those. It's like, you do it first. Somebody pave that. I don't want to make that _____ (45:20). Melissa Breau: So we're nearing the end, unfortunately, so I want to ask you those big questions that are always some of my favorites. Amy Cook: We just started. I have so much more to say. I have so many more things. Melissa Breau: Well then, we'll have to have you back, that's all. Amy Cook: All right. Melissa Breau: So I want to ask you what the dog related accomplishment that you're proudest of is. Amy Cook: Oh, my. Well, right now that would be Marzipan who I guess I didn't talk too much about. I have a theme. I have a theme in my life where sometimes I get a dog and I think, yeah, I can just make her into that, I can do that, I'm a good trainer, I know what I'm doing, I can just solve that problem, no problem. And then I realize that I'm on crack and I don't know what I'm doing at all, and get in way over my head. I got a dog long ago named Hannah who was very, very fearful, and I didn't estimate correctly how difficult that was going to be, and it was really, really, really hard, but I got into it going, no, just a few weeks of clicking and I'll be fine. So when I get my Whippet, Marzipan, I had intended to get my main sport dog, I'm getting my dog, and I'm going to do all this fun stuff, and I get whippet, and she's not purpose bred, she was five months old, and she didn't really work, didn't enjoy it, and I thought, so what? I'm a trainer, I'll just train her to like that stuff. It was harder than I thought it was and of course therefore then a gift, right? It led me to people like Denise, it led me to people like Shade, it led me to understand that I don't know anything about drive building and need to actually learn from people who do. But we got…she's in master's level agility and she does very, very well, and she's fast, and she's connected, and she's focused, and she didn't start out that way, and it was really hard mostly because I didn't know. I was applying the tools I had and they weren't right. So I'm really, really proud that together we were able to find a key to her lock if you can say that, and that I was able to change enough, because I had to do all that work, I had to do all the heavy lifting. It's not on the dog, right? It's not on the dog to change. You have to be who the dog needs. I had to change the way I presented myself. She didn't like a lot of things I would like, a lot of the things I was doing were not the things for her. Through the help of Sandy Rogers and through a bunch of people we found a way to motivate her, found a way to make her love this, and I got a non-working bred off-breed to find a way to love and look forward to and perform well in agility, and I'm just really proud of that and I'm proud of her for sticking with me through my many, many late front crosses. Thank you very much. I'm really proud of her and I'm really proud of the teamwork we have. Melissa Breau: That sounds like it's totally a good thing to be proud of. It sounds like you guys worked really, really hard to develop it and she's come a long way. So that's awesome. Amy Cook: Yeah. I'm thankful for it. It's lessons to me, right? I'm grateful that I've been able to grow in this direction because if she were a really easy dog I might not have the skills that I have, right? So that's the upside to all those things. So I'm just very grateful. Melissa Breau: So potentially my favorite question every single episode, since we've had somebody quote you on the podcast, not to add any extra pressure. Amy Cook: Oh my goodness. Hi, Julie. Melissa Breau: What is the best piece of training advice that you've ever heard? Amy Cook: Well, you know, my advice, that's my…no. I'm kidding. That piece that I made up, that's the best advice ever. No. Gosh, remind me to tell you the story one day of how that lecture at camp came to be because it happened the night before, believe it or not. Two. Everybody else got two, so I'm taking two. Melissa Breau: Go for it. Amy Cook: So I'm just saying that there's two. One that really, really made a difference, has really impacted me, always stuck with me, was from Bob Bailey. He said observe your animal, observe your learner. And you know, maybe that doesn't sound so deep at first. Of course, you'll watch your learner and you'll learn what you need to know. But it solved so many little problems and so many things that get in the way of your training because you're not seeing who is actually right there in front of you. And the short example is that you have to teach a chicken to peck not just the circle, it's like a construction paper circle, and not just the circle, but the dead center of it. That's really harder than it sounds because they move very quickly and the speed it takes for you to see the chicken and then depress your thumb onto the clicker, by the time the sound is made the chicken is on its way back up from pecking. Melissa Breau: Right. Amy Cook: So you need to click, plan to click and start the clicking when the chicken is on its way down. So it took many lessons, I'm concatenating it for this reason, for you, but Bob had to give me little pieces over time. But it was I had to know what her head and her beak angle, and what she looked like when she was going to be pecking the center and decide before she got there that that was going to be a successful peck and then click that one. And instead I was looking at the peck, I was looking at where the peck landed and trying to click the correct ones. Instead you click on the trajectory toward. And if you don't know what your animal looks like, if you don't observe her really closely you can't tell which peck is going to be the one and therefore your click will be late and therefore you'll never train the chicken. It doesn't really happen, with dogs you can be late, it's all right, but chickens no. And I was teaching a dog to tug open a fridge and I had to call him because I kept not getting it right, I couldn't see what my problem was. I was clicking when she was tugging and it just wasn't getting more tugging out of it. And he asked me, “What does her neck look like when she's about to make the best tug, about to make the strongest contraction?” I'm like, “I wasn't looking at her neck.” “What were you looking at?” The tug in her mouth? Well, are you looking at the clench of her claws as she settled in to really get a good tug in? Click that. And in the matter of an evening she was tugging really tugging really hard and pulling the fridge open. You really have to look at who you have and not see what you want to see and not click or reinforce end products but reinforce process because it's process you're trying to often get when you're training. So that one stuck and made me a much more accurate and better trainer. Then my second is Denise in the sense of…I don't know if she boils it down, but in the way of attitude before precision, I'm sorry, yeah, attitude before precision where you feed cookies for attitude. If that behavior was incorrect you give a cookie anyway. I think a lot of times we as trainers get caught up in, I reinforce the right ones and I make sure not to reinforce the ones I don't want, and that's very engrained in us. So don't click or don't reinforce the incorrect behavior. She does it all the time. She's like, that isn't correct, but my dog tried, you know, cookies for attitude. When I first was aware she was doing that it made me a little nervous. It's like, you're going to get all this bad behavior in the mix. How is this going to work? But it works beautifully. It works beautifully. It keeps your dog in the game. She really helped me see that cookies for trying is not bad. How to handle a mistake is to reward it because your dog tried and was with you and you can just _____ (54:03) most of the cookies are for the right things, don't worry so much. Your learner has an emotional life and that's way, way, way more important than anything else. She codified it down into attitude over precision. It really centered me in my training a lot. So those are my two. Melissa Breau: Those two things, they feel like they have a lot in common, just in terms of kind of looking at the bigger picture of things, you know? Amy Cook: Right. Right. Exactly. It's very bigger picture, and I think clicker training, just for me, I shouldn't speak for anyone else, can get me a little too focused on minutia and make me forget the rest. So those were good for me to learn and to incorporate at this stage of my training. Melissa Breau: I certainly don't think you're alone in that. I mean, clicker training, it's all about splitting, and sometimes when you're splitting it's hard to hold both ideas in your mind at the same time, right? Amy Cook: Right. It's kind of like, wait, I'm splitting, but should I lump again? It's not lumping, it's splitting and wait…mixed metaphors. Forest. I'm splitting in the forest. Wait. Something like that, right? Someone listening can suggest something much more elegant than that because I've never been known for an elegant metaphor, I'll tell you that. Melissa Breau: So for this last one, who else, somebody else in the dog world that you look up to, and I'm going to push you not to name Denise since she's gotten named lots and we've talked to her lots. Amy Cook: No. You can't do that. I know, because I talked about her way too much. I didn't plan to talk about her constantly for the past hour, I promise you. Melissa Breau: I'm sure you have one or two that I'm not super familiar with. Amy Cook: No. No. No. It really isn't all about Denise, but I stand on the shoulders of giants, right? Everybody who has come before me is an influence on me, and everyone has taken their turn. I had a troubled dog years ago that I brought to everybody. Instead of doing some TTouch with her I brought her to Linda Tellington-Jones, you know? Like, I sought everybody I could find to help and to teach me, and I absolutely stand on their shoulders, all of them. I credit myself with nothing and them with everything except my own mistakes and however that phrase really goes. So since I can't name Denise I'm going to anyway. What I admire most…no, I'll be vague and we'll pretend I didn't mention her. What I admire most in a trainer I can look up to now is independent thinking. People will say there's nothing new in training, you know, it's all been done before it's just how we're repacking or talking about it differently. I don't think so anymore. I think there have been just a few people, at least on my radar, that are willing to challenge something that's supposed to be the way it's done and try it on dogs and not say, well, that's in the wrong _____ (57:12) or that's supposed to do this, that's going to make a dog do x, can't do that. Because I was that, that's how we all start when we're learning, we acquire the wealth and the wisdom of other people who say don't do it this way and please do it that way. So you do. And we can get a little lost in that sometimes. So I gravitate toward the independent thinker who isn't about I do it this way because this is the way we do it. I like people who say, I don't know, what would happen if I just give a cookie when he was wrong? Let's find out. I mean, yeah, of course it's going to make him a little confused, but I can fix that, I'm not worried about it. That kind of confidence of I'm an independent thinker and I don't do just what people do because it's what they do. I'm not terribly like that so I look up to it. I think Denise does that. Grisha also does that. And Donna Duford, I don't know if you remember her, also taught me that same way, and she was one of the early old school clicker trainers from the East Coast. There was a kind of East Coast/West Coast rivalry going on in the clicker training where early on, or at least I'm led to understand, I was a few years later, or I'll just say that there were people who replaced their methods, people that called themselves crossover trainers, who replaced things they did piecemeal, one at a time. I don't think this one works so I'm going to do this instead. Oh, this works better, oh, this is really great. Then there are people because they hear about a new system throw out everything they did before and try to put in the new fancy positive system that they're learning. I think when people have the courage to say, I'm just going to try this little piece and see how it goes, and they put in their system and they go, oh, I think I like this, this is pretty good, I'm going to investigate some other stuff, I'm going to try something new. I think from there comes the innovation. At least in my world, in the people who have been around me to influence me, there haven't been a ton of people doing that. So when I see that that really stands out to me. I fully admire it. I think Grisha did that when she just said, “I'm just going to see what happens when we do this.” I think Denise does that all the time. She's not beholden to the world of some _____ (59:27) training that says this is how you do it. She says, “Let's find out.” And I look up to anybody who can think independently, try stuff on their own, and just kind of stand their ground with what it is. Melissa Breau: I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit. I think that's exactly what you've done with The Play Way, is take a look and do something totally different. Amy Cook: Well, it's really what I'm trying to do. It's what I'm trying to do. I don't know that I bravely strike out so well, but I'm trying to because you know, we have to see things new ways, or we have to explore. If there's some other way people do it in some other traditions don't be afraid. If you're good enough at what you do, if you're sensitive enough with your learner, if you really are sure that you're not going to cause harm it's okay. It's okay to give a cookie for the wrong behavior, right, to use that again, because you're not causing any harm, so try and _____ (1:00:19). So that's I think where innovation will be found, and I think we get a little stuck, we're a little rutty a little bit in some positive training circles and some pet training circles, and I think it's time to see what…not to throw out things, but to enrich them with new experiences and new things from other thinkers. I don't know if I'm headed there but that's what I think about a lot. So thank you for that but I don't accept it. I reject your compliment and insert some self-deprecation of my own. You can't get me. I refuse. Melissa Breau: Well, I'm going to tell you that I think it anyway and you can choose to accept it or not. But they were sincerely given. Amy Cook: Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Melissa Breau: Well, thank you for coming on, Amy. I really appreciate you taking some time to chat. I know that you weren't feeling well earlier this week, so I'm glad we managed to reschedule and get this in there. Amy Cook: Thank you for your patience. I hope I don't sound too husky, I'm not extra sexy, I'm back to nerdy, but I had no voice _____ (1:01:28). I'm telling you people, I hope you understood everything, I didn't cut out. Melissa Breau: Well, thank you for coming on and thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in. We will be back in two weeks with Julie Flannery to talk about Rally-FrEe, and if you haven't already please subscribe to the podcast. You can do that in iTunes or the podcast app of your choice and you'll have the next episode of our podcast automatically downloaded to your phone as soon as it becomes available. Today's show is brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Special thanks to Denise Fenzi for supporting this podcast. Music provided royalty free by bensound.com. The track featured here is called Buddy. Audio editing provided by Chris Lang, and transcription written by CLK Transcription Services. Thanks again for tuning in and happy training. CREDITS: Today's show is brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Special thanks to Denise Fenzi for supporting this podcast. Music provided royalty-free by BenSound.com; the track featured here is called “Buddy.” Audio editing provided by Chris Lang and transcription written by CLK Transcription Services. Thanks again for tuning in -- and happy training!

Stable Scoop Hour 8 with featured guests Equestrian Legend Linda Tellington-Jones and the amazing trainer and showman Guy McLean. Both share their "Fantasy Rides" and holiday memories. Loads of holiday voicemails and live calls from listeners and we give away a pair of Smooth Stride Jeans and Ultimate Equine Behavior and Training Book by Linda Tellington-Jones. Listen in...Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=87421)

Stable Scoop Hour 8 with featured guests Equestrian Legend Linda Tellington-Jones and the amazing trainer and showman Guy McLean.  Both share their "Fantasy Rides" and holiday memories.  Loads of holiday voicemails and live calls from listeners and we give away a pair of Smooth Stride Jeans and Ultimate Equine Behavior and Training Book by Linda Tellington-Jones.  Listen in...Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=87421)

TUESDAY AUGUST 18th NOON CST on Equestrian Legacy Radio's SADDLE UP AMERICA! We say goodbye to our friend SUSANA GIBSON and her award winning TRAILBLAZER Magazine on this Special Edition of Equestrian Legacy Radio's SADDLE UP AMERICA! For 37 years we have enjoyed TrailBlazer and benefited from Susana's love and passion for providing the best information to trailriders and people around the world who love horses.  Hear from the people who loved her and knew her the best...BOBBIE JO LIBERMAN, LINDA TELLINGTON JONES, HELENA BRESK are among the guest who join us in remembering and paying tribute to this very special woman. Join GARY HOLT and co-host TINA MAE WEBER every Tuesday at Noon CST with entertaining guest and valuable information for the Trail Rider. We take you across the country to visit great riding destinations at Horse Campgrounds and Guest Ranches that you'll want to add to your "Bucket List" SADDLE UP AMERICA! is brought to you by Trailguard 24 hour Roadside Assistance Learn more about Trailguard at www.trailguard.org *If you miss the Live Show you can listen to the Archived Podcast Anytime at www.equestrianlegacy.net

Tiny dogs. We discuss “Small Dog Syndrome”; the myth, the causes and how Calming Signals can help. This week on Ghosts in History:  Sylvia Browne has a funny message! The tiny terrier mentioned is the Norfolk Terrier. Linda Tellington Jones is an amazing animal educator and expert on “Calming Signals” Laura Stinchfield, animal communicator and advocate for training “Calming Signals” Kate Sitka is a spirit medium and animal communicator located in Tofino, BC.  To learn more about her and her work, please visit

WOW what a treat to welcome pioneer Linda Tellington-Jones, PhD (Hon) join Frank Ferrante and Keri Davis in this educational platform.   Linda has her roots in a philosophy that sees all beings -- humans and animals alike -- as reflections of a Divine Whole. The Tellington Method was first created 4 decades ago as a system of animal training, healing and communication that allows people to relate to animals in a deeper, more compassionate way -- a way that furthers inter-species connection and honors the body, mind and spirit of both animals and their people. The Tellington Method utilizes a variety of techniques of touch, movement and body language to affect behavior, performance, and health, and to increase an animal’s willingness and ability to learn in a painless and anxiety-free environment. Linda's highly effective and revolutionary approach to working with animals brought her world wide recognition, and it was out of this success that Tellington Ttouch for humans has arisen. The method for horses, first developed in the 1970’s, is known as TTEAM (Tellington TTouch Equine Awareness Method). In the 1980’s, Tellington TTouch broadened to include the world of companion animals, developing techniques that deepen mutual trust and understanding and strengthen the human/animal bond. During this period, TTouch work was also introduced as an effective and valuable method to reduce stress in wild life rehabilitation and to enhance the well-being of animals in zoos.  Keri Davis has trained through the Institute of Integrated Sciences, in the HUNA™ program (Humans Understanding Nature and Animals) which is based on the philosophy that all life is connected and cannot be separated. 

The creator of TTouch, Linda Tellington Jones joins us once again! Linda shared some of her amazing stories with a wide variety of animals and, as as always, her healing TTouch. She also talked with us about cell memory, light, and natural communication with animals through touch and movement. More details on this episode MP3 Podcast - That Intuitive Touch - with Kim Bloomer & Jeannie Thomason