What is Tellington Touch, or Tellington TTouch?

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

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

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

Is this process called the Tellington TTouch or the Tellington Touch? It is properly spelled with two TTs, which resemble the symbol for pi, associated with circles. I have also spelled it “Tellington Touch” in these webpages simply because that is how most people search for it.

Our DVDs About the Tellington Touch

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

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

How We Came to Produce Videos with Linda Tellington-Jones

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

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

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 (That video is now out of print, superseded by newer ones Marty has made.)

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

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

One Simple Tellington Touch You Can Try

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

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

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