In This Edition:

— Latest Events at Kamp K9
—Info Feature: What is T-Touch?
— Photo of the Month
— Links

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Just keep telling yourselves: Almost spring…almost spring…

It’s been a while since there have been any profiles of the pals who come here, and I’ve made up my mind that it’s time to start including that feature again in “The Straight Poop.” Be on the lookout for Kamper Profiles in future issues.

We’re really excited (We? Ok, I guess it’s just ME) about an investment that was made a couple of weeks ago in the cubby/feeding/grooming areas. I had Norm LeBlanc, an all-around handy guy whom I met during my tenure with BNI, make some new cubbies in the form of lockers. I had an idea of what I wanted, and with Norm’s input and suggestions, came up with what I think is an awesome set of cubbies, which have hinged doors with two forms of latching (and are dog-proof), which are also movable if need be. Each cubby space is also larger than what was being used before; prior to these new units, we were using a modular metal system that gets put together like a cubic puzzle. It was ok, but it didn’t accept particularly large bags of food and certainly had no way of preventing anyone from getting into those bags of food if no one was watching. Not that it’s ever happened with any of  your  precious little angels. Ahem.

Anyway, here’s what we had before, and what we have now. The new cubbies will eventually be painted and will have name card holders that are a little more permanent.

Before...

...and After!

Inside one of the units
Norm Leblanc can be contacted via email at lymanbuilders@sacoriver.net

 

INFO FEATURE: What is T-Touch?

 

T—Touch (Tellington Touch) is a method of getting into contact with your animal (be it a dog, cat, horse, etc.) that can provide mental and physical health benefits for them. It can help calm an anxious pet, relieve stress, help eliminate unwanted behaviors that stem from that stress, improve overall health, and strengthen the pet-owner bond. It can even help injured animals on the way to the vet, and during the course of their recovery. It’s named after Linda Tellington-Jones, the developer of the technique.

My first experience with T-Touch came about as a result of an incident several years ago with one of my own dogs, Snoopy. Not long after Snoopy came to live with me, things were going very well, and I decided at one point that he needed his nails trimmed. Like a lot of dogs, he wasn’t crazy about having is paws handled, and resisted. As he got more stressed and difficult, I got more stressed, which didn’t help. He eventually backed himself into a corner formed by a couch & love seat, and though a part of my brain knew better than to keep trying, I did anyway. Snoopy finally had enough, and bit my hand…hard. Now, some people would either give up the dog or have him destroyed for doing such a thing, but he was so ashamed of himself after it happened…and come on, I ASKED for it, and I knew it.

The result of this was having a trainer named Carolyn Ross come in for some help, and T-Touch was a topic she brought up soon into our session. After spending 2 minutes doing T-Touch with Snoopy, I could see how relaxed he was with her. Once I got the basic technique down, Snoopy became much more relaxed with me, and in subsequent weeks as he relaxed more and more and his confidence grew, our relationship and his trust of me improved to the point where I can groom him, including his nails, without any trepidation whatsoever, I can pretty much manhandle him, and he is comfortable with new people and new dogs.

So what does T-Touch involve? Put as simply as possible, it is a method of using your hand (with your fingers in various positions) to make little circles on the animal’s skin, starting at a point (usually at the head or neck) and making rows of those little circles down the length of the body. That’s a bit of an over-simplification, but it does nutshell the idea. You’re only using enough pressure to make the skin move; the technique is considerably lighter than what you’d use to get into muscle tissue for a massage. There are different configurations of your hand and fingers for the different strokes, which can help with specific health or anxiety issues. It’s difficult to describe in text what to do; I recommend Linda Tellington-Jones’ book, “Getting in TTouch With Your Dog,” as a great way to get into it with lots of instruction, and it’s a fantastic book for a dog owner to have, but also could be such a great thing for a foster family to have, or anyone considering adopting a rescue dog, as they sometimes have had some kind of emotional or physical trauma (or both) at some point in their lives.

More information is available at www.lindatellingtonjones.com including techniques for other companion animals.

 

PHOTO OF THE MONTH:


"YOU sniff it!"

Got a funny photo you'd like to share? By all means email it, and we'll include it in a future issue!