A conversation with Robyn Hood
by Nancy Horenburg - Prac 1
Robyn is Linda Tellington Jones's sister and an integral and very important part of the TTouch family. Robyn is a gifted teacher and it is really wonderful to hear about Robyn's own TTouch journey .
TTouch really does make such as difference, even just a few TTouches can impact. If you are interested in finding our more, do visit the TTouch website at www.ttouch.co.za, and as Robyn says 'Just try it!"
TTouch really does make such as difference, even just a few TTouches can impact. If you are interested in finding our more, do visit the TTouch website at www.ttouch.co.za, and as Robyn says 'Just try it!"
I took the opportunity to ask Robyn some questions about her TTouch life, from how it all started with her to how it influences her everyday life.
Nancy: Could you explain in your own words how TTouch came into your life.
Robyn: I was born. (Lots of laughter..)
Well, it’s true. Since Linda is my sister I was born into it, right. And I had the opportunity as a child. Linda is the oldest of 6 children, and I am the second youngest, so she left home when I was 3 and she got married when she was 17. So when I was about 9, I started to go to one of her ranches in California, she had a school, and I would go there every summer, and so that was kind of the relationship that I had with Linda. We obviously kept in touch, and then in 1981, she was at Nacimiento and doing this kind of work. Oh, I know, I started going to Equitana with her first and saw some of the things that she was doing. And then I went down there (to Nacimiento), I was pregnant at the time, and ended up taking over the newsletters. So I ended up being involved, I got Linda to come up and do some clinics and then I just basically went from there. We started with the horses first, and then when we started in the early 90's to work with dogs, then I was at those first trainings and we just integrated that. But the reality is, I was born.
Nancy: In your own words, explaining to someone who has not yet experienced it, what is TTouch.
Robyn: So TTouch is, it's a gentle respectful way of working with animals to help them make better choices. This is the simplest way that I actually explain it to people, and then from there it depends on where their interest is or what questions come up for them. So, or you can say that it is a gentle respectful method of bodywork and gentle groundwork.
But to me it is about helping, just help dogs make better choices. It can be a matter of reducing stress so that they can do that. I think that is the simplest way for people to describe it.
Nancy: When I explain to some people what TTouch is, some of them say, “Well, do you train the dog….?”
Robyn: Well, what I say to people is, if you help the dogs reduce any concerns they have, if it helps them reduce stress, it helps them make better choices, so it can help you in training, it can help in your relationship, it can actually help in their whole wellbeing if you can reduce any concerns they have. It is that whole thing “if you feel better, you act better.” That's as simple as that.
Nancy: In TTouch, what are you most passionate about? What is it that catches you the most?
Robyn: I would say that for me it is about helping people see their animals in a different way. And giving them another way to relate to them and also to treat them. We all do the best we can with the knowledge that we have. But a lot of people aren't happy with what they have been told to do. My aim is to really help animals, but you have to help people find a way to help their animals.
Nancy: If you had to pick only three tools or 3 aspects of TTouch, what do you think they would be?
Robyn: So this is what I would say, I would use groundwork, TTouches, and use the tools! You can't say that there is any one tool. The problem with saying that these are the things I'll be using is that you actually have to look at the animal. So, it is initially finding out what the animal says is ok.
Nancy: And for some animals it is only the TTouches in that moment.
Robyn: Ah, maybe, but I found actually that with horses, and I would say with dogs as well, that the groundwork is so important. Because if animals don't feel safe, you have to allow them to move. If they stay still, there are a lot of animals that are touch defensive, and for them the only way they have been touched is in a way that was a little bit rough and abrupt, because I'll often say to people the way I see them handle their dog, and we see it a lot with big dogs, people do it without even thinking, is this hard slapping. So I always say to people with horses, ‘we hit them when we are happy and we hit them when we are mad’. It is kind of the same with their dogs. "Oh, you are such a good dog, (hard slaps on her thigh)," they have to learn that that is actually a positive. That is what I think. I see it with foals all the time, if you approach a foal that way, they'll run away. Cause you hit them.
Nancy: Can you give a TTouch success story? Because it is nice for people to have the whole story to see how Ttouch can affect an animal.
Robyn: One of them was the dog I talked about the other day.
(Here is the story: A highlight of the Cape Town Training was one of the dogs we worked with from the nearby shelter. Wendy, a participant who works at the shelter brought Optel, to the venue for an hour or so. She chose Optel, a dog who was on the PTS list for that day, she had come into the shelter with knife wounds below one eye, the wounds were treated but she was very shut down and unresponsive to the staff in spite of their efforts. Like many dogs who are shy, the first day she had to be carried to the car and then into the venue. On the first afternoon a couple of participants did short periods of TTouch and then enticed her to move a bit, following some treats on the ground. A body wrap was put on for a couple of
minutes and then removed. For the most part Optel just sat still and did not engage much with the participants but displayed a few glimmers of interest. She was returned to the shelter that afternoon.
Nancy: Could you explain in your own words how TTouch came into your life.
Robyn: I was born. (Lots of laughter..)
Well, it’s true. Since Linda is my sister I was born into it, right. And I had the opportunity as a child. Linda is the oldest of 6 children, and I am the second youngest, so she left home when I was 3 and she got married when she was 17. So when I was about 9, I started to go to one of her ranches in California, she had a school, and I would go there every summer, and so that was kind of the relationship that I had with Linda. We obviously kept in touch, and then in 1981, she was at Nacimiento and doing this kind of work. Oh, I know, I started going to Equitana with her first and saw some of the things that she was doing. And then I went down there (to Nacimiento), I was pregnant at the time, and ended up taking over the newsletters. So I ended up being involved, I got Linda to come up and do some clinics and then I just basically went from there. We started with the horses first, and then when we started in the early 90's to work with dogs, then I was at those first trainings and we just integrated that. But the reality is, I was born.
Nancy: In your own words, explaining to someone who has not yet experienced it, what is TTouch.
Robyn: So TTouch is, it's a gentle respectful way of working with animals to help them make better choices. This is the simplest way that I actually explain it to people, and then from there it depends on where their interest is or what questions come up for them. So, or you can say that it is a gentle respectful method of bodywork and gentle groundwork.
But to me it is about helping, just help dogs make better choices. It can be a matter of reducing stress so that they can do that. I think that is the simplest way for people to describe it.
Nancy: When I explain to some people what TTouch is, some of them say, “Well, do you train the dog….?”
Robyn: Well, what I say to people is, if you help the dogs reduce any concerns they have, if it helps them reduce stress, it helps them make better choices, so it can help you in training, it can help in your relationship, it can actually help in their whole wellbeing if you can reduce any concerns they have. It is that whole thing “if you feel better, you act better.” That's as simple as that.
Nancy: In TTouch, what are you most passionate about? What is it that catches you the most?
Robyn: I would say that for me it is about helping people see their animals in a different way. And giving them another way to relate to them and also to treat them. We all do the best we can with the knowledge that we have. But a lot of people aren't happy with what they have been told to do. My aim is to really help animals, but you have to help people find a way to help their animals.
Nancy: If you had to pick only three tools or 3 aspects of TTouch, what do you think they would be?
Robyn: So this is what I would say, I would use groundwork, TTouches, and use the tools! You can't say that there is any one tool. The problem with saying that these are the things I'll be using is that you actually have to look at the animal. So, it is initially finding out what the animal says is ok.
Nancy: And for some animals it is only the TTouches in that moment.
Robyn: Ah, maybe, but I found actually that with horses, and I would say with dogs as well, that the groundwork is so important. Because if animals don't feel safe, you have to allow them to move. If they stay still, there are a lot of animals that are touch defensive, and for them the only way they have been touched is in a way that was a little bit rough and abrupt, because I'll often say to people the way I see them handle their dog, and we see it a lot with big dogs, people do it without even thinking, is this hard slapping. So I always say to people with horses, ‘we hit them when we are happy and we hit them when we are mad’. It is kind of the same with their dogs. "Oh, you are such a good dog, (hard slaps on her thigh)," they have to learn that that is actually a positive. That is what I think. I see it with foals all the time, if you approach a foal that way, they'll run away. Cause you hit them.
Nancy: Can you give a TTouch success story? Because it is nice for people to have the whole story to see how Ttouch can affect an animal.
Robyn: One of them was the dog I talked about the other day.
(Here is the story: A highlight of the Cape Town Training was one of the dogs we worked with from the nearby shelter. Wendy, a participant who works at the shelter brought Optel, to the venue for an hour or so. She chose Optel, a dog who was on the PTS list for that day, she had come into the shelter with knife wounds below one eye, the wounds were treated but she was very shut down and unresponsive to the staff in spite of their efforts. Like many dogs who are shy, the first day she had to be carried to the car and then into the venue. On the first afternoon a couple of participants did short periods of TTouch and then enticed her to move a bit, following some treats on the ground. A body wrap was put on for a couple of
minutes and then removed. For the most part Optel just sat still and did not engage much with the participants but displayed a few glimmers of interest. She was returned to the shelter that afternoon.
Optel/ Brittany - first time that we worked with her.
She was very shut down & withdrawn.
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Day 2: She greeted Wendy with a wagging tail & came
along on the leash quite happily.
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Brittany in her adoptive home.
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The next morning we were all surprised when Wendy came into the venue with Optel walking happily on a leash. When Wendy went to shelter that morning Optel was sitting at the door of her run wagging her tail, very excited to see Wendy.
The best news is that one of the clinic participants adopted her, renamed her Britney, and she is now happily living in her new home.) That was one of the stories that was so unexpected and so, you know, it was fantastic. And you see I did not really work on that dog.
The stories that for me are the most useful are the ones where we have taught something to someone, and they have gone out and made the change in the dog. Because it does not matter if I can do, it does not matter if you can do it, it does not matter, it is only if we can share it with other people and have them actually find the success. I love the small successes, like a cat or dog at the vet that is not eating and they are not doing well and someone goes in and they do a little bit of earwork, a little bit of mouth work and then they start to be able to eat and drink again. So those small stories for me are really useful.
Or, a dog a couple of weeks ago at a workshop. It was a little Corgi, who was very reactive to any movement of the other dogs, and so we did some TTouch with her and she was a sweet little dog, She was on a collar, we got her off the collar, onto the harness with the sliding leash. That woman, I just showed her a little bit because we had a small area in which to work, and she sent me back Facebook message. Normally, like dogs coming toward her, people coming towards her, dogs across the street, she would just go barking like crazy. She went on a walk, she had like three situations, a dog walking towards her where she normally would have been quite reactive, she just looked and didn't react. The dog across the street having a big bark, she did nothing. That is what we want to do, we want to help people have better relationships with their animals. That is the most important thing.
The best news is that one of the clinic participants adopted her, renamed her Britney, and she is now happily living in her new home.) That was one of the stories that was so unexpected and so, you know, it was fantastic. And you see I did not really work on that dog.
The stories that for me are the most useful are the ones where we have taught something to someone, and they have gone out and made the change in the dog. Because it does not matter if I can do, it does not matter if you can do it, it does not matter, it is only if we can share it with other people and have them actually find the success. I love the small successes, like a cat or dog at the vet that is not eating and they are not doing well and someone goes in and they do a little bit of earwork, a little bit of mouth work and then they start to be able to eat and drink again. So those small stories for me are really useful.
Or, a dog a couple of weeks ago at a workshop. It was a little Corgi, who was very reactive to any movement of the other dogs, and so we did some TTouch with her and she was a sweet little dog, She was on a collar, we got her off the collar, onto the harness with the sliding leash. That woman, I just showed her a little bit because we had a small area in which to work, and she sent me back Facebook message. Normally, like dogs coming toward her, people coming towards her, dogs across the street, she would just go barking like crazy. She went on a walk, she had like three situations, a dog walking towards her where she normally would have been quite reactive, she just looked and didn't react. The dog across the street having a big bark, she did nothing. That is what we want to do, we want to help people have better relationships with their animals. That is the most important thing.
Luna and the Butterfly way of leading at the recent TTouch Training
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Nancy: Now if you take TTouch out of the context of animals, has it influenced you in
your life in any other way that is not related with animals? Robyn: Yes, I would say that it's, I am going to be honest, it is easiest to be how I want to be with animals. In terms of other things, if I get stuck in a situation, of remembering to just think about how I would deal with it. Say that it is a person or situation, think as if they were an animal that I was working with, say a cat or a dog, what would I do differently. How would I approach it in terms of helping them cope or helping them. |
If it is a situation where you can't get what you want, of being able to find a way of framing it so that it is more like from a TTouch perspective as far as meeting them where they are at, changing the context of what it is that you are doing. So, of course, if you come across a child that's hurt, or whatever, is just applying the touches to the situation or a little bit of earwork to a baby that is crying, and things like that.
Nancy: If there is someone who is not really sure about doing TTouch, what would you say to them.
(She smiles, … nothing!)
Robyn: You know, even if people did nothing else, and I think there is one of the sayings that Linda has which is ‘Change your mind, Change your animal’. I think that if we can change our labelled perceptions of animals or people, that that is the only way that we can actually see them in a different way and allow them to grow, if you will, or just for us to see them in a different way. Because most of the time the problem is with us, it's not the animals, it is how we perceive what they are doing, and so on.
Or, if they are reading the newsletter and they are seeing something, like one of the touches that is in there or one little thing, just try it. Try it and see what happens, and I think that is part of the beauty of Ttouch for me. You know we often talk about intention and the thing I find best is, you don't have to believe it will work and you can actually be pretty sure it is not going to work, and it can still work. That to me is the best part about this. Because people will often get into this thing of, oh, but you have to get into this Zen like feeling and you really have to believe that it going to work, and you don't! It just works. And I've had people leading them through touches with other people and at the end, someone was working on them, and they go, “I was so sure that this wasn't going to make a difference,” and then they go, “oh my arm is more relaxed,” or whatever it is.
Just try it!
And slow it down. Slow down what you are doing so that you can actually start to see what's really happening and maybe even see what is behind the behaviour rather than just looking at the behaviour. And I guess that is actually one of the things that if I had to do only one thing it would be that... If I could do two things, it would be observe, and slow everything down, in terms of making contact with the dog; go way slower just to see how they are in terms of contact. Those would be sort of two of the main things that I would do, so that we could really allow dogs to speak to us, or cats, or horses, or whatever it happens to be.
(She smiles, … nothing!)
Robyn: You know, even if people did nothing else, and I think there is one of the sayings that Linda has which is ‘Change your mind, Change your animal’. I think that if we can change our labelled perceptions of animals or people, that that is the only way that we can actually see them in a different way and allow them to grow, if you will, or just for us to see them in a different way. Because most of the time the problem is with us, it's not the animals, it is how we perceive what they are doing, and so on.
Or, if they are reading the newsletter and they are seeing something, like one of the touches that is in there or one little thing, just try it. Try it and see what happens, and I think that is part of the beauty of Ttouch for me. You know we often talk about intention and the thing I find best is, you don't have to believe it will work and you can actually be pretty sure it is not going to work, and it can still work. That to me is the best part about this. Because people will often get into this thing of, oh, but you have to get into this Zen like feeling and you really have to believe that it going to work, and you don't! It just works. And I've had people leading them through touches with other people and at the end, someone was working on them, and they go, “I was so sure that this wasn't going to make a difference,” and then they go, “oh my arm is more relaxed,” or whatever it is.
Just try it!
And slow it down. Slow down what you are doing so that you can actually start to see what's really happening and maybe even see what is behind the behaviour rather than just looking at the behaviour. And I guess that is actually one of the things that if I had to do only one thing it would be that... If I could do two things, it would be observe, and slow everything down, in terms of making contact with the dog; go way slower just to see how they are in terms of contact. Those would be sort of two of the main things that I would do, so that we could really allow dogs to speak to us, or cats, or horses, or whatever it happens to be.
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