Spotlight on Almudena Ortiz Cue, Dog Trainer & T-Touch Practitioner

Posted in Holistic Healing by LisaM • Wednesday, July 15, 2009

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One sunny afternoon in Berkeley, I had the pleasure of watching Almudena Ortiz Cué work a special kind of magic on an anxious stressed dog named Mack. Almudena, an alumna of the SF SPCA’s Academy for Dog Trainers, is an experienced staff dog trainer at Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) and owner/trainer of  C.H.A.C.O. Dog Training. Now, she’s added T-Touch Practitioner to her impressive list of accomplishments – and that’s an achievement no other Bay Area dog trainer can claim.

Created by Linda Tellington, Ph D, T-Touch® is a method of working with animals that improves health, body awareness, and flexibility, reduces tension and stress, and modifies behavior. A long-time horse trainer, Tellington first developed the method for horses and found that it helps with aggressive behavior, stress, fear, and anxiety, and when combined with veterinary care, aids recovery from medical problems. She later adapted the method for dogs, cats, other companion animals and humans.

Based on Feldenkrais, T-Touch® uses systematic gentle touches, wraps and groundwork – a variety of exercises – that engage the animal’s nervous system, stimulate relaxation, and teach the animal to move in non-habitual ways. The touches are adjusted during each session depending on the animal’s response.

Animals that are stressed or afraid can’t learn. Because T-Touch® reduces stress, fear and anxiety, it improves animals’ confidence, focus and ability to learn – particularly, how to better cope with stressful or scary situations. Entirely non-threatening to critters, this method enhances the relationship and non-verbal communication between pet and human.

Almudena regularly practices T-Touch® on her own dog Laika, a delightful Kelpie mix. Not long after Almudena began T-Touch® work with Laika, her pre-existing leash reactivity around other dogs began to drop dramatically. Almudena credits the change in Laika’s behavior to the combination of T-Touch® and positive behavior modification training she’s done with the dog. She’s used the same approach with shelter dogs at ARF suffering from stress, fear or anxiety. Both she and other staff trainers have noticed an improvement in those dogs’ general demeanor and behavior.

As I watched Almudena work with nervous Mack that day, I was duly impressed. She moved her fingers in soothing circular motions down his back and lingered on his hips. She stroked his ears gently and systematically. As she worked, she bent close to his body as if she were listening to him. She explained that there’s no rushing T-Touch® work. Because it’s based on the individual animal’s responses and needs, it’s fluid and organic, not formulaic, and requires the practitioner to pay very close attention to the animal’s reactions.

Minutes into the session Mack became noticeably less skittish and stressed. He stopped panting and pacing. He no longer flinched at every sound. He stayed close to her and his body grew less and less tense. After ten to fifteen minutes of T-Touch, he was calm enough to lie down in a shady spot with a relaxed doggy grin on his face.  I almost wished I was the one getting T-Touch work instead of him!