Body Work is a great way to work out some of your dog’s anxieties and increase his trust in you at the same time. Many rescue dogs are very tense, worried and apprehensive about human touch. If the dog can tolerate touch, then you can accomplish a great deal with the various types of body work. A great choice is often T Touch or Tellington Touch. This is a very gentle form of stroking and finger tip massage of the skin developed by Linda Tellington Jones. There are specific applications for touching various areas of the body in order to positively affect calmness and confidence. The method also has body awareness exercises that can help reduce anxiety all over the body. I have seen dogs relax and become less fearful in minutes by applying T Touch. Many dogs who are afraid of thunder storms also do well with the Anxiety Wrap as described by T Touch. There are books, videos and certified T Touch practitioners who can help you learn how this technique can help your dog.

Think about how tense we humans become, often in the neck and shoulder area. Dogs get tense muscles too. In my years as a trainer, I have seen countless dogs who fail to respond to training for “sit” not because they are stubborn or stupid, but because their backs and thighs are so tense that they can’t even think of flexing them. Just like people get a stiff back, neck or shoulder from tension and have a hard time moving freely, so dogs can be so stiff that if you try to tuck the rear end under them, the front legs stick straight out in the air in front. Unfortunately, many people never think to massage their dog’s muscles gently and then more firmly to help loosen them up and relax them. There are some good books and videos on the art of canine massage. With a tense dog, it is often very worthwhile to massage before a training session.