Always learning

We don’t like to stand still with our therapies. We belong to the International Association of Animal Therapists (IAAT) who are a body of recognised, trained, fully insured professionals who are committed to continuous professional development. It means we are able to bring new techniques and ideas into our practice. 

This year we have completed CPD in Animal Physiotherapy, Phototherapy, Thermography, Canine Positional Release & Muscle Energy Techniques and recently a two-day course on Indirect Myofascial Release with Jo Rose who offers a wide array of CPD courses for all professional animal therapists delivered by Dawn McCaig

Both the Positional Release & Muscle Energy Techniques (MET) and Indirect Myofascial Release workshops have added some useful new techniques and knowledge, especially suitable for our senior boys and girls, as they are gentle, slow and safe moves ideal for aching joints and stiff bodies. 

MET minimise chances of over-stretch, stress or inflammation by holding the joints in a direction of ease rather than strain. And, where Direct Myofascial Release work helps to make the tissue move by force, Indirect MR is more of a holding and melting, without initiating any muscle guarding. It looks like the therapist is just holding their hands still on the client but, in effect, the tissue underneath is moving quite a lot. 

So, the next time you see us working with your dog and it looks like we aren’t moving – don’t worry, we are just using our new skills to help. If you watch, you will see the tissue moving under our hands, loads of heat come off and the client relax even more