Recently, a friend of mine put up a post on Facebook with a
link to pictures of ‘dogs who have no idea where all this mess came from’. He kindly tagged the post with “A client for
Dr Les no doubt”. Apart from the pictures
being great fun I did then have to put my therapist hat on to think more about
them. As I replied to him “The editor’s note at the end sums it up from a
massagey therapeuticy point of view. No
exercise or attention gets a bored or tubby dog”.
In a previous blog I have
already written how a daft £1 squeaky ball gives Mr Sam hours of therapeutic
and fun exercise on the beach. He comes home
too knackered to rip the toilet roll apart even if he wanted to. Plus I
can control when he has had enough so he doesn’t injure himself.
The same day I read another
article (it is the ex-academic in me…I can’t stop reading research) by Brandy
Arnold about the benefits of walking your dog. The article states that “Dogs are
great at providing strong motivation to maintain their owner’s exercise program
– who can resist a happy dog, panting with excitement at the front door? They make great walking companions and can
serve as the perfect social support......Unlike your human buddies who are
likely to skip exercise sessions due to appointments or bad weather, dogs will
not give you any excuse to miss out on your daily exercise.”
This is a great article as it
details not just the benefits to the two-legged walker (i.e. the owner) but
also to the four legged walker (i.e. the dog).
To the owner, regular exercise by walking your dog can reduce risks of breast
cancer, diabetes, heart disease and even colon cancer. To the dog regular exercise can improve their
physical and mental well-being, aid with socialization, help reduce behaviour
issues (stop them ripping the toilet roll apart) and increase their longevity.
Then yesterday I was asked if I would like to attend a book
show where I would be interviewed about what I do and ways that massage and
myotherapy could help with dog behaviour.
The organiser said “…things like stopping a dog from barking excessively”. I immediately remembered the above article
which also refers to exercise helping to curb destructive behaviour such as
excessive barking and digging. The dog transfers any negative energy which
can bring about boredom into positive opportunities to sniff and explore and
run.
As I wrote in a previous post about the myotherapy side of what we do at AchyPaw, exercising the muscles can also be done by the
therapist for the client. If fun
exercise can be incorporated into the daily routine of the dog then not only
will it help their health and maintain their mobility but also your own! But if your dog is injured, immobile or maybe
slowing down due to senior years, then the owner or therapist needs to help the
muscles along and perform the myotherapy.
A simple exercise to do at home to prevent boredom is a game
called Go Find. When Sam and Sarah first
went to puppy behaviour class we were introduced to this. The idea was you rub a handkerchief over you
to take up your scent and then hide it somewhere in the house. You tell the dogs to ‘Go Find’. They
then spend the next 10 minutes walking round the house, sniffing to find the handkerchief. Sam & Sarah have always loved this game,
even 8 years later. All I need to do is say
Go Find and they are off. If they are
ever recovering from an injury or the weather is totally rubbish for outdoor walking, a game or two of this will give them safe exercise in
the house but keep them stimulated and prevent boredom. Plus it costs nothing. There are many more
such simple exercises which we teach clients.
Massage, myotherapy and dog behaviour are certainly very connected.
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