Mirroring

Giant Hudson has an equally giant heart. He needs regular maintenance therapy of both Reiki and massage to keep his large body supple without getting stiff.

This means he has Double Therapist sessions from Chris and me.  As we can’t leave our Sam alone anymore, he comes with us.

He thoroughly enjoys his afternoon out, waking and sitting up in the back of the car every time as we turn the corner to Hudson’s House.

And Hudson bounds down his front path to greet Sam as if he is his bestie.

Recently Sam has made it clear he wants to become fully involved in the therapy session sitting alongside his new chum. This is something Sam never does. Even with his sister they were never cuddle buddies. But Hudson is clearly extra special.

They lie there, side by side absorbing all the healing Reiki and getting massage in unison. They even mirror each other’s paw position, yawns and nose drippings. Look at the photo….eyes equally closing, jaws equally loose, expressions equally serene.

It’s quite heart-warming to be part of this bromance. 

 

 

Keeping up the good work

I hadn’t seen Rosie since last October but when her Mum saw that I had restarted work safely, she contacted me for a visit. 

She is nearly 14 and received lots of good wishes and new fans when I first visited her and posted her story.

Since then, her family have been working with her daily which has transformed her myofascial twitches (there are none now) and increased her Massage Diva-ness (she complains when Mum stops) 

Her Mum said she has started to stumble sometimes when her rear legs cross. Ah….we know all about that with our Sarah. We call it Twizzling where she seems to turn round too fast and her feet stay in the same place – crossed. Sometimes she can pick herself up, but sometimes a Twizzle results in a bump and a need to be helped back up. 

Also, like our Sarah, Rosie is starting to struggle a little getting up and down. Certainly, time for a massage check-up and see if we can add new techniques to help her further. 

We started our session in the back garden, in the sun. Warmth and massage – great combination. But the sun was rather too hot and Rosie decided to aim toward the back door to get back to the coolness of the indoors. Which is where we went. The dog directing the therapy session again. 

She is still a lot softer and looser than the first visit but her rear end needed some extra help with gentle pumping massage to help nourish the muscles. There was also a spot in her back which caused her to reach round to me with a huge grin and a “Ah…..there…just there Uncle Les” expression. 

The second half of the therapy session took place on Rosie’s sofa – which used to be Mum’s sofa until Rosie claimed it. There is now a Rosie indentation in her favourite spot. She uses her front end muscles a lot more which needed some classic deep tissue work. 

After the Bi-Location therapy session, she could barely keep her eyes open at the end. 

Hopefully, when the world settles down, we can get Rosie to hydrotherapy to help support and target the rear end muscles without having to use them to hold up her body. Until then, I know she is in good hands with her Mum. 

"Oh....she needed that"

We hear that quite a lot. A dog who hasn’t been able to settle, gets straight into the massage zone and stays there for the full hour long session. 

11 year old Staffie Pickle had just recovered from an operation which has limited her free walks. Her Dad wanted me to go over and give her a therapy session now that everything has healed so she doesn’t harm anything when she finally becomes harness-less. 

I’ve visited her 4 times now and she has her own pattern during the session. At first, she simply won’t settle, meaning I sit on the floor by the mat and catch up with her Dad until she decides she is ready. That can be 10 or 20 minutes. And she can settle anywhere in the room. Also during the session, she has several ups and downs. 

This time though, she totally amazed us both. She was ready on the mat within seconds. And her left arm (where she had been operated) was up in the air waiting for some help. 

And there she stayed. A full 60 minutes of snuffling, grunting, sighing, Staffie noises. But as soon as the session was over, she woke up, looked around as though to say “Oh….there you both are” and made her way to her favourite chair to sit in the sun for the rest of the day. A longer, happier more comfy Pickle than an hour previously. 

Yes, she needed that.

Trust

It’s a very special moment when the dog you’re working with gives you their total trust. You can feel it. It might be physical where they relax and slump into your arms. Or it could be a glance up at you with soft eyes that are no longer showing discomfort. Or a sighing snore. Whichever way they show it, it is always special. 

Staffie Pixie loves playing with her new adopted brother Bobi. But he’s bigger than her, 9 years younger and a lot clumsier. Regardless of all that, they have great fun together. Except when their play became over exuberant resulting in Pixie hurting her back. 

She was taken straight to the vet who gave her some anti-inflammatories to ease the discomfort. We visited her about a week later armed with all our Achy Tools – the PEMF mat, the Red Light phototherapy machine and Chris, our Reiki practitioner and back work specialist. 

She was, understandably, a little reluctant at first but with calming Reiki and gentle touch she eased her way into the session. As she was sitting in Chris’s lap, we had the PEMF mat snuggled into her back at the same time. This meant she was being treated from all sides – Reiki, massage and pulsed frequencies. That’s a great cooking recipe. 

She made lots of “I quite like this” noises but also had the Staffie “I’m not going to give in” attitude. Until she did. And gave that Trust Look. She turned round, looked up at Chris with huge Staffie eyes and that was it. She was clearly feeling relieved. 

Special – very special 

Respect

Hector is almost 13 now and a big Staffie. He was rescued a few years ago and his new Mum found he had intermittent lameness due to arthritis, calling me in to help from the start of his new life. 

Over the time I have worked with him, his personality has changed to being quite shy to a bundle of Big Bouncy Staffiness. He smiles, he plays, he rolls around showing me his ample tummy, he has a wander round the room and then settles. 

Hector is a classic example of the way we work with dogs - namely respecting their terms. The dog shouldn’t be forced to stay in one place because that is comfortable to the therapist. Hector may start on the massage mat and then move to his Mum’s feet or, more recently, up on his favourite chair. In fact, the latter is quite a good place to work with him as he fits exactly between the arms of the chair when he has a stretch – great for back work. 

On the last session, he was 100% a chair dog. 30 minutes one side then, without prompting, he turned around so I could work on the other side. He has a large magnificent Staffie head which suits cheek massage perfectly. And he LOVES that technique as the picture shows. 
 
During the session, his eyes went from wide, to dozy to sleepy. His smile grew bigger and his snores got louder (listen to the videos on the next post). 

Stabilising the jigsaw

I first met Corkie, his amazing Dad and the unique Corkie Stair Lift at the end of the year in 2017. Since then, we’ve met a couple of more times when his Dad organised some training sessions for other Mums and Dads over at St Leonards.

In 2017, Corkie had just been diagnosed with OA and his Dad wanted to know how he could help with this new issue. Physical therapy via massage and exercise, was a perfect fit for Corkie and his Dad started a routine of daily sessions with him. 

However, Corkie’s condition is degenerative as is his mobility. His Dad had become aware that the work he was doing with him probably needed a tweak to match these changes. Corkie is beginning to drag his hind leg a little, he is finding it harder to get up after a sit and is less likely to settle. 

The first thing to do is to have a pain medication review – which is what his Dad did and Corkie is now on Galliprant and Paracetamol. Both are helping but new things are needed to help stabilise his ongoing OA. 

Treating OA is rather like trying to find the pieces to build a jigsaw – you are adding items to make the whole more stable. Therapy is multi-faceted and adaptive to changing conditions. Corkie has the pain medication, now he has a new targetted massage routine, he is soon to have his first session of acupuncture from the wonderful Tim Couzens and will probably start hydrotherapy in the near future. 

All these pieces of the jigsaw will look after his discomfort, his energy levels, his cardiovascular and muscular fitness. 

At the end of this session, Corkie was certainly happier – he was wagging his tail (which he hadn’t done in a while) asking his Dad to collect his lift and carry him downstairs to the park. He fairly bounded across the road. 

Team work

Bobi is a 2 year old Retriever cross, (although googling him he looks more like a Kuvasz – Hungarian Sheep Herding dog) who was rescued from Romania earlier this year by Blind Dogs Rescue UK. He only has some vision in one eye. 
 
It appears his shoulder was dislocated at some point and left unattended. Consequently, it has now fused in a dislocated position. He has early signs of arthritis in that shoulder and also in his hip joints. When he was taken to the vets down here, he was put on an anti-inflammatory and Amantadine. Hopefully he can be referred to a specialist. 

It is likely before rescue, that he had been chained as he has a dread of collars (so uses a harness). It is also unsure whether his blindness was due to a trauma or since birth. 

Added to all this, he has a lump on the bone on his right ribs where they were possibly broken and fused as a lump. Because of his dislocated shoulder, he doesn’t place much weight on his left front leg. This, in turn, throws his rear end out which is already stiffening due to his arthritis. Both back legs are creaky. 

Despite all this, he is a puppy with bouncy puppy behaviour. Our aim, for the first session, was to assess his physical issues and to find out if he is tolerant of physical therapy. He will never have been worked with in a helpful manual manner. 

Chris used Reiki first and calming signals which did the trick and very shortly he was lying in his lap. This allowed him to work on his stiff (very) back and stiff (very) neck. 

Bobi was lapping up all the attention and relief for 30 minutes but then had a bout of puppyness. It was almost as though he had gone “Oooooooooo…that feels so much better. I can be a daft boy again”. 

It took a while for him to regain his position on the floor, but he did. Bobi will be a team collaboration with the carers (for his wellbeing), vets (for medication and possible surgery), us (for manual therapy) and the behaviourists (to help him adapt to live after rescue) who will all work together as a Care Team to help him settle and realise he is now safe.

#imhomenow

Help to make every day a good day

We all have our good days and our bad days – sometimes that’s due to work, or the weather or our aches and pains. Most dogs don’t really know about going to work – unless it is which bed or sofa to choose. Most dogs don’t really mind too much about the weather – as long as they get a good warm rub down after. But they certainly do have good and bad days with their aches. 

Over the 7+ years of AchyPaw, we’ve found that dogs tend to benefit more when they have maintenance sessions. This will keep them on an even keel rather than ups and downs and being called out to ‘fix’ things. 

Our Sam & Sarah are 13 and a half now and they certainly have those sorts of days. We have dawdling days and we have “Look at me Dad, I can still chase that seagull” days (from Mr Sam anyway, Sarah would never condescend to chase – she’s far too much of a madam). 

By having regular therapies – some daily, some weekly, some monthly - we aim to even things out. We’ve got them on a good multifaceted therapy mix – hydrotherapy, acupuncture, laser, supplements, medication, diet – with massage being the glue that keeps it all together. 

OK, Sam & Sarah get manual therapy daily. Yours could too, with a tailored lesson from us. But the professional maintenance top-ups can be anything from weekly, to 6 monthly or even yearly like Sherlock. There is no prescription, each dog is different and so is their treatment plan. 

Give us a call if you’d like to know more either about our maintenance programmes or learning how to help your own dog. 

Involving the family in therapy

13 year old Rosie received lots of good wishes when I first visited her and posted her story. At that time, when I was invited into her house she was sitting in the hall by the wall and had to be helped into the lounge for her therapy. Once there though, she was an “OMG…this is what I have been waiting for” dog. 

When I left, I had a feeling that her family would all get involved and rally round to help her as much as they could. 

And they have….so much. Rosie is a new dog. 

On this visit, she greeted me at the dog excitedly and wagging her broad tail. A different girl. Standing straighter with more confidence. More musculature evident. Bright eyes, attentive and enthusiastic. Her Mum said that she gets a massage daily (her personalised workbook was in a folder on the sofa by the toys). Now, when massage is over, she looks up at her Mum with a “Hmm…why have you stopped?” look. The youngsters in the family are involved too. Every treat she is given, she is made to give a nice long nose to tail stretch working on her spinal and core muscles. She plays with her tuggy toy which she hasn’t done in a long while. She is eager to walk and sometimes even asks to go round the block. And to complete the transformation, she is now confident to start getting on the bed (with some help) and the armchair in the living room. 

She decided to show me how she could get on the armchair – which is where she remained for the next hour’s therapy session. 

Her fur is so much softer now and she now has space under it. She is no longer wearing a coat two sizes too small. She still has her myofascial twitches. Touching the left side, causes the right rear leg to twitch and touching the right side, makes the left rear leg twitch. She knows it is annoying to her but was very tolerant as I eased the fascia. 

But she was happy, smiling, sighing and closing her eyes in delight. Such a transformation due to the consistent work done by her family every day. I look forward to seeing how much progress she makes in the future.

#imanewgirlnow

One size doesn't fit all

13 year old Staffie Pickle was rescued 18 months ago when she was only 48 hours from being PTS. Her new Mum and Dad think she was kept in one room and possibly used as a breeding dog or maybe even a bait dog as she had big ‘cauliflower ears’ which still need constant attention. When they first put a lead on her to take her for a walk, she simply did not know what to do. She sat down and wouldn’t move. Luckily, she had brother Archie for a while who taught her how to dog. When he passed, she grieved but then settled into being the new head of the family. 

Despite all her past, she is a loving sweetheart. Her Mum and Dad are experienced Staffie parents – and are very bad at fostering. They nearly always end up as failed fosterers adding the new dog to their family. They used to have Archie and Pearl who I visited a couple of years back to teach them how to perform an appropriate massage daily routine 

They introduced me to Sussex Pet Rescue which, in turn lead to a training session for many of their volunteers. 

Although they knew what to do for Pickle, they also knew that one size doesn’t fit all. They wanted me to show them how to use manual therapy for Pickle as her needs were different from those of Alfie and Pearl. 

Pickle has a variety of issues including arthritis and Rhinitis. For these, and other conditions she takes a lot of medication. But alongside that, she is also on supplements and complementary therapy – hydrotherapy and acupuncture. Adding manual therapy is a good multi-modal mix. 

Over the last months, she has started to struggle with her hind legs – her Mum and Dad say that she sways. There are days that she really can’t walk and even on the good days, they have to be her advocate for knowing when is enough. On a good day, she will walk and walk but will then be stiff the next day. So they now decide for her when she needs to turn back. 

Because of her hind leg issues, she has put on muscle mass to her front legs. But these too have now been diagnosed with arthritis. She was very tight fascially having held herself tense for the past month or so with a stiff mid back. 

She truly enjoyed all the interventions, so much so that at the end, when I was taking pictures for her personalised workbook, she remained fast asleep on her Dad’s foot. Even when her Mum and I got up, she stayed fast asleep. Even when I got the treat box out to show them some appropriate stretching exercises, she didn’t move. I had to demonstrate the exercises on myself. 

That was Dad trapped for the rest of the afternoon. 

He did, however, manage to free himself to write a review on our page “Our arthritic Staffie, Pickle, has been a bit of a wonky donkey for a while now, and, although happy , she was obviously very tight and uncomfortable. Enter Les and his magic hands, and such a transformation!! You could literally see her muscles and stance opening up and relaxing. Such a fantastic thing for everyone who loves their dog. Predictably the session ended with a totally relaxed Staffie, fast asleep, grunting and farting happily as Les left. Results are still very much in evidence two days later”  

Massage Diva

Charley’s Mum recently put up this post of their new nightly therapy routine “This is how Charley has his massage now Uncle Les .... candles lit, nightlights on, Coronation Street on. What a Massage Diva!!” 

 #sorrynotsorry

Making adaptations for a degenerative disease

Sarah’s back paws are starting to drag now and again which catches her rear legs and can cause a stumble. Although our house is already senior-proofed we took another look round at things we could change and adapt to help her even more. 

We have slopes and ramps and mini-steps EVERYWHERE. It means Sarah never has perilous steps or slippy laminate to judder and hurt her joints. 

But the slopes and ramps were made out of wood as were her steps up into the garden. I noticed her slip once on the mega-ramp through the garage to the front drive. 

So….time for Carpenter Chris to get adapting. Luckily, he is able to translate my suggestions of “We need an uppy bit there, with a slopey bit at the top and then a short downy part” into reality. He was an engineer in a previous life so that helps. 

The ramps now have carpet tiles glued to the top of the wood – soft, comfy, non-slippy carpet. The mega-ramp also has carpet tiles glued down but not just any old tiles – brightly coloured tiles so she can see them when the garage is gloomy. No more sliding down those. 

The mini-steps outside to the garden now have rubber sheets stapled to them so when they get wet, they will still be safe for unsure paws. 

And the awkward series of small mini steps we made (he made) up and out of the back door, is now replaced with a brand new mini-slope. Which she loves. No more hesitating to go outside because the steps that were there, although small, needed a bit of a “OK…1-2-3…here we go” preparation. 

We swear that the first time she went up her new comfy bright mega-slope from the car through the garage to the back door, she got to the top and looked back with a “Thanks Dad” look. #diva

 Keep your eyes open to think of ways you can continue to change and adapt your house to fit the changing mobility of your dog. Osteoarthritis is degenerative - a few appropriate adaptive tweaks to help manage this condition, can make all the difference. Spend a few minutes following your dog around your house looking for any new hesitations or slips.

Carpets and runners and mats

Jessica Jayne is an 8 year old Collie / German Shepherd cross. When she was 3 she had an X-Ray on her shoulders to detect why she was showing sign of lameness but no issues were found. 

She still has intermittent lameness on her shoulders which comes and goes. Her Mum and Dad thought that professional help might be advisable now before this becomes a continual problem or before she starts to compensate her gait. 

While I was working with her, I was looking round the house seeing simple household adaptations that could be made to maintain the good work from manual therapy. The floors were laminate – except for one runner “which she lies on a lot – she likes that”. Just explaining why, made it all clear to her Mum and Dad who were going out that afternoon to get more. 

The water and food bowl were on the floor – “She seems to eat and drink very quickly and the bowls skid all over the floor”. If she has issues with her shoulders now, bending down to the floor to eat and drink is not going to be fun. 

Try it - get on all 4s on a laminate floor. Put socks on your hands and knees. Place your favourite chocolate in front on you. Without using your hands, try to get that chocolate. Yes, you’ll be skidding all over too. Another simple and cheap rug or mat in front of the bowls will solve all that. Feeding time will become fun again and won’t have to be rushed.

Jess was very receptive to manual therapy and her Mum and Dad thought that they’d easily be able to find 15 minutes each day where they can go through a routine with intention. NOT petting. NOT fussing. But sitting with her thinking about the muscles that are under their hands and why they’d benefit from some work. 

With the massage routine, simple but effective exercises, warming-up, cooling-down and cheap household adaptations, Jess should able to enjoy her walks over Stanmer Park for a long time. 

#runnerscarpetsandmats 

Enrichment with your dog doesn't have to be physical activity : Charley's story

“It’s so lovely….it’s not just about the fact that I’m helping Charley but it’s about the time we spend together”. 

We first met Charley and his Mum in February when she put up a desperate plea for help on the Hanover Dogs Facebook group. He was struggling to walk, was clearly uncomfortable and, naturally, his Mum was beside herself with worry. 

Having gained his vet’s consent to treat, on the first session we were able to not only offer him a thorough investigation and treatment, but also sent his Mum her own massage routine tailored specifically for his needs, some exercises, lots of ideas for household adaptations and some suggestions of other things she could add to his treatment plan. 

Charley has now been on his own multi-modal regime for 4 months now : massage daily from his Mum (Charley knows it is massage time when the Emmerdale theme tune comes on), maintenance massage from us, frequent text messages between Charley and us, Yumove Advanced, Paracetamol, rugs and mats in all the previously slippy places, harnesses to help him up the stairs to bed, raised food bowls, safe stretching exercises and laser therapy (weekly at first and now fortnightly).

His Mum asked if I could come back to make sure she is doing everything right with her massage techniques. Doing it right? Goodness, she was amazing. She was doing moves on Charley that were her own – techniques that ‘felt right’, that Charley clearly adored and, most importantly, had built Charley’s muscles back again. Intuition. 

But it is the positivity in Beverly Ann’s attitude toward Charley which is the biggest change. After our first visit, Beverly Ann wrote “I think people can be a bit sceptical. I wasn’t but I was desperate to try anything and I’m so glad I did! I know the arthritis won’t ever go but we can make it more liveable. When we went for our walk, I felt far more relaxed with him, and not worrying so much. I’m sure he felt that too. The relief I feel is huge. And yes - my worry face has been replaced by a big grin xx” 

“Massaging Charley like this, has given us an even deeper connection. When I massage his bad legs, he looks at me with such deep trust, knowing that I won’t hurt him. I thought Charley and I had the most amazing relationship before. Now there is something even more between us.” 

Four months later and she said “It’s about us. It’s so easy to come in the door, say hello, give your dog a fuss but then carry on with doing the things that have to be done. And then you can find that you have forgotten to spend time with your dog or that time has simply disappeared. With massage, I make sure that Charley and me ALWAYS spend 30 minutes together every day. This is his and my time and nothing gets in the way of it”. 

Enrichment activities don’t have to be about getting your dog out and moving. Equally enriching is spending quiet time with your dog, giving them a beneficial massage on the bed. 

#bemoreCharleyandMum #enrichment=quiettime

Accessible & Affordable therapy for all dogs and their Mums and Dads

We aim to make canine physical therapy accessible and affordable to every dog and their Mum or Dad. When we read Charley’s story on the Hanover Dog page where his Mum was saying how he slipped in the mud and went down on his side I offered to help and try to see Charley as soon as we could. This entailed Chris making a couple of visits to their vets to deliver and then pick up the signed vet agreement form. But all was completed and Charley was booked in with us shortly afterwards. 

Charley is a 10 year old Chocolate Labrador with arthritis in most of his joints but particularly in his hips. After his fall, Charley cried out in pain and then couldn’t put any weight on his front paws. He had to be carried home by car and hobbled after that clearly in discomfort. 

Charley also likes to make it known that all conversation has to be about him. If not, he vocalises. That made the consultation and treatment session much fun. Every time I would ask him Mum something or show her a massage move that would help,  Charley wanted to join in the chat. 

But he needed help and he knew it. Charley is smart really. It took a while but gradually the vocalising slowed, then stopped and Charley ‘got it’. This was good. This is helping. This is oh so relieving. 

As if by magic, after an hour, he got up on the sofa allowing his Mum to sit next to him while he placed his head in her lap. We went through all the things that would help and could be added to a daily therapy routine. Meanwhile not a sound from Charley – just lots of “I love you Mum” eyes. 

He already has mats around the house but the food and water bowl needed raising. His Mum didn’t have anything of the right height so ended up holding his bowl up for him. Now that is a Star Mum. 

We went through some stretching techniques and exercises – Charley needed space opening up in his back and neck connection, increasing his movement & ease. This should help create a more fluid rotational movement in his spine making it more comfortable for him to stand. Charley LOVES our special Back Space technique and now demands it from his Mum, stretching forward like a giraffe. Sometimes this one move can help address so many other issues. 

Charley’s Mum wrote us a lovely review “Les was absolutely fantastic with Charley. He showed such love and patience. He has given us both hope that we can help his arthritis….I finally feel like I am doing something to help Charley through this.” 

I warned that Charley might become a Massage Diva – this typically takes a few days. Not our Charley. 2 hours later his Mum wrote “It is amazing! He is on my bed and I’m doing it now. If I stop, he lifts up his paw to touch me to carry on! …..He is so calm now. And he keeps rolling from side to side when he wants a change!” and then the following morning Charley himself wrote “Hi Uncle Les. It’s not even 10 o clock and I have had a warm up, a walk and a cool down. I did my tricks- you left your treats here (I don’t mind)I have had a long massage- my eyes actually rolled back my mum said! I am now going to sleep. Thank you for teaching my mum this- I love it!! ” 

His Mum said that her “worry face has been replaced by a big grin xx” and that through touch and knowing that she can help him rather than just watching him look uncomfortable “it’s like we have found each other all over again” 

This will be the start of Charley’s new life. An empowered Mum full of positivity and armed with the tools to help him. Can’t wish for a better outcome than that. 

Thanks Charley x