New indicator of canine physical therapy benefit - zoopharmacognosy choices

Roxy is a 10 and a half year old Labrador who was rescued a couple of years ago. Her Mum wanted to make sure her life continued to be full of enrichment and comfort. Mum Mel is a graduate of the Healing Animals Organisation and came along to both our Relax HAO modules – Levels 1 and 2. Roxy came to Level 2 and during the course transformed from a reactive vocal girl to “It’s ok..you can walk over and around me now…I’m so chilled, happy and relaxed” girl. 

She has started to limp occasionally on her left hip and sometimes checks herself before moving in a “I can do this….I just need to think about it first” way. The vet said that she is displaying general wear & tear with possible arthritis and stiffness on the back left leg. 

Despite being used to massage from Mum, my session was probably longer and more targetted than she has had in a while. She decided she needed breaks in between – which is fine. It allowed time to get her fur out of my beard. S
he seemed overall tight and stiff. Nothing specific but, as the vet said, general wear and tear. Regular targetted intentional massage and exercise should help her enormously. She also needed a lot of myofascial release over her body to free the restricted muscle movement. This will also help her to stand straighter and comfortable. 

By the end of the 90 minute session, she could barely keep her eyes open. Sitting was way too much effort and lying down preferable. One outcome that I’ve never had before – choice of oils. Along with other therapies, Mel practices zoopharmacognosy - self-medication by selecting and ingesting of offered oils. Roxy has been selecting oils for joint stiffness and pain recently. At the end of the therapy session, Mel offered her the same oils, but Roxy was having none of that. Instead she looked at me with a “Hey Dr Les…I’ll have more of what you’re offering please”. Clearly, she didn’t need the extra help of the oils. That will be a useful indicator for her manual therapy progress.

 

The strength of dogs is awesome

Rufus is a 5 year Miniature Dachshund who I started to visit in 2016. He had a back issue presenting with recurring limping of front leg. This all stemmed from an injury when he was 1 with someone treading on him while out walking. 

Massage and physical therapy worked wonders with him. He loved it. His Mum loved giving it to him daily – turning petting time into therapy time. But after several months I was asked to visit as an emergency. On visiting I recommended an immediate visit to the vets where it was discovered he had 5 fenestrated vertebrae in his mid to lower spine. 

Rufus may be small, but he is so strong. When his Mum collected him from the referral centre, he immediately was able to walk on the grass for a wee. Several weeks rest, care and gentle massage and Rufus was back to normal. 

Until June this year when I was contacted again – he had 2 more fenestrated vertebrae on his lower spine with resultant weakness on his left side. Although he was in pain, he wagged his tail enthusiastically as he was taken to the referral centre again thinking he was going back to that great hotel. This time after the surgery his left hind leg still not working correctly. 

More weekly massage visits, more homework from Mum and more annoying crate rest for Rufus 

During the limited exercise phase of his recovery, the downstairs neighbour bought some turf slabs and carpeted their front patio which was all pebbled before. Rufus had his own local Dog Park. Handkerchief sized, but then that is Rufus sized too. That is neighbourly spirit and the power of cute Rufus eyes. 

His Mum was left with a new massage routine workbook which seemed to work. She wrote ““Les, this is just wonderful. I can definitely do this without worrying now. We had a little bit more of a neck massage with sighing and relaxing (him, not me!)” 

And then “Morning Les, I opened Rufus’s crate door this morning he straightaway lay on his side on the carpet and waved his left leg at me, staring at me, clearly saying ‘well, go on then!’. After 10 mins or so he rolled over for me do the other side. All this before breakfast! He loves it! We did a very relaxing 20 mins or so. We think you're wonderful.” 

3 weeks later and Rufus is almost 100%. Muscle wastage is being reversed. He is on short walks so his weight is going back down again. Stitches are all out. He starts hydrotherapy later this week. And he is happy. He was even diving into my bag to get to the treats he knows I carry. 

Size is not relevant with dogs. He may be a Miniature, but he has the strength and determination of a Maxi dog. His Mum said “Think how we would be if we’d burst a couple of discs. We’d be off work for ages”. Not Rufus. 3 weeks and he is back to himself thank you very much. The strength and determination of dogs is so inspiring. I love helping them and being inspired by them every day.

Avascular Necrosis and Complementary Therapy

Sonny’s Feedback 

In June of this year, I was invited over to help Sonny. He was then not even a year old but diagnosed with bilateral Avascular Necrosis affecting both hip joints. The vet decided the best plan for his recovery was Femoral head & neck excision. While this condition is common-ish in young dogs, to be affected with both legs at the same time is rarer. 

It meant that little Sonny could not enjoy being a puppy. He has only known wobbly gaits and compensation for his weak hind legs. The vets operated on one leg in May with the other hip booked in for 6 weeks later. 

His Mum wrote “It is very important that the muscle and scar tissue around these joints is built up to ensure as good a mobility as possible. Is this something you can help with?” She is already a Reiki practitioner and wanted to combine physical therapy with energy healing to give Sonny as much help as possible. He was also on anti-inflammatory medication. 

When I first visited him, he was walking with his hind legs closer together but was not showing any signs of gait discomfort placing both legs down equally. I guess he had never known anything different so was doing the dog thing of “Getting On With It” 

The session was more aimed at training for his Mum to build up the muscles of the leg that had been operated on to help support him for the operation on the other leg. Literally, to give him a leg to stand on! I often get asked what a fit muscle should look and feel like. 

 I use the analogy of a chicken fillet. A high-quality chicken fillet. A Waitrose or Marks & Spencer’s chicken fillet (although other supermarkets are available). The affected thigh muscles of Sonny looked more like a ham slice or lower quality fillet. They needed considerable building up. 

He had other compensatory issues, including tight neck and overused shoulder muscles. 

I devised a massage routine plus physiotherapy exercises for his Mum to perform daily. 

I recently had an email saying “I just thought you'd like an update on Sonny. The massage techniques and exercises you taught me were so helpful in his recovery. He went on to have the second surgery carried out in July from which he has recovered equally well using massage and exercise. He hasn't needed any further intervention and his Lidl chicken fillets as you called them are now looking like Tesco Finest!! We've just returned from a break on the Isle of Wight where he ran freely on the beach for hours on end. So a big thank you to you from us!!” 

I asked if it was OK to share this story and his Mum said “It can be very worrying for people who find their dog needs this operation, but it is generally very successful and Sonny is living proof!! If his story can help other owners that would be wonderful.” 

 She also sent some photos of Sonny post-operation and allowed me to share his before and after X-rays. Look at the way the femoral head was not fitting in the socket in the ‘before’ picture on the left and how the head was excised in the ‘after’ picture. Here are all the pictures – shared. 

Poor old Sonny had spent his puppy days with those ill-fitting joints. Physical therapy, massage, exercise, Reiki and medication all working to allow Sonny to run like the puppy he should be on the beach in the Isle of Wight. What a great transformation and testament to the power of complementary therapy. 

Tellington T-Touch Training

We attended a workshop to introduce us to touches and methods using Tellington T-Touch Training delivered by Caroline Still of Stylish Fido (https://stylishfido.co.uk/t-touch). 

T Touch is not massage but involves a variety of touches manipulating the skin rather than the muscles below. Although the touches are light pressure, they can be very relaxing and powerful. However, like massage, the aim is to help resolve health and behaviour. 

As well as bodywork, there are also a number of groundwork routines designed to aid flexibility, movement and increase confidence. 

The touches themselves are named after animals, such as the Leopard, Chimpanzee, Racoon and Llama. These involve different placement of the fingers on the skin. As with massage therapy, the touches slide from one to another meaning the dog always has at least one hand on their body maintaining contact. 

The groundwork is used to engage the dog’s attention and focus and involve slow and purposeful movements around objects or poles with frequent stops allowing the dog to experience their balance. 

Another component is body wraps. This is similar to swaddling a baby giving the body security and a big hug. The aim is to provide comfort by making the dog aware of all the areas that the wraps touch. It is a great tool for nervous dogs and can be beneficial for Halloween and November 5th fireworks. 

It’s always good to learn new principles and touches which can be adapted to add to our existing massage routines. We’ve never wanted to stop at just using the same few techniques but rather to constantly learn new moves to adapt and add. On Friday Chris went on a massage course designed for expectant Mums. He came back saying “Oooo…I’ve got a great move we can add to the AchyPaw routine”. As expectant Mums tend to prefer massage on their sides, this is similar to working on a dog lying down. We’ve adapted one of the moves to give a good myofascial release of the dog’s pectorals. That’ll go in our toolkit. Then there was the time Chris took a Hands-free massage course. Again, one of those moves we adapted into our exclusive Angel technique which gives the dog a huge long stretch along their entire body and most adore. 

We’re going to need a bigger toolbelt soon. 

Complementing complementary therapies

We met Caroline Still of Stylish Fido some time ago at a dog event we were doing. She is professional Tellington T Touch practitioner (http://stylishfido.co.uk/t-touch). As she says on her webpage “Tellington T Touch is a holistic respectful method of training, handling and learning. Using a combination of specific touches, lifts, and movement exercises, T Touch helps to release tension and increase body awareness. This allows the animal to be handled without provoking typical fear responses. The animal can then more easily learn new and more appropriate behaviours. It is not about ‘quick fixes’, it is about working with that animal to bring a new awareness, offering another experience and giving new information, so the animal can be more flexible and adaptive, often having profound positive behaviour changes.” 

She now has a young Poodle, Bill, and wanted me to check him out to make sure everything is OK physically. In return, I asked if she could do the same on our Sarah to give me some more ideas to help her. 

 The two different complementary therapies are, in fact, very similar. Most of the physical therapy massage moves I was demonstrating on Bill, were the same as T Touch moves, only with different names and different intensities. But despite the names, they had the same aims and benefits. 

When it came to working with our Sarah, Caroline showed me small circular moves over her thigh muscles, called The Raccoon, which targeted them far more precisely. Within a short time, both the muscles we were working on, plus the other side, started to warm up. She also sent me some lifting moves which also target the thighs. 

We’re attending one of Caroline’s workshops this weekend giving us even more tools in our Therapeutic Toolkit as you can never have too many options. That gives us massage techniques, advice, exercise routines, education, acupressure, Reiki and energy healing plus all the experience gained over the past 6 years added to the human massage techniques from the past 15 years and now T Touch. The AchyPaw Toolkit is getting bigger. And in the New Year we hope to have a new qualified and insured Canine Myotherapist joining the team. 

How young is too young to learn canine massage?

How young is too young to learn canine massage? I’ve never really thought about it until the other day when I had an enquiry from a Mum of a young dog who wanted to come along to one of my workshops. I’ve successfully worked with several dogs under the age of 1 and even had a couple come along to a workshop who were 6 months old. One of those ended up fast asleep in the middle of the room after 45 minutes and only interrupted the class with his snoring, while another was too excited about being in a room with lots of other dogs. 

But there are plenty of human Mum and Baby massage groups and workshops available. In fact, Chris’s new grandson, the gorgeous smiley Caleb, went to such a class to improve his motor co-ordination and general body awareness. So why not Mums and Puppies? 

I felt it best to give the Mum a call and see why she wanted the session and to learn more about her dog. We had a 45 minute chat – very thorough. 

As to The Why, the puppy was her first dog, she had only had cats before. She felt she didn’t really know anything about dogs – how they work, how they bond, how they play and, most importantly, how to look after them physically. 

As to The Who, the puppy was a Labrador. His name was Sherlock. He was black. He was cute. He was 18 weeks old. 

Well…let’s be honest, she had me at puppy. Then at Labrador. Then again at Sherlock. I was putty by that time. 

OK…let’s go for it. We felt that the puppy would struggle sitting still, or laying still, in a class format so Mum decided to bring him here. From Streatham in London. A long way to come. That’s dedication for you and a Mum who really wants to go that extra mile (literally in this case) to help her and her dog. 

 I collected Mum, her Mum and Sherlock at the station rather than making them get a taxi or bus. Well….I wanted to see this smasher first hand. He was sitting very politely by the kerb waiting for his transport. Oh….love at first sight. He even sat in my car happily watching the Brighton traffic go past. I don’t think he was listening to my commentary about the Royal Pavilion or the Pier or Roedean or the Lido….he just was in awe of the world. 

During our trip home, I was asking his Mum more about The Why. It turns out that Sherlock has been rather poorly in his 18 weeks with lots of tummy issues, ear problems and has been on antibiotics more times than not. Mobility wise he is fine but he could do with some Sherlock Down Time to help his insides recover and heal. His Mum said “he always looks sad. I want to be able to help him”. 

That did it for me. This was going to be success if it took all afternoon. 

As it happened, we didn’t need all afternoon. We ran through the massage techniques that could be performed on a puppy which would help keep those growing muscles in top condition and others than could help him relax. We used both Sarah and Sam, the magic demo dogs, to try things out while Sherlock entertained himself chewing the carpet. 

 Then it was his turn. Unexpectedly, Sherlock remained in one place throughout the first run through of the routine. A bit of wriggling but no getting up to see what is over there. Remarkable. 

We then took him in the garden for a wee and a leg stretch before checking out what his Mum had remembered. This was the defining moment of my canine career I reckon. Sherlock, remember EIGHTEEN weeks, just flopped in his Mum’s lap, smiled and fell asleep. Yes, there were tears. I might have joined in. 

Was he happy? You bet he was. Was he relaxed? Well he was snoring like a good ‘un. Was his Mum now his best friend ever? Just look at the pictures. Listen to the accompanying video posts. 

 This worked largely because his Mum wanted it to. So much. She needed to know that she and Sherlock will now be a life team. And I think they will. All it took was 3 massage techniques to change his life and hopefully start him on his road to recovery. His Mum performed those three over and over while he snoozed peacefully grinning with an occasional endearing toe stretch. 

My day with Sherlock is certainly going in my book of Top Ten Canine Massage Moments. 

Multi-modal and Multi-faceted canine healing

Beautiful Hanna was a Cyprus Rescue Dog adopted by Louise of Touch of Reiki. Hanna came over to the UK a couple of days before Lou was due to take our Level 1 Canine Massage Diploma module with the Healing Animals Organisation. 

Lou decided to bring her along to the course to help with their initial bonding. Quite understandably, Hanna had quite a few emotional and physical issues including a lot of scratching and nibbling at her own body. Plus she was quite anxious when other dogs or people moved in too close to her. 

When Lou was working with other dogs in the class, Hanna sat quietly with my Chris who added some extra relaxing massage and energy therapy. At the end of the module, by the time of the exam, Hanna's personality had changed immensely for the better. Lots of tears. 

Fast forward a few months. Lou had been working with Hanna in a truly multi modal and multi-faceted way giving her Reiki healing, physical therapy from massage, plus self-selection of natural food remedies and oils. Goodness, what a transformation. No scratching, calmer, glossy fur and even allowing different people to work with her. When Lou came to the Level 2 Diploma module, everyone thought she'd brought along a new dog. Which was sort of right I guess! 

Now for the Proud Uncle Les moment. Lou and I were invited along to be the expert speakers on Canine Massage to a group of Mums and Dads with their dogs for The Dogs Club. And who was the star demo dog? Hanna. She proudly sat up on the stage in front of lots of dogs and allowed Lou to show them some techniques while I explained what she was doing and why. Hanna even flopped her head down to go to sleep when we did the Extra Relaxing Move. Our Sarah couldn't have done it better herself and she's had 5 years practice of being a massage ham. 

Oh so proud to be a part of this lovely dog’s healing process. It goes to show that physical therapy is not just for arthritis. It can affect and benefit the whole dog. Add in some energy healing and you've a Holistic Healing routine. 

Well done Hanna. 

Mine's a Dog Friendly house...what about yours?

I’ve always been a firm believer of how simple changes to a dog’s home environment can be beneficial to their mobility. When I first visit a dog’s home I find myself looking around their living quarters - not in an interior designer way (I'm sure dogs don't really mind too much about the colour of the walls or curtains) but at their flooring and where the dog might jump down from. 

Any changes don't need to be expensive. There are some simple ideas to make your house friendlier for your dog, mobility-wise. 

The first thing is your floor. When we moved to AchyPaw HQ many years ago we had lovely ethical bamboo flooring installed. Sam and Sarah, our dogs, didn't care it was environmentally friendly, it made a great race track for them scooting around the house in circles. Bit by bit we added rugs and runners until we went to IKEA and saw some inexpensive practical carpets which we cut and matched to cover most surfaces. It may not look pretty but it works. The dogs now feel they can safely chase to the front door whenever anyone rings that bell without their legs going in different directions. One Mum of a dog I visited not so long ago took to heart my suggestion that adding carpet to their wooden floor would help as, on the following visit, I found she had carpeted throughout covering all the slippy floors and added matching cushions. But it meant that her dog who, on the first visit flew across the hall floor, literally, to greet me, was now able to safely amble up for a sniff. If you don’t want to completely cover your laminate floor, provide ‘islands’ of rugs allowing your dog to move between rooms. In particular, place carpets or rugs by their food and drink stations. 

Regarding food and drink, as your dog gets older you might want to consider raising their bowls off the floor slightly. Try this experiment. Get yourself on all fours on the floor and imagine you are your dog eating their food from the bowl. Ouch, it hurts. Your back, your shoulders, your neck all start to ache. Feeding time should be enjoyable not a pain. Again, it doesn’t need to be any fancy bowls. You can use those old copies of Yellow Pages that you don’t need any more to raise their bowls. Cheap as chips but it helps adapt your home environment to help your dog. 

Getting in and out of the house can also be tricky. The garden from our back door involved climbing a couple of stairs. With our Sarah starting to get stiff, we decided they needed adaptations too. We looked online for some steps but ended up turning a couple of old decking planks into “Sarah's Steps’. The tops of the steps are sanded or covered with rubber so they are not smooth and slippy. She even has an old car ramp for those days when she is extra lazy or her arthritis is playing up. I went online and found something called ‘half-steps’. They are adaptations to make it easier for elderly folk to get around their house. We’ve now get several of those around the house wherever there was a step so our Sarah can roam the house freely again without hurting her joints. 

Memory foam beds for dogs are another great idea. I have lost count of how many new expensive beds we have bought our spoilt pair over the past 10 years as the old one starts to lose it’s ‘memory-ness’. We’ve now found that you can buy offcuts online and put them inside a posh cover. The dogs don’t know any difference. They are just happy being comfy. If you want to know how a bed feels for your dog, try the EastEnders experiment (other TV programmes are available). Sit on their bed for an episode of EastEnders. If you are still comfy by the end, then that is a good bed for your dog. Any spare bit of memory foam left over, or old beds, can always be re-used beside your bed or couch, at the bottom of the stairs or anywhere your dog might land on when jumping. 

Look around your house and see what things you have done, probably without thinking about it, to help your dog maintain their quality of life by helping ease their mobility. I’m sure it will be more than you think. But you can always find a few more ways to make your house more dog friendly.

Treatment given to the owner and not the dog

Luna is a 12 year old Labrador who had recently been diagnosed with arthritis in her knees and hips. 

Her Mum has made all the recommended house changes such as rugs and soft beds allowing Luna to move around the flat comfortably and rest without placing extra pressure on her joints.

Luna is bilingual as her Mum is Portuguese. When Luna is being awkward she gets told off in Portuguese but when she's being good, she gets praise in English! 

Luna's Mum used to be a paramedic and wanted to know how she could help Luna herself with massage as well as exploring other complementary therapy options. 

I was invited along, not to treat Luna but to help Mum learn a massage routine which would empower her and enable her to provide some much needed relief. Her paramedic training came back quickly and she was a natural with massage once shown how to perform the techniques appropriately.

We discussed the benefits of adding hydrotherapy, laser therapy and acupuncture to the mix. 

Luna is now in Mum's safe and competent hands. Sometimes it is not necessary to treat a dog but give their owner the right tools to help them along.

The next day Luna's Mum wrote back saying :

"Dear Les, thank you so much for your time yesterday.  Cannot thank you enough for the valuable resources you are providing me. I tried some more massage last night. Luna was lively this morning and we even play bit of fetch around the cars."

Good result I reckon

 

Combining complementary therapies works

Louise from A Touch of Reiki attended our Level One and Two Relax HAOK9 Massage course with the Healing Animals Organisation. She has just put up a Facebook post which fully expresses how adding a variety complementary therapies to a single treatment session can be very powerful. In this instance, it actually saved a dog's life. 

"As a graduate with the Healing Animals Organisation I cannot express how truly grateful I am for introducing Canine Massage HAOK9 level 1 and 2 with Les, Chris, Sam and Sarah as they are fantastic teachers and have taught me many skills and developed my knowledge. 

I have just returned from a second visit of a dog I am treating, a beautiful Labrador. Five weeks ago, her mobility was severely effected after been diagnosed at the age of five with arthritis and spondylitis the family thought it was time for her to pass over the rainbow as she was really struggling. With a huge heavy heart I was determined to give her a Massage and Reiki Energy Healing as I had planned to do. Four days after the Massage and Reiki Energy Healing I had a call to let me know PTS had been cancelled she had her mobility back, acting like a puppy was the words of the guardian!!! I cannot express how I felt!! Tears of joy, so much weight was lifted from my heart!! A BIG, HUGE THANK YOU!! Her Management plan in place now will be monitored with the condition she will have massage every 6-8 weeks, Distance and Hands on Reiki Energy Healing along with Natural Remedies, Nikken PetPad recently purchased thank you Caroline Rushforth and Hydrotherapy. I feel confident with everything I have learnt and practice on a daily basis at the Healing Animals Organisation has given this beautiful Labrador the quality of life back. Thank you for all the support, advice and guidance to my two and four legged teachers"

Relax HAOK9 Massage Diploma Level 2 : March 2017

A further 6 professionals from the Healing Animals Organisation qualified for the Level Two Diploma after learning another 10 massage techniques, passive movements and stretches, exploring a variety of conditions they may encounter with dogs, conditioning and wellness in dogs including a warm-up and cool-down routine plus a unique lymphatic drainage routine. They then practiced a number of active exercises. 

Classes run by AchyPaw are far more fun than traditional workshops where PowerPoint is overused as can be seen in these pictures where even the dogs get involved. Before the professionals attempt any move on a dog, they try it out on themselves first to gain a first hand experience of what it feels like 

We even have a singalong to one of the new myofascial release moves - The Locomotion