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. 

 

 

Benefits of physical therapy – and some obscure ones

There are dozens of established benefits from massage and physical therapy. There are the physical and mechanical benefits such as : 

• Rehabilitation 
• Prevention 
• For exercise and sport 
• To manage pain 
• Stimulation of the healing process 
• Increase blood, lymph and nutrient flow 
• Increase joint movement 
• To improve muscle tone and strength 

Then there are the psychological benefits including : 

• Relaxation 
• Bonding 
• Reducing anxiety, stress and other emotional issues 

And then added benefits such as : 

• Give the owner peace of mind 
• Education 
• Beacuse it feels nice

Every now and again I get the odd one to add to my list. For example, I was once referred a dog who really struggled to poo. When she came to see me, she hadn't been for a couple of days. Would massage help? Dunno, but stand clear and let's try. For the next few days I received multiple texts from the owner detailing quantity and quality of that dog's movements. It worked. There's a new benefit then...helps to poo. 

And yesterday I added a new benefit. Lovely anxious Whippet Sonny has been suffering from neck issues for some weeks now causing yelps and general depression. He came to see me last month and has now visited a chiropractor who put his pelvis back in alignment while making tweaks to his neck. Yesterday's massage was much easier with Sonny adopting his usual "I'll just lie here Dr Les" pose. 

When I got home I received a message and photo from his Mum saying "First cuddle we've been allowed to have in longer than I can remember! Very rare, he must be feeling better. Thanks again". So there we have it....massage benefit number 7654321 : Increases and Restores Cuddling Ability. That's going to be one of my favourites. 

Canine Reiki and Animal Healing

Reiki and massage therapy are essentially both stress-relieving techniques that combat and release mental and physical fatigue. However, there are differences between the two therapies, the main ones being : 

• Massage is fundamentally a physical therapy involving manual touch and manipulation of the muscles, fascia and joints to relax tight muscles and assist with the circulatory systems. Reiki generally does not involve touch and works on the energy channels in the specific areas of the body to relieve blockages that cause stress and illness. Massage can be described as physical manipulation, whereas Reiki is energetic manipulation. 

• In some instances, physical massage may be contraindicated – e.g. some cancers or open wounds. Reiki therapy is safe for people with any medical condition as it requires no touch or very little touch. 

• Reiki can also be performed on a recipient from a distance and is a more recent practice dating back to only 1922 by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Buddhist.  Massage requires the physical presence and dates back several hundred years

Both therapies have the same aim to increase and free the unbalanced energy flow in the body and so are complementary to each other. In fact many physical massage therapists use Reiki techniques during a session to concentrate on the emotional and mental well-being. 

If you feel that your dog would benefit more from Reiki session, or if physical massage is contraindicated, we have a qualified Reiki practitioner in the AchyPaw team who can perform this alternative complementary therapy. 

Additionally, as we are always adding to the toolkit of services that we can offer to dogs and constantly attending courses and workshops we also offer Animal Healing. Read about this here. 

As with all complementary treatments, there is no intention to replace veterinarian advice, more to support and enhance the effects and to add to the toolkit of available therapies we can offer to benefit dogs at AchyPaw. 

If you are interested in learning more about Reiki or Animal Healing for your dog, please contact us.