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. 

 

 

Multimodal therapy in one session

Rescue girl Bambi had developed a limp from her right rear leg which has been slow to respond to rest or medications. 

Bambi was lying on the mat with the PEMF mat below and started her therapy session laying there while also receiving Red Light Phototherapy. That’s 2 therapies. 

Bambi then had the smaller PEMF mat directly on her rear leg while I gave her some massage. Therapies = 3 

Chris then took over with Bambi and gave her some Trigger Point therapy and stretching. Therapies up to 4. 

At the end she did not want to leave the treatment room. Relaxation = therapy 5. 

Multimodal in one session. 

#result

Canine Reiki

Recently, 7 year old Miniature Dachshund Rufus started dipping slightly from his back left leg. In his short life, he has already undergone 2 major spinal operations due to fenestrated vertebrae and his Mum was rightly conscious of the need to help him through any new mobility issues as soon as possible. 

He appreciates some calming Reiki work during his massage, so Chris went to give a double therapy session. 

He was very excited to see him. And responsive, settling in for some muscle tension release and compression, which is one of his favourite techniques. All the while, also getting some calming Reiki. 



His Mum was astounded by his response and the way he looked even longer at the end of the session. His whole body also felt warmer and softer. He’d clearly been taking all the therapies in.

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

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.