I hadn’t seen handsome collie Bob for a couple of years. Recently he had an operation with some uncomfortable post-surgical complications requiring restriction of his mobility and wearing a collar so he couldn’t get to the wound site.
All this made Bob an unhappy boy. His Mum rightly asked if I could go over to give him a check over before he resumes normal Bob Duties.
When I last visited, Bob kept his toy ball in his mouth throughout. This time it was a deer antler. Things don’t change – just the comforter. At the first session, he was a textbook dog to work with. At that time, I imagined the conversation in his collie head going something like :
“Ok…that was lovely but I’ll just go for a walk round the sofa”
“And hello I’m back”
“Ok…I’ll go for a walk again”
“And bring back my toy to hold”
“Ok…I’ll go and sit by Mum and rest against the sofa”
“Oh this is nice, I’ll just close my eyes”
“Hmm…I’m sliding down onto the floor”
“Ok, I’ll just stay here and sleep”
“I feel like a stretch….oooooo… l-o-n-g stretch”
“And I’ll do another one – ‘coz I can now”
Still nothing changes. The script was exactly the same except we were in a different room and he couldn’t get round the sofa. Otherwise it was lots of “oohs and ahhs” interspersed with “I have to walk away for a moment – but I’ll be back”. It was as if he had speech bubbles coming out of his mouth his reactions were so clear.
And he slid down on the floor in front of the sofa – just as I told his Mum he would. Which is where he stayed.
His lack of activity plus discomfort had scrunched him up – tight neck and back. Just touching them started to make him longer and release the heat from the restricted fascia. I could see how long he was getting by the space he was taking up in front of the sofa.
At the end, he got up, did an enormous Dog Yoga stretch one way and then the other. Big shake. And dropped the antler as though it were a Mic Drop! Very dramatic Bob.
I think that was a Job Done moment.
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.
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
Last week we delivered the 9th occasion of the special Relax HAOK9 Massage CPD training we designed for the professional therapists of the Healing Animal Organisation.
This time we had 15 delegates from all over the UK and Europe who attended the workshop in the Healing Barn to add manual therapy to their existing skill sets.
Throughout the various days, we had more than a dozen dogs of different sizes, age and issues, who came along, with their vet agreement forms, to help the delegates enhance their techniques. And by the end of each day, there was a Pup Puddle on the floor – snoring smiling relaxed dogs.
Thank you to everyone who came along to spread the benefits of canine massage therapy to many more dogs internationally.
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”
Meet Charley – the amazing Red Lighting Magnetically Vibrating Chocolate Lab.
Some months ago. we bought a Low-Level Light Therapy device to target some relief for Sarah. Recently I completed my certification for the application of Phototherapy.
How does it work? The manufacturers explain it well here
And now we have a Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field (PEMF) machine with a variety of mats. This site has a simple explanation of how that device works : “Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy can decrease inflammation and pain, increase the rate of tissue repair and regeneration. This painless modality can be used adjunctively with rehabilitation sessions or daily at home. PEMF uses pulsing electromagnetic fields to jump start and accelerate normal biological cellular reactions. A small battery current is pulsed through a coil to create the electromagnetic field and initiate the biological cellular reactions. Cells contain electrically charged particles called ions that govern all cellular processes. When the body is stressed (by illness, competition, environmental factors or age) the cellular membrane that conducts the essential ions into and out of the cell becomes compromised and is unable to efficiently do its job of managing the transport of these ions. The PEMF machine generates a magnetic field that creates motion with these ions immediately and positively directly impacts these and the membrane potential to stimulate them into action. The result is an increase in cellular communication and circulation, a decrease in inflammation and pain and a resulting acceleration of healing. There are no side effects seen with the use of PEMF.”
Me, being the scientist I am, researched further and this, very technical, journal item explains it in great depth.
What does all this technical jargon this mean to our Sarah? Well, she is treated on the large mat every morning after her first walk, targeting both hips, knees, paws and lower back – all her achy bits. In the evening she is treated with the Vetcare light, targeting specific areas of issue. Both may contribute to ease her discomfort.
Our Sam is suspicious of everything that he can’t eat (or pee on). And would wriggle off the mat. Now with the smaller mat, we can slide it under his elbow, which is where his arthritis is worse, and he just continues snoozing. Similarly, he can be also be targetted on that area with the Vetcare.
What does it mean to us? We use the PEMF device on our hips, knees, back and neck……and it is so soothing. For a long while after, we feel young again – well……young-ish. But it is a device that we can see and feel working. If it feels as good on our dogs as it does on us, then that is a big addition to their multimodal therapy regime.
Meanwhile, back to Charley. Like Sarah, his aches and pains are centred on his rear end. As a bigger boy, he can lie on the PEMF mat while having his photo therapy and being massaged. After that, we can then target any new niggles he has picked up – I this case, his elbow on which we used the smaller mat. All in the same session.
After his second multi-therapy session, his Mum, who is now very observant to changes in his gait and behaviour, wrote “Charley has just woke up, bright eyed and bushy tailed. We went for a short walk- lots of energy, pretty fast I have to say, no sound of nails dragging, front paws back to front position, tail wagging. Thank you so much Les- happy doggy, happy mummy! Now we have to risk the temptation to overdo it.”
Treatments evolve and improve – new ideas, new techniques and modalities are continually being introduced. Here at AchyPaw, we look into these developments and, where appropriate, offer and incorporate them into our treatment regimes.
Have a read of our case histories and feedback and, if you think we could help you and your four-legged friend, give us a call or drop us an email. In order to treat your dog, we need a vet consent form – for the most part this is a no-fee formality to allow your vet to check our credentials and approve the treatment as a complement to any treatment they may already be providing.
#anothertoolinourtoolbox
Wouldn’t it be good if every dog settled down to their massage session immediately? Of course, but that doesn’t happen. Some dogs get it straight away. We arrive. The massage mat goes down. They lie on it. And they’re away – lying down in the zone. Grins. Sighs. Snores. Others take a bit of time. They investigate the mat. They stay still for a few minutes then decide they need to get up and go for a walk coming back in a short time. This may go on for a while until, eventually, they ‘get it’ too. Trust building is important.
We would never force a massage on a dog. Therapy is on their terms. After all, as well as being beneficial, massage should be enjoyable. What we do will feel different to dogs than petting, even those who get petted all the time. And initially, we are someone new – although we quickly seem to become their new bestie.
We let the dog come into the massage space on their terms. It may be that in the first session, hands on therapy may only take half the time. But the dog is still experiencing its associated benefits.
Equally importantly, we are adaptable and the massage techniques we employ are also adaptable. If a dog won’t lie down, we run a whole workshop full of techniques that can be performed on dogs who prefer to sit during their therapy. Seated massage is frequently performed on humans, it made sense for us to develop similar techniques for dogs.
Even the dogs we have been visiting for a long time can display this pattern. I’ve been treating Ralph and Auntie Pearl since 2014. They are big solid dogs – Sussex Bulldogs. But with hearts of gold. When I arrive, I get squashed with affection and licks and paws and legs. They love their massage. But the position they adopt has to suit them.
Big Boy Ralph will happily sit right in my lap letting me work up and down his spine and over his shoulders but won’t lie down until he decides it is time. On the last session his front paws were slipping bit by bit down the mat until he went fully prone lying down. Now I could get to work on his hind legs and perform long myofascial moves.
Auntie Pearl was the same, except she likes to start by facing me while being massaged – she loves a quick sneaky nose boop – mine, not hers. She slips down into my lap rather than out of it like Ralph. With her, I can start work on her rear legs and then get to her front when she’s lying in my lap. But then she turns around and copies her brother.
By having a toolkit of massage techniques that can be performed with the dog sitting, standing or lying, both Ralph and Auntie Pearl receive the benefits of massage whichever way they decide to go.
Don’t worry if you think your dog won’t like it or doesn’t settle down immediately, we adjust and adapt to suit your dog.
#lotsoftechniques
I had an emergency call-out for Lord Nelson. His Dad wrote that he was limping on the front left leg having probably over-done his exuberance on the beach over the weekend.
He and his Spaniel brother, Mr Darcy are part of our Double Therapist maintenance programme. As active boys this helps them with their mobility as well as hydrotherapy, osteopathy and supplements which all contribute to their multi-faceted therapy regime.
This ‘emergency’ session, though, would be the first time in ages that his brother hasn’t had his massage at the same time. His Dad thought that Darcy might be a bit pushy-iny during the session, but we needn’t have worried. Mr Darcy simply sat on one side of the massage bed while Nelson sat on the other.
Both then fell asleep on either side of the massage mat - for an hour. They even mirrored each other - when one rolled over so did the other.
Mr Darcy had his relaxation therapy without even being touched - well.....he did get the occasional touch or two from me until Nelson noticed and pulled my hand back to him.
#poweroftouch
Charley the Senior Lab is usually quite excitable when being taken to the vets. But this time his Mum sent a picture and wrote :
“Charley is at the vets uncle Les. It’s very busy and very hot. Charley is having a massage and is the calmest doggie in the whole place!!”
You don’t have to have a physical issue to benefit from massage. It is a great way to bring about calmness in your dog.
Be more like Charley and his Mum and ask how to learn a massage routine appropriate to you and your dog.
Edie is one of our 3 monthly girls. She’ll be 12 shortly but apart from some silver in her beautiful face and a slight rear leg issue, she is moving well. And this time she felt awesome. No stresses or tension in her back which is her usual problem.
We had to postpone her appointment a few weeks ago as she decided to eat something quite unsavoury which must have been yummy and went down well, but came back out the next day. Definitely not the ideal health state for manual therapy.
She is on a low dose of Gabapentin and also Rimadyl plus monthly acupuncture with vet Guy from Coastway. That plus the regular physical therapy is doing the trick and keeping her mobile. She even has a 2 year Rottweiler puppy as her new best friend. He clearly sees her gorgeousness too.
She has a walk in the morning when she decides whether that is ‘her for the day’ or she might decide she wants a short walk as well in the evening. But it is Edie who chooses what is best – as it should be.
She is an ‘up and down’ girl too. Massage is in 5 to 10 minute bursts with lots of goofing Labradorness in between. That’s fine. She should be allowed to choose how much she can take or needs.
Typically though, just as the session reaches 60 minutes, she decides that it’s time for snoozes and settles down. You can see from the pictures that she is barely keeping her eyes open.
Even a single session, scheduled regularly, can release muscle & fascial tension and maintain mobility. Consider these sessions as “tune-ups”. They can be scheduled like Edie, or arranged when necessary – before an event, before/after a holiday, before/after surgery or even when a new dog is coming into the house like Charlie & Ziggy.
Don’t worry about contacting us for a therapy session if there doesn’t seem anything wrong at the moment – we don’t make you sign up for a series, many benefits can be achieved from a single session.
We first visited Charley the handsome Labrador a few weeks ago after he’d had a fall. The plan was to treat him and then pass on some therapeutic skills to his Mum so she can help him recover and maintain his mobility.
Chris visited Charley the other week to see how things were progressing and he was certainly better but still his usual vocal self.
This time when Chris visited, he could see Charley through the window but he wasn’t barking. His look was “‘Oh ..... it’s Uncle Chris. I’ll just ignore him”. Now that is one chilled relaxed comfy dog. That’s usually a result for us but unfortunately Charley is the door alarm. As his Mum said “I can’t believe Charley didn’t bark at all! We don’t have a doorbell because we have a Charley”
As far as his massage goes, his Mum wrote “Charley loves it and jumps on my bed every evening ready!”. One problem we had initially was getting to both sides – Charley used to prefer the same side every time. A trick I learned early on, to turn a dog over (you certainly do NOT want to flip them over) is to simply ask the dog. That tends to work. And it does with Charley…. “Oh he is one chilled boy now! And he DOES roll over to have the other side done. You were right.... I just had to ask him!”
A well-known indicator of the benefit of massage is that the dog becomes more relaxed. A little less well-known indicator is that you then have to go and buy a door bell.
Sorry not sorry. While I’m sorry about the latter, I’m not sorry at all that Charley is relaxed. Keep on Chilling Charley. Mum can buy a door bell down the local hardware store.
There are all sorts of signs during and after a massage therapy session, that it has been of benefit. As well as the dog moving more freely and balanced, typically we finish with a dog comfortably relaxed on the floor. Then the gait benefits are harder to see.
But, as shown by Pudding here, there are drippy noses (indicating that lymphatic drainage has taken place flushing out all the nasties from the body), a relaxed posture (relief from discomfort) bright shiny eyes and overall physical ease.
Chris has been visiting 12 year old Pudding every two weeks for some months now. Her progress since that time has been heartwarming and encouraging. She now manages to keep up with her Hounds on the Downs chums.
She is another poster girl demonstrating the benefits of our AchyPaw therapy techniques.
It is a good plan to learn how to support your dog throughout their lifetime and to help them reach their full potential through knowledge and physical therapy. Recently I have had several returnees after a year or more to do exactly that – looking to learn more about how to manage their dog now they are a little more mature.
November 2016 I was invited over to show Mum and daughter how to massage their wonderful Retrievers Asbie and Tor. At that time Asbie was only 1 year old while Tor was 4. The other week I was invited back to give Asbie’s Mum a refresher/top-up lesson appropriate to the fact that that Asbie is no longer a new pup. Mind you, Asbie still thinks he is a new pup. At first he was being a bit of an ‘imp’ as his Mum put it, but after 30 minutes or so he assumed the “I love you Mum” position, looking up at her with that soppy grin as she worked her way through the new massage routine.
Asbie, and brother Tor, now do agility in their garden with weaves and tunnels. But their main activity is Scent Work, once a week for 3 hours. Added to this are 2 daily walks and regular swims all contributing to the amazing condition Asbie is in at 3 years old. These activities are going to help maintain their mobility while daily massage can contribute to support their quality of life.
Asbie has now grown into his body making it easier to see how balanced he is, how strong and toned his muscles are and any areas we need to concentrate on. In fact, he was pretty much perfect and simply needed Mum to adapt the techniques we went through 2 years ago to the increased size and mass of Asbie. As dogs grow, develop and mature, the techniques they like and need, change and adapt.
Asbie adored the new bonding with Mum and her increased knowledge of his body. Just because he is not slowing down yet or showing any signs of discomfort doesn’t mean he won’t benefit from a daily massage routine. Getting it right at the beginning, making these simple changes, being aware of his body, will make all the difference as he matures even more.
The one thing that hadn’t changed over 2 years is the end result – Asbie asleep & relaxed after all that massage. Here’s 2016. Not a lot difference to 2018 really.
Looking forward to meeting him again in 2 years time and checking in with his progress.
Rather than asking the carers to bring their dogs to us, we typically do home visits. There are a number of reasons for this including the dog feeling more relaxed and comfortable in their own home and for us to have a look at their environment to see, and suggest, if any simple adaptations could make their mobile life easier.
But what happens when we leave?
Do the dogs feel uber flexy and go round frantically hopping on and off furniture?
Do they rush around the garden weeing and getting rid of all those waste products we helped shift during the lymphatic drainage part of the therapy?
Do they wait at the front door for us to come back again and continue working with them?
Or do they just flop down and go to sleep?
I think the majority seem to do the latter. We frequently get snoozey, dozey, dopey and eyes closed photos sent to us afterwards. We don’t take that as an insult in a “they’ve gone now, we can go to sleep” way, but more in a “I can barely keep my eyes open after that massage” way.
Proof needed? Here are Flint & Alfie after their second session with us. We had similar pictures after their first visit so it must be real.
“Dear Les and Chris, our parents were impressed with how quiet we were when you came in to our house. Normally we have to warn them of strangers but we knew that we didn’t need to worry about you both. You were very kind and didn’t push us into anything that we didn’t want to do. Thank you for making us both feel relaxed and more comfortable. We look forward to seeing you again , Wet kisses Flint and Alfie 🐾🐾🐾🐾"
Handsome 14 year old silver faced Oscar became very wobbly recently. His Mum asked Sonny and Jasper’s Mum Ella from Bourne to Walk (who also came up with that wonderful quote) if she knew of any help and she suggested us.
Any canine therapists looking at the photo of his whole body will notice he has curly coarse fur at the front and soft at the back. In fact, while out walking one day, someone came up to him and his Mum and said “Do you put gel on his fur to make it stick up like that?” (!!). Coarse fur in irregular patches often indicates some issue with the underlying muscles needing myofascial and other massage techniques. And it did. Oscar’s hips are not very good and he is getting along by pulling from his shoulders, chest and upper back muscles. These were now tight through over-compensation. He is also walking quite flat footed on the front, almost walking on his carpal joints, to ease the pressure.
His Mum is a nurse and knows WHAT to do…..she just didn’t know HOW to do it on her Oscar. During the 90 minute session there was a lot of explaining, showing, demonstrating and enlightening with many “Oh yes…I see now” comments from Mum.
Both the vet and Mum said that Oscar can be a bit awkward sometimes and doesn’t like new people. Well…maybe that is so but he certainly had no problem with new people who he realised that are there to help him – namely me. He wandered onto his bed and stayed there for the full session. Occasionally lifting his head to turn it over so I could work on the other side “You’ve done that bit Dr Les….now do the same with that bit”.
His Mum has always started her massage routine “from his nose backwards” and noticed that when she got to his hips, he would pull a face and didn’t look comfortable. Rather than interrupt that perfectly logical route, I did the same…but slower, more intentionally and taking care. By the time I reached his hips (maybe 45 minutes later) he was perfectly fine and gave no reactions at all. In fact, he was fast asleep.
His Mum wrote later in the day “Les I can't thank you enough for all that you brought to Oscar and I today. The amazing empathy, tenderness and altogether wonderful knowledge you gave Oscar and I is invaluable. I will be diligently massaging every day and do the very best I can. At the moment he is sleeping and snoring in the hall. He didn’t think much of you leaving, the face!... Thank you so much for the papers. Regards and love from Oscar 🐾 and I 🌝.”
Armed with her personalised workbook on ways to help Oscar, his Mum is now enlightened and knowledgeable in physical therapy. All she needed was the necessary empowerment.
In a single treatment session, we offer many things. As well as therapy, we give advice on household adaptations, exercise advice and appropriate homework. Now that we have two members in the AchyPaw team, we have a new time-saving service to offer – multi-dog households treated simultaneously.
The internet is full of ways to manage more than one dog in the house. Indeed, one behaviourist refused us entry to their class when ours were puppies and was very rude about our choice of having siblings. We set out to prove them wrong and now we’ve had 12 wonderful fun filled years of experience working with two dogs and wouldn’t change one moment of it. Our Sam & Sarah have always had equal Dad time.
That experience helps when working with other brothers and sisters. If I’m working with medium breeds, such as my spaniel brothers, treating one after the other is perfectly do-able. It takes 45 to 60 minutes each dog. But we now have two sets of bigger brothers. Working one after the other with them could take up to 3 hours which would involve considerable patience and waiting time for the dogs.
Solution? We work with one each simultaneously.
Thursday and Friday were Weimaraner brother days. With the first pair, the plan was for me to continue working with Bruce again, as he has been treated by me before, while Chris would start work on Tino. Well, that was the plan. Bruce eyed up Chris and decided he was his. No problem - we always let the dog direct the session. Unfortunately, Laura was unable to visit our other Weimaraner brothers this week, so Friday Luther decided he’d continue with me while Hugo laid down in front of Chris. Another pair of dogs but half the time. Working with two dogs at the same time also has the benefit that they pick up on each other's relaxation. Two sets of snores.
Success all round as the pictures show. If you’ve got a multi-dog household and want to take advantage of two professionally qualified therapists, give us a call.
Our introduction to the Sussex Pet Rescue was through a training session I did early in the summer. There was a pleasant surprise yesterday to receive a copy of their latest Newsletter with an article about my session with Pearl (and her brother Archie).
The article says "Pearl is our 10 year old Staffie adopted from the SPR 3 years ago.
She had a very rough start in life, and, adding that to her age, we discovered she was starting to creak a bit as she went about her daily life. We decided to look for a way to help her tired bones get through the day. By chance we met Dr Les Ellam at a dog show where he was demonstrating massage techniques. We introduced Pearl to him and, when he began to massage her, she simply melted.
After a lot of happy grunting from Pearl we managed to chat to Les and discovered, among a variety of classes etc, he did home visits. We arranged a day for him to visit and work with Pearl and our Beagle Archie. Les arrived and began with a very informative chat about a dog's anatomy and structure which was full of common sense and not the usual dry lecture.
After 2 hours learning how to massage our dogs, taking their individual needs into account, he then showed us some warm-up and cool-down techniques to be used when exercising the dogs.
In addition, my wife Sue, is disabled and Les showed her how to perform his techniques with the dogs sitting on her lap. Pearl and Archie probably had the best two hours of their lives and, as the photo shows, Pearl enjoyed a snooze afterwards.
As a bonus, about 24 hours later, Les emailed a complete guide to everything we done with him including diagrams.
We now spend about 15 minutes a day massaging the dogs and it is a great way to end the day with them. One complaint - they both spend a lot of time rolling around in front of us trying to get extra rubs!"
I'll happily take that complaint!
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.
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.
I hadn’t seen handsome collie Bob for a couple of years. Recently he had an operation with some uncomfortable post-surgical complications requiring restriction of his mobility and wearing a collar so he couldn’t get to the wound site. 
