Hudson is an 8 and a half to 9 year old amazing soulful Bernese Mountain Dog rescued when he was a puppy as he grew too big. What his previous owners missed out on was that as he grew, so did his heart.
This mountain of a boy was so so trusting during his first ever physical therapy session and oh so receptive. And when his eyes looked at me, they looked into me.
He has 3 swollen vertebrae which cause him to be sore. The other week his tail was also down and he knuckled a little. Time for some massage help.
He greeted me at the bottom of the back garden and guided me up to the patch of grass where we were to work in the shade. And there he sat for me. Magnificent back facing me waiting for the session to start.
He generated a lot of heat on initial palpation which indicated tight fascia. Understandably so, as he had been holding himself scrunched up during this soreness flare-up.
He was open to all massage techniques, enthusiastically with front end work. Imagine holding up that magnificent head all day – neck and shoulder muscles working overtime. Good place to start and build up the trust between us – not that he really needed that, he’d already decided I was welcome.
He allowed gentle work on his tight back muscles, falling asleep when I placed the PEMF mat on him while also giving him Red Light therapy. Compound therapy.
We ran though a series of stretching exercises for him – which woke him up for a short while before he flopped himself back on the ground to sleep while his Mum and I worked out a maintenance plan for him.
On the second visit his Mum said that the day after, “it was as though he was learning to walk again” which is the best description I have ever heard of the untangling of fascial tension. His coat suddenly started to fit and months of holding himself tight due to the sticky fascia was suddenly freed. He found that he could start to walk with his head and back taller again.
Hudson will be starting a regular therapy schedule with me to continue the work on his back soreness and help him further with his relearning how to walk, while I get more of his heart therapy Seems a good deal to me.
Bobi and Pixie have a lovely sunny garden which is ideal for safe working. The dogs get their massage and heat therapy which is a double bonus.
Both love their sessions enthusiastically – sometimes over keen. One minute Pixie can be purring contentedly in my arms and the next she is off racing round the garden showing her new flexibility.
But she comes back. Equally Bobi can be lying on the ground smiling his oh-so handsome goofy smile and then he’s off in a wrigglefest.
But the end result is always the same – two sparko dogs relaxed for the remainder of the day as in these pictures.
We really can’t ask for better feedback.
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.
PaawHouse magazine were looking for stories where the owner had been inspired by their dog.
Hmm...sounded just like our Sarah. Can’t get more inspiring than helping your Dad totally change career.
I put the writing hat on again and her story has just been published.
Sarah's Story
#prouddad
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.
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.
Teeny Tiny Tyler has the heart of a giant dog. He was simply not sure about touch at all – except from his Mum so she did all the physical work on this session – and he loved it.
Tyler is an 11 year old Yorkshire Terrier / Dachshund cross. Despite his seniority, he has a puppy’s mind. Last year, he suddenly couldn’t stand and became immobile.
His vets immediately referred him to a specialist practice where he was treated for an Intervertebral Disc Extrusion between T12 to T13.
His progress had been coming along fine but stalled. His family asked me over to help restart his rehabilitation.
As Tyler was not willing to be touched, we started with a few exercise tips – to gently help ease his tight spinal muscles which were causing him to stand hunched. Other exercises were done to help restore his balance and sensory perception. When he runs at the moment, he does tend to veer sideways preferring not to use his right rear as much as the left.
It was then time for Mum to take over. She adopted his favourite position – in the chair beside her – and started to intentionally feel what he felt like. How tight his muscles were, how developed and balanced they were – things she could use as indictors to monitor his progress in the next few weeks.
We knew that he would be her biggest critic, but we needn’t have worried. He LOVED his front end massage. His little eyes went very gooey very quickly. Not so sure with his back end but with slow and deliberate touch, he allowed Mum to so whatever she wanted. And, equally importantly, whatever he needed.
He also knew when he had enough, getting off Mum and going back to his bed.
He did come out to try and chase my feet at the end but we managed to turn that into an exercise too.
Chasing my feet seemed to take his mind off his right rear leg issues and he managed to move across the room with a very orderly gait.
Hopefully, with all this new knowledge, Tyler’s rehabilitation will restart and he will back to his balanced running around soon.
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.
We don’t like to stand still with our therapies. We belong to the International Association of Animal Therapists (IAAT) who are a body of recognised, trained, fully insured professionals who are committed to continuous professional development. It means we are able to bring new techniques and ideas into our practice.
This year we have completed CPD in Animal Physiotherapy, Phototherapy, Thermography, Canine Positional Release & Muscle Energy Techniques and recently a two-day course on Indirect Myofascial Release with Jo Rose who offers a wide array of CPD courses for all professional animal therapists delivered by Dawn McCaig
Both the Positional Release & Muscle Energy Techniques (MET) and Indirect Myofascial Release workshops have added some useful new techniques and knowledge, especially suitable for our senior boys and girls, as they are gentle, slow and safe moves ideal for aching joints and stiff bodies.
MET minimise chances of over-stretch, stress or inflammation by holding the joints in a direction of ease rather than strain. And, where Direct Myofascial Release work helps to make the tissue move by force, Indirect MR is more of a holding and melting, without initiating any muscle guarding. It looks like the therapist is just holding their hands still on the client but, in effect, the tissue underneath is moving quite a lot.
So, the next time you see us working with your dog and it looks like we aren’t moving – don’t worry, we are just using our new skills to help. If you watch, you will see the tissue moving under our hands, loads of heat come off and the client relax even more
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.
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
10 and a half year old Staffie Bertie, found himself in Arundawn Dog Rescue
a few weeks ago (http://facebook.com/arundawn7 ) where Elaine put up a video of him walking with a limp. We offered to visit to help him in the kennels, but he was immediately fostered which is where Chris saw him the next day.
At that time, his coat was quite dull and his fur was very tight, He needed a lot of myofascial release.
4 weeks later Chris went round to see how he was progressing. First thing – he is in his forever home. His new Mum and Dad became failed fosterers. They said, “He saw a mat in the middle of the room. He lay on it. He crossed his paws. He gave a look of I’m home now”.
Second thing - his Mum has been keeping up the massage with him from our workbook and said that he can jump up onto the sofa, which they were amazed the first time he did.
Third thing – he has lost weight. He has started to get his Staffie wiggle back. His Mum said they could see a change in his shape, albeit slowly. He is walked twice a day and they are looking at starting hydrotherapy with him.
Fourth thing – there are carpet runners in the hall so no slippy stocky Staffie legs.
All in all, Chris was so pleased with his improvement. His coat is now glossy and loose. He was no longer guarding his body when touched, no reactive looks. Instead his muscles were all moving freely and his gait was balanced with a big grin as he showed off his moves.
And his personality has really come out. He is a real Mummy’s boy and happily throws himself at your feet and smiles.
Bertie has clearly landed on his paws.
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
Some weeks back I put up a post and pictures of our revamped steps around the house to help with Sarah’s changing mobility needs. New carpeted surfaces with more traction. Longer ramps with less of an uphill climb. Rubber surfaces on the new steps into the back garden.
After I put the post up, Gizmo’s Mum wrote “Saw your post about ramps. Gizmo needs a ramp for very steep steps. Any tips please?” and included two pictures of the really s-t-e-e-p steps out of the back. Gizmo is only a small dog, so could be carried, but wouldn’t it be better for his confidence if he could feel he could do it himself? His Mum said “We tried one of those long plastic ones you get for cars but it was too bouncy and he hated it. So trying to work out how best to build one”
I then crawled on the garage floor taking various pictures in various angles of the mega-slope frame that Chris made from our back door through the garage onto the front drive. We also supplied a rather quick diagram of how to do it – not quite IKEA flatpack standard but it was a start.
This week I received a picture with a “We did it! Thanks so much for your advice both.”
The steps were even eco-friendly and recycled being made out of a dismantled shed. As you can see, Gizmo at the top, loves it.
#simpleecofriendlyadaptations
Dogs everywhere…and it was heaven!
I went back for some volunteering with Arundawn Dog Rescue and this time I took an extra pair of hands – Chris’s hands. The dogs loved him – he had a very patient line of them at one point, queuing up and waiting for their turn. Typically working two hands at once.
We worked with whoever was nearest at the time – sometimes they were resting on each other so one hand could slide over them both, sometimes they were within reach of both therapists so received a double helping.
By the end, they were all asleep, rested and snoring and we both had wide silly grins.
Best day.
#adoptdontshop
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
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.
Whoopi Rose Monkey may only be 1 year old, but she’s a veteran at massage already. Not so much with her, but by watching her brother Harry receive his regular sessions from Chris. During each session, she’ll be receiving the Reiki that is passed her way as well.
When she first attended the sessions, she had to separated in an adjoining room as she just thought “Hmm…humans on the floor….must climb on them”. But as she became used to Chris sitting on the floor with her handsome brother, she would join in, but slightly less enthusiastically.
Now she has her own reason for physical therapy having developed a limp from her front end. She was very tolerant and accepting – she is still a wriggly pup remember. Chris was soon able to find the reason for the limping which was a very tight right shoulder and compensating left hip. She allowed all the techniques and clearly enjoyed the therapeutic touch. She wound down remarkably and was quite calm at the end.
Brother Harry did not get missed out of course. In between Whoopi Wiggles, he came up for his own therapy. He always greets Chris like an old friend, coming up with his tail wagging.
Another example of how the dog who is not being treated can benefit as well. When it becomes their turn, they know what to expect.
#whentwobecomeone
