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| My view of Ralph's grin for the duration of the treatment session |
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| One big fat grin |
Sunday, 10 January 2016
If you have ever doubted that a dog enjoys canine massage...watch this!
This is Ralph, a handsome muscular Sussex
Bulldog having his late Christmas present that his mum bought him - i.e.
an AchyPaw session. What a great supporter of massage therapy - a huge
grin on his face throughout.
Sunday, 20 December 2015
"Well....Dr Les said...." : Maddie's story
"Well...Dr Les said......." is a phrase I ought to copyright.
Maddie is a 12 year girl who is one of my exactly-30-minute clients. She knows when half an hour is up and simply leaves me mid-massage stroke and walks away. She is also one of my once a week clients.
Her owners had originally been to see me over a year ago for a lesson in massage but realised that they needed help. So a couple of months ago came back to me and asked me to visit weekly so they would feel guilty if they didn't do the homework I had left them.
As well as the importance of the benefits of canine physical therapy, I feel educating the owners is equally important as they are, after all, the principal carer. Sometimes it could just be showing them moves and techniques they can do in between scheduled therapy sessions, sometimes simple and fun active exercises they can do with their dog to keep them supple and mobile and sometimes it is about giving advice on ways they could help with their dog's ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) - things like raising the food or water bowl so the dog doesn't have to stoop. In Maddie's case one of these tips was about encouraging her owners to get some cushions or foam cuts in places where she tries to jump or land.
Maddie loved to get up on her Mum's bed and sit beside her on the sofa but the jump up was becoming too steep. More important was the crash down again when she got off - placing enormous pressure on already senior joints and muscles. The bed in particular was very high.
After the first session I went back to visit her and found cushions scattered all the house in the appropriate places. "She loves these" they said. "We had to tell her that Dr Les said you need to land on something soft now so she wouldn't think they were just there as obstacles" which apparently seemed to work. Maddie now can get back to her favourite places. The bed still posed a challenge though as it was really high off the ground. They could lift her up and she could then land on the scatter cushions but she wasn't able to get up of her own accord.
Today I went for the weekly visit and her Mum said "Come into my bedroom and see what I've got".....hmm....couldn't resist that offer. As soon as I walked in I saw they had a new bed...a nice low bed. "Well...Dr Les said the bed was a bit high so we bought a new one". And Maddie loves it. I asked whether the bed was comfy. "Not really" was the response "but Maddie can now sleep with us whenever she likes so that is all we care about".
The things we do for our dogs!!!!!
Maddie is a 12 year girl who is one of my exactly-30-minute clients. She knows when half an hour is up and simply leaves me mid-massage stroke and walks away. She is also one of my once a week clients.
Her owners had originally been to see me over a year ago for a lesson in massage but realised that they needed help. So a couple of months ago came back to me and asked me to visit weekly so they would feel guilty if they didn't do the homework I had left them.
As well as the importance of the benefits of canine physical therapy, I feel educating the owners is equally important as they are, after all, the principal carer. Sometimes it could just be showing them moves and techniques they can do in between scheduled therapy sessions, sometimes simple and fun active exercises they can do with their dog to keep them supple and mobile and sometimes it is about giving advice on ways they could help with their dog's ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) - things like raising the food or water bowl so the dog doesn't have to stoop. In Maddie's case one of these tips was about encouraging her owners to get some cushions or foam cuts in places where she tries to jump or land.
Maddie loved to get up on her Mum's bed and sit beside her on the sofa but the jump up was becoming too steep. More important was the crash down again when she got off - placing enormous pressure on already senior joints and muscles. The bed in particular was very high.
After the first session I went back to visit her and found cushions scattered all the house in the appropriate places. "She loves these" they said. "We had to tell her that Dr Les said you need to land on something soft now so she wouldn't think they were just there as obstacles" which apparently seemed to work. Maddie now can get back to her favourite places. The bed still posed a challenge though as it was really high off the ground. They could lift her up and she could then land on the scatter cushions but she wasn't able to get up of her own accord.
Today I went for the weekly visit and her Mum said "Come into my bedroom and see what I've got".....hmm....couldn't resist that offer. As soon as I walked in I saw they had a new bed...a nice low bed. "Well...Dr Les said the bed was a bit high so we bought a new one". And Maddie loves it. I asked whether the bed was comfy. "Not really" was the response "but Maddie can now sleep with us whenever she likes so that is all we care about".
The things we do for our dogs!!!!!
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
Empathy between dogs and their owners - proven.
I always enjoy reading well conducted research articles concerning canine behaviour especially those that give further proof to the incredible bond between a dog and their owner.
I was interested in an article I read recently (http://www.littlethings.com/secret-ways-dogs-say-love-you) which had a couple of extra references, which my geeky nature had to follow up.
One in particular referred to the way dog owners feel they can read the emotions of their dog through their facial expressions and not just through the way they are standing, turn their head or the way they hold their tail. It appears that this is actually true. A Japanese study in 2013 (Nagasawa et al) examined the facial expressions of dogs, using a high speed camera, when they were presented with their owner and someone they didn’t know.
It is always good to have things like this verified so we are just not classed as ‘mad dog people’. The study showed that when a dog is reunited with their owner, they lifted their eyebrows, especially the left eyebrow. But when they saw someone they didn’t know, there was little facial movement.
The research team suggested this demonstrated behavioural facial laterality in response to emotional stimuli which reflects their attachment to their owner.
Another study from the article referred to contagious yawning. We frequently yawn empathetically when someone we are watching yawns – echoing their behaviour. But apparently, this is not limited to humans. I guess it is not too much of a surprise since dogs have always been bred to watch us and see what we are doing.
The study by Romero et al (2013) was conducted to determine whether contagious yawning in a dog was due to mild distress related response or empathy. They studied 25 dogs faced with familiar humans (their owners) and an unfamiliar human (the researcher) and acted out a yawn or other movements used as a control mouth expression. The dogs yawned far more frequently when watching their owners than the unfamiliar human which clearly demonstrates the correlation between emotional proximity. In addition, contagious yawns in the dogs were significantly higher during true yawning than other mouth movements. To make the inference even more factual, the research team actually measured the heart rate of the dogs. This did not change throughout the experiment which demonstrated the yawning response was not due to stress. They concluded that their study showed this contagious yawning is consistent with a form of empathy between a dog and their owner.
So next time someone tells you that your dog can’t possibly understand what you are saying, tell them “Oh yes they can” and it is now scientifically proven.
Appendix
Nagasawa M et al. (2013) “Dogs show left facial lateralization upon reunion with their owners”. Behavioural Processes, 98 September 2013, pp 112–116
Romero T et al. (2013) “Familiarity Bias and Physiological Responses in Contagious Yawning by Dogs Support Link to Empathy”. PLoS ONE 8(8): e71365. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071365
I was interested in an article I read recently (http://www.littlethings.com/secret-ways-dogs-say-love-you) which had a couple of extra references, which my geeky nature had to follow up.
One in particular referred to the way dog owners feel they can read the emotions of their dog through their facial expressions and not just through the way they are standing, turn their head or the way they hold their tail. It appears that this is actually true. A Japanese study in 2013 (Nagasawa et al) examined the facial expressions of dogs, using a high speed camera, when they were presented with their owner and someone they didn’t know.
It is always good to have things like this verified so we are just not classed as ‘mad dog people’. The study showed that when a dog is reunited with their owner, they lifted their eyebrows, especially the left eyebrow. But when they saw someone they didn’t know, there was little facial movement.
The research team suggested this demonstrated behavioural facial laterality in response to emotional stimuli which reflects their attachment to their owner.
Another study from the article referred to contagious yawning. We frequently yawn empathetically when someone we are watching yawns – echoing their behaviour. But apparently, this is not limited to humans. I guess it is not too much of a surprise since dogs have always been bred to watch us and see what we are doing.
The study by Romero et al (2013) was conducted to determine whether contagious yawning in a dog was due to mild distress related response or empathy. They studied 25 dogs faced with familiar humans (their owners) and an unfamiliar human (the researcher) and acted out a yawn or other movements used as a control mouth expression. The dogs yawned far more frequently when watching their owners than the unfamiliar human which clearly demonstrates the correlation between emotional proximity. In addition, contagious yawns in the dogs were significantly higher during true yawning than other mouth movements. To make the inference even more factual, the research team actually measured the heart rate of the dogs. This did not change throughout the experiment which demonstrated the yawning response was not due to stress. They concluded that their study showed this contagious yawning is consistent with a form of empathy between a dog and their owner.
So next time someone tells you that your dog can’t possibly understand what you are saying, tell them “Oh yes they can” and it is now scientifically proven.
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| Talking to my kids |
Appendix
Nagasawa M et al. (2013) “Dogs show left facial lateralization upon reunion with their owners”. Behavioural Processes, 98 September 2013, pp 112–116
Romero T et al. (2013) “Familiarity Bias and Physiological Responses in Contagious Yawning by Dogs Support Link to Empathy”. PLoS ONE 8(8): e71365. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071365
Friday, 23 October 2015
Kyto the Warrior
Ever wondered how a dog reacts after a massage therapy session? Well...look at Kyto bounce and dance - says it all really. And this is an 11.5 year old 46.5 kg dog with nerve damage in spine, backache and arthritis behaving like a puppy. He totally loves his regular sessions with me and the additional daily work his mum gives him.
When his owner moved to her new house with Kyto she had lovely wooden floors throughout the hall. When I first met her, I suggested maybe a few carpet runners would help stop him skittering along the floor when he defends her from The Postman. On my last visit I noticed a few carpets here and there. This time, her beloved wooden floor had been carpeted. The things we do for our dogs.
His owner had an animal communication session with one of Elizabeth Whiter’s graduates last week. The first thing that was said was that Kyto had been a warrior and thinks of himself as such. He communicated that he used to work alongside horses and lost many of his friends. I felt a little chill as the day before I had been researching a section I am about to teach for my new Canine Massage diploma module which I am delivering with Elizabeth. The part I was researching was the History of Massage in Animals. Although the use of massage techniques in ancient human cultures is well-documented, searching for the history of animal massage took a bit longer. The article I had just read said that Julius Caesar travelled with a personal massage therapist who also worked on his war dogs. And that a full-body massage was recommended for dogs and horses by Flavius Arrianus, a philosopher and administrator under the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrian. When I relayed that to Kyto’s owner she also felt a little chill and we both looked at Kyto and said “You knew Julius Caesar?” He just did his cute head tilt one way then the other as though to say “Of course….don’t you?”
From that point, the massage session took an even more referential tone than usual. Do I address Kyto as “Your Emperorship”? or “Hail Kyto”? He didn’t seem any more warrior-like than usual and simply nuzzled my hand and nose so maybe he is happy to have left all that behind him and to be able to live his life with his wonderful caring human who covers up her slippery wooden floor for him.
When his owner moved to her new house with Kyto she had lovely wooden floors throughout the hall. When I first met her, I suggested maybe a few carpet runners would help stop him skittering along the floor when he defends her from The Postman. On my last visit I noticed a few carpets here and there. This time, her beloved wooden floor had been carpeted. The things we do for our dogs.
His owner had an animal communication session with one of Elizabeth Whiter’s graduates last week. The first thing that was said was that Kyto had been a warrior and thinks of himself as such. He communicated that he used to work alongside horses and lost many of his friends. I felt a little chill as the day before I had been researching a section I am about to teach for my new Canine Massage diploma module which I am delivering with Elizabeth. The part I was researching was the History of Massage in Animals. Although the use of massage techniques in ancient human cultures is well-documented, searching for the history of animal massage took a bit longer. The article I had just read said that Julius Caesar travelled with a personal massage therapist who also worked on his war dogs. And that a full-body massage was recommended for dogs and horses by Flavius Arrianus, a philosopher and administrator under the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrian. When I relayed that to Kyto’s owner she also felt a little chill and we both looked at Kyto and said “You knew Julius Caesar?” He just did his cute head tilt one way then the other as though to say “Of course….don’t you?”
From that point, the massage session took an even more referential tone than usual. Do I address Kyto as “Your Emperorship”? or “Hail Kyto”? He didn’t seem any more warrior-like than usual and simply nuzzled my hand and nose so maybe he is happy to have left all that behind him and to be able to live his life with his wonderful caring human who covers up her slippery wooden floor for him.
Monday, 12 October 2015
Give a dog a bone....and they will find it like we do
Research that looks into neurophysiology, behaviour AND dogs…..ooooo, right up my street!
I always knew dogs were really really smart and this was confirmed by a recent study at the University of Sheffield (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/navigating-way-through-computer-like-dog-with-bone-1.515267). The research team found that when humans navigate through computer files, the same brain structures are used as when a dog searches for their bone.
Apparently, it seems most of us search for stuff on our computers by going through folders or other pathways. (Sounds about right for me anyway!). There are two ways to search : hierarchical or query-based. Most people in the study moved through folders in a top down fashion until they reached the file they wanted rather than spending time composing a specific query-based search. This is despite advances in search technology.
So why did their sample prefer this long-winded method? They suggested that top-down navigation uses the same parts of the brain and neural processes that have evolved over millions of years for navigating in the physical world – looking for a path where we actually stored something physically.
To get technical, these parts are in the posterior part of the brain. And that is what links us to dogs. This is exactly how they use their brain to navigate instinctively to that part of the garden where they buried their bone so they can find it when they next want it.
I’m sure there will be some people who use the key word search. Ok, for you, to get even more technical, searching for a file using a key word activates a part of the frontal brain, called Broca’s area just in case you ever need that for a pub quiz. But for us ‘old fashioned’ types it is not all bad news. Apparently top-down searching makes less use of words, leaving your ‘language system available for other tasks’, the researchers said. Phew!
Interestingly, using the frontal part of the brain for searching is a function, so far, unique to humans. But watch this space. Other recent studies have shown how the brains of dogs are evolving in parallel with us as they have spent so many years working alongside humans. You may well come home one day and find your dog on Google!
I always knew dogs were really really smart and this was confirmed by a recent study at the University of Sheffield (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/navigating-way-through-computer-like-dog-with-bone-1.515267). The research team found that when humans navigate through computer files, the same brain structures are used as when a dog searches for their bone.
Apparently, it seems most of us search for stuff on our computers by going through folders or other pathways. (Sounds about right for me anyway!). There are two ways to search : hierarchical or query-based. Most people in the study moved through folders in a top down fashion until they reached the file they wanted rather than spending time composing a specific query-based search. This is despite advances in search technology.
So why did their sample prefer this long-winded method? They suggested that top-down navigation uses the same parts of the brain and neural processes that have evolved over millions of years for navigating in the physical world – looking for a path where we actually stored something physically.
To get technical, these parts are in the posterior part of the brain. And that is what links us to dogs. This is exactly how they use their brain to navigate instinctively to that part of the garden where they buried their bone so they can find it when they next want it.
I’m sure there will be some people who use the key word search. Ok, for you, to get even more technical, searching for a file using a key word activates a part of the frontal brain, called Broca’s area just in case you ever need that for a pub quiz. But for us ‘old fashioned’ types it is not all bad news. Apparently top-down searching makes less use of words, leaving your ‘language system available for other tasks’, the researchers said. Phew!
Interestingly, using the frontal part of the brain for searching is a function, so far, unique to humans. But watch this space. Other recent studies have shown how the brains of dogs are evolving in parallel with us as they have spent so many years working alongside humans. You may well come home one day and find your dog on Google!
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| Sam Googling walks |
Friday, 4 September 2015
The Magnificent Mr Khan
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| The Maginificent Mr Khan |
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| Before his rescue |
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| Walking on his heels |
Without a tail to balance him, with very little muscle mass to support his weight, he was just dragging himself along which had resulted in a very bad roaching of the spine.
But, my goodness, Mr Khan had a real will to survive. He wanted to get better.
My aim that day was to teach Mel all the moves and routines she could do to help him recover his mobility and to stand up straight. Lots of massage techniques, lots of compression to build up the muscles and plenty of passive stretches as well as active exercises. We spent quite a long time together as Mr Khan deserved a second chance (or probably a first chance) at a good life.
He seemed to know that I was there to help and was very responsive to touch and massage. If there was any discomfort he displayed it by a gentle grabbing of my hand as though he were saying "OK Dr Les....that is a bit tender there".
There was actually very little of Mr Khan that wasn't tight especially his tendons and ligaments of his hind leg which had shortened and prevented him from stretching them fully and standing up straighter.
For a dog who had clearly not had the best of starts he was very tactile and we soon got lots of sighs and snores. He seemed to realise that massage therapy and myotherapy was going to restore his quality of life. Unfortunately it was harder trying to coax him to perform active exercises as his EPI prevented the use of treats so we had to devise exercises that didn't need bribes. But he picked those up quickly. Again, he seemed to understand that we were there to help.
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| Mr Khan - the 50kg hunk of love |
Look at these 'before' and 'after' pictures and see how massage, myotherapy and some good honest hard work can bring back the quality of life to a smashing dog.
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| Before and after |
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| Before and after |
Mel, who rescued him, posted "OMG, OMG, OMG!!!! Mr Khan has only gone and won Best in Show at the Helping Paws charity dog show!!! So, so thrilled and proud of this boy after everything he has been through. Team Khan, thank you!! "
These pictures show a totally transformed dog physically and mentally. He was happy, alert and totally strutting his stuff. Well done Mr Khan.
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| Proud Mr Khan and his rescuers |
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| Best in Show - Mr Khan |
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| "I know...I'm a superstar" |
Wednesday, 26 August 2015
RSPCA Brighton Staff and Volunteers Training Event
We were invited to the RSPCA Brighton to show the staff and volunteers how to
perform canine massage. The aim was to introduce them to nine techniques
that they could use in a routine to help relax nervous and anxious dogs
waiting for rehoming to their Forever Homes.
We had two groups of five and four members plus a variety of dogs. By the end of the event we had five dogs who all went home relaxed plus nine members of the team who looked equally relaxed. Our Sam and Sarah received a double dose as they acted as demo dogs for both groups so were totally zonked out by the end of the day.
Our Sarah is not one to offer false praise but she remained quite happy on the floor being worked on first by Lorna and then Ann. For her to stay still for that length of time is the highest praise! Clearly they were good therapists.
We are looking forward to continued collaboration with the RSPCA team and dogs
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| "Ooooooo...what do you think of that move?" |
We had two groups of five and four members plus a variety of dogs. By the end of the event we had five dogs who all went home relaxed plus nine members of the team who looked equally relaxed. Our Sam and Sarah received a double dose as they acted as demo dogs for both groups so were totally zonked out by the end of the day.
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| "Just there please Ann" |
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| "Yes, oh yes" |
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| "I think I'll try yours next" |
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| Our Sam having his ear massaged |
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| Our Sam really enjoying Chris and his skin rolling technique |
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| "If I move this way Mum, you can get a better technique" |
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| Srah reminds Lorna what to do next |
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| Best friends inside and outside of the massage room |
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| Lauren 'grounding' Lilo |
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| Heidi working on Sam's pectoral muscles |
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| Lauren at full stretch |
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| Gina working on the abdominal muscles |
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| Little Spot had only been rescued a few days previously yet took to his massage like an old hand. 30 minutes after this picture he was fast asleep on the duvet |
We are looking forward to continued collaboration with the RSPCA team and dogs
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