A further 6 professionals from the Healing Animals Organisation qualified for the Level Two Diploma after learning another 10 massage techniques, passive movements and stretches, exploring a variety of conditions they may encounter with dogs, conditioning and wellness in dogs including a warm-up and cool-down routine plus a unique lymphatic drainage routine. They then practiced a number of active exercises.
Classes run by AchyPaw are far more fun than traditional workshops where PowerPoint is overused as can be seen in these pictures where even the dogs get involved. Before the professionals attempt any move on a dog, they try it out on themselves first to gain a first hand experience of what it feels like
We even have a singalong to one of the new myofascial release moves - The Locomotion
Way back in July 2014 we delivered a Foundation to Canine Massage workshop to a group of dog groomers in Pevensey (pictures here ). This week I had a call from someone who had attended asking for my help with her senior Schnauzer who now needs a bit of help with his back legs.
The vet gave me a full and clear outline of his recent history and issues which started last October when he started to limp on both rear legs but particularly the right. The vet found his right knee had a distinct Drawer and suspected a cruciate issue. Due to his age and the fact he did not seem uncomfortable with weight bearing, it was decided to treat this issue without surgery but with medication.
In a dog with no cruciate issue, the joint should only work like a hinge - bending up and down because the healthy and strong cruciate ligaments hold it in place and prevent it from going in any other direction. When these ligaments have broken or become stretched, the knee can also be made to move forward and backwards. This is the vet meant by 'Drawer' and if you look at some of the YouTube videos of this test, they look very uncomfortable.
In Sweep's case, a subsequent investigation from the vet in December appeared to show that the Drawer effect had lessened on the left side but he did have pain in both his knees and hips. It was most likely that he hadn't snapped his cruciate but that the tendons had stretched so the joint had become floppy which has altered his balance.
Now he was on reduced exercise, which started him on the vicious cycle of losing muscle strength in the rear while overloading the front. Time for massage and exercises and a visit from Dr Les.
The wastage in his rear legs was noticeable and he was wobbly here - preferring to sit side-saddle (see picture) rather than on his haunches.
His massage session started in that position until he gradually realised this was helping and lay down on the mat for me.
90 minutes later he was still there....
Luckily he loves his treats and with the help of some sprats I was able to devise some exercises he can do with his Mum to try and build up those back leg muscles and restore his confidence.
It certainly seemed to do the trick as after this time he stood up with more confidence. "He has the spring back in his step" his Mum said.
Hopefully we can help to restore his quality of life with the massage and exercises and help him to walk without a wobble.
He sent me a message the next day saying "Hello Les, it's Sweep here. Thank you for coming to see me yesterday, I'm feeling so much more like my old self and I even got up out of my basket (something I haven't felt like doing for a while ) to greet Mum with a waggy tail when she came home from sprat shopping this morning 😊. I've been for a little walk and feel more confident and sturdy , after just one magic massage ! THANK YOU , from Me and my Mum"
Third new dog of the week and we’re back to long worded conditions again. This time it was a dog referred from St Francis Vets with Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. This is a degeneration of the hip joint due to damage of blood supply to the femoral head. The disease causes the femoral head to collapse which affects the mobility due to resulting pain. In this case, Shaun operated with a Femoral Head and Neck Excision in December 2016.
The beautiful puppy with this condition was Scout, an 11 month old Fox Terrier. She had been getting on quite well since the operation and has been to hydrotherapy ten times now. But over the past week she seemed to have gone backwards in mobility so Shaun asked me to visit to see if I could detect what might be going on and offer help.
The thigh muscles of her affected leg have wasted noticeably. This is no doubt due to her not being able to use that leg after surgery, then realising it was sore so not wanting to use that leg, which in turn made the wastage worse so she is now unable to use that leg. Instead she has moved her right rear leg into a tripod position tucking her left behind it (as shown in the picture).
The aim was to restore her confidence so that she would place her left leg down again. It is not a case of she can’t do it. She can when she wants to. She just doesn’t want to. She is clearly thinking why bother using four legs when I get on quite happily thank you with just three. How to make her want to use that leg again?
She sat across my lap and presented me with her affected side. She needed no encouragement to relax in a massage but was unsure when touching her thigh. She didn’t get off my lap, she just looked at me as though to say “That’s an Ouch Dr Les”. But gentle warming moves sent her back to sleep allowing some more therapy. Stretches caused the same response. Hip flexion was fine but with extension I received the look.
I made an exercise routine for her owners plus gave them a massage routine to rebuild the strength in her wasted thigh.
Interestingly, her Mum does yoga in the front room and Scout always joins in giving great body stretches. A quick search of YouTube resulted in a number of excellent yoga stretches Mum and Scout can do together. This will be great for rehabilitation as yoga moves are controlled and precise which is what Scout needs at the moment.
I’m always willing to try something new. Who knew I’d be adding Yoga to the mix of therapies on offer?
Noddy is a desperately handsome black Labrador who is approaching 11 years old and lives over in Petworth. He recently had a slip and had started to become stiff in his rear legs with possible back strain. His Mum wanted him checked over and massaged to ease out his discomfort.
Noddy was described as a ‘very alpha dog’ which fits perfectly with his magnificent regal head and his manner. Although he immediately decided to play cute with me and tuck his head under my shoulder, massage was going to be on his rules. He would settle down for a few minutes, then walked away. He came back, massage, walk away. Repeat. This was the rule. Well, until 60 minutes of that game when he decided that massage was, in fact, wonderful and something that even an alpha male can enjoy. He simply lay down without moving. As well as working on his rear end, which is where he seemed uncomfortable, I also concentrated on his shoulders and neck which had become tight due to compensation and was probably making his out of balance.
We went through a series of exercises to help keep his back and neck supple and to assist the proprioception of his rear legs. Again, exercises were on his rules. I would set the exercise up. He would do them. He would lick the treat. If the treat was not immediately lickable, he stopped. Luckily the treats I use are 3 calories each so we could abide by his rules of exercise = treat.
Noddy even has his rules about cuddling. Again, on his terms and when he wants one. But you would never believe that seeing how he responded to guided massage from his Mum. He took everything she could give her.
With his seniority, the plan is to keep him mobile and comfortable with regular maintenance sessions.
His Mum sent me a couple of texts when they got home : “He is so chilled he’s almost horizontal”. “We just did a walk and he is moving beautifully. I can see a discernible difference”.
But the following day the text arrived "Noddy is moving beautifully today. The biggest change is with his shoulders and front legs. He's got his natural bounce back. I could tell immediately he got up this morning that he was in better shape". Working just on his hips, the presenting problem, would not have made such considerable improvement.
Even Alpha Dogs with loads of rules benefit from massage, especially if all parts of the body are covered.
Most of us have had one – a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle or group of muscles which really really hurts. They are different from a muscle twitch which is an uncontrolled fine movement of a small segment of a larger muscle that can be seen under the skin. Spasms can affect large parts of a muscle group, the whole muscle, or even adjacent muscles. They can occur suddenly, usually resolve quickly, and are often painful. Spasms cause visible muscle twitching whereas a cramp is more of a prolonged and uncomfortable contraction.
A muscle in spasm will feel tight and tender to the touch as it remains in spasm to protect the site from further injury. Although it is usually accompanied by pain, quite often the dog will live without showing outward signs so may well be missed. But when they are severe, a bulging muscle may be seen or felt underneath the skin at the site of spasm. If we get such a pain, we tend to feel the need to stretch the muscle involved, thus relieving the spasm and resolving the episode. But for a dog, this new pain can be quite traumatic and disorientating.
Muscle spasms usually heal with time in a couple of days or weeks since the muscles retain their good blood supply to bring the necessary nutrients and proteins for healing to take place. But if they recur the affected muscles may start to weaken as dog may avoid using them which may, in turn, lead to muscular atrophy and subsequent weakening with time.
Massage is a perfect therapy for these issues to try and prevent them or, at least, reduce their severity.
Massage can also be used preventatively by warming up the muscles before any exercises and then gently helping them to cool down afterwards. Hopefully this will prevent the vicious pain-soreness-pain cycle.
Now meet Millie. Millie is a 3 year old French Bulldog who has now had three episodes of spasm in her neck. These have been very severe which causes her neck muscles to bulge out and almost vibrate leaving her exhausted and panting at the end with her neck scrunched up like a tortoise going into its shell. Her discomfort is also displayed by her getting up, then lying down, then getting up again as though she simply doesn’t know which position to get into to relieve her pain.
On the worst occasion her Mum thought she was possibly having a seizure and took her to the emergency vets. They said it was unlikely to be an epileptic fit or seizure as Millie turned to her Mum when called so was quite aware of her surroundings.
Millie’s vet suggested that her she has some massage and physical manipulation to attempt to ease her stiff neck and prevent any further bouts.
Millie is a very happy bouncy girl who is also quite responsive to massage as I discovered. On the initial touch she stood still judging who I was and what I was about to do then gradually helped me with my assessment. We started on the massage mat but she guided me up to the sofa so she could settle straight into her bed afterwards.
Her neck muscles were extremely tight both superficially and deeper. She loved the kneading and stretching techniques. Luckily, she likes her treats so we were able to devise and practice a series of 4 active exercises to extend and help rotate her neck.
By the end of the session she looked noticeably longer especially at the neck which also appeared visibly less bulky. Hopefully with maintenance and preventative regular massage and exercises from her Mum, we can help ease Millie’s issues and she can remain with her head and neck held high.
Hemivertebrae is a congenital abnormality of the spine which often affects brachiocephalic breeds, such as the English Bulldog, French Bulldog, Pug and Boston Terriers. The vertebrae become deformed, either by fusing or becoming wedge-shaped, which can cause a twisting of the spine. The deformity in the vertebrae can cause compression of the spinal cord sometimes leading to weakness of the hind limbs. Fortunately, many dogs with this condition do not exhibit any clinical signs or pain, and do not need to be treated. Rest and anti-inflammatories can be helpful for affected dogs. Only in the more severe cases would surgery be considered as necessary to relieve compression on the spinal cord.
Now meet Will.
Just before the festive season I was invited over to help Will. He is an 8 year old French Bulldog who was rescued a couple of years ago so his physical and genetic background is unknown.
Recently he had started to knuckle his back paws and was wobbly on his rear legs. When his Mum took him to the vet, it was thought he could have hemivertebrae.
In Will’s case the vet prescribed anti-inflammatories for Will and recommended that his Mum try canine massage. Will's Mum, Alison, has known of AchyPaw for a while since she works for the Bulldog Rescue & Rehoming Trust where we've supported a couple of their annual bulldog picnics with our stall. Those shows have always been some of our favourites as there is a sea of bulldogs of all ages and sizes so you get lots of cuddles. There are some pictures half way down the page on the AchyPaw website here http://achypaw.com/news-and-articles/events2014/ with the adorable Kiss-A-Bull booth.
When I heard of Will’s condition I thought there could be two options. Firstly, I could treat him myself but that may involve several visits to help him along. Or I could provide Alison with a tailored massage lesson and routine with specific exercises to help him regain his posture and confidence.
We opted for the second as I could always return for a top up maintenance therapy session should he need one.
His condition didn't seem to be causing him any pain, more like annoyance because his back legs didn't want to support his movement. Initial palpation revealed a distinct tightness from his mid spine, also reinforced by the fact his fur was quite different over that area being coarse rather than smooth over the rest of his body.
As he became more trusting with massage and touch, he subtly shifted his body so I was working over that area, his shoulder muscles and neck which were also very tight due to him overusing them.
I showed Alison a routine on one side of his body and then she took charge of the other side. By that time Will was in French Bulldog paradise, loving every stroke and knead. He was also very good at the exercises we tried out on him.
By the end of the two-hour session, he was visibly happier and moving a lot easier, even standing straight with no knuckling. Hopefully with his Mum doing her homework regularly, which I know she is, we can get little Will back in his feet again enjoying the New Year.
In fact I received feedback later that same day “Huge thank you for coming round to give Will massage therapy and show me how to do it. Will was so receptive and to see results straight away was amazing. I have one very sleepy Frenchie now who is curled up sucking on his teddy. Les you are my hero xxxxxx”.
Once again, this demonstrates the multi-purpose benefits that canine massage can offer. Not just for arthritis but for a diverse variety of other conditions. I guess some things are worth doing on Christmas Eve other than wrapping the presents.
Last week I delivered the Relax HAOK9 Massage Level One to 10 of the Healing Animals Organisation students and graduates. These therapists already bring a great deal to the practitioner table and wanted to add a physical skill to their mix of remedial tools.
We started, as usual, with the Muscle Game to familiarise the students with the difference in muscle placement and action between humans and canines. Then we played the Compare It game where a number of different breeds are presented and students are asked to think what issues they may have because of their breed – such as Labradors or Dachshunds.
After demonstrating the full Relax HAOK9 Massage routine, the students were taken through the first half of the massage techniques.
After the lunch break I demonstrated a masterclass with two handsome senior Golden Retrievers, Perry & Joey.
The rest of the day was taken up with practicing the first part of the Relax HAOK9 Massage routine.
During the second day the students were taken through the other half of the routine in preparation for their examination which all passed.
That’s another 10 canine massage therapists who are truly multi modal in practice.
