"Don't be put off, just do it"

We've known Riley's Mum, Alison, for a number of years now when we both started to go to events to promote our services. Alison runs Dog Delights healthy homemade dog treats. We discovered her amazing cheesy dog treats which we found are also human yummy. Since those early days her talents have grown and she has her own unit to make the biscuits in. 

Alison adopted Riley a few years ago. He is not the chief biscuit sampler though as he is a Lab and once started, he'd never stop. But he gets to enjoy all the smells and odours. Well...when he is not fast asleep that is. 

Recently he has started to display issues with his neck and upper back. Alison wrote "He screams/yelps/squeals (not sure how to describe it) when he awakes (possibly when he lifts his head??)”. He is now on Metacam which is helping his issues but he stills winces when he lifts his head in the morning. He walks and runs OK, seems happy in himself, still jumps into the car/bed/sofa/stairs OK but still gives out a “terrifying haunting wail” which is a very graphic description. 

Despite being a Lab, making him hard wired to love touch, he tends to play up at the vets or when he thinks people are doing things to him that he might not enjoy. Alison was worried he would not settle during the therapy session as he tends to play up at the vets. Again, using wonderful descriptions, she said a vet visit as “like trying to catch a moving skip and we all have to give up so nobody gets hurt" 

I was happy to try and help this handsome moving skip but made sure I was well out of range of his massive legs and feet when he had a rolling around on the floor episode. He means no harm, he is just a happy boisterous lad. 

As well as his ultra-stiff neck and upper back, he also suffers from loose core muscles which means he is not really flowing in his walk. Instead he tends to lollop along. The aim with Riley is to help his stiff neck to release that pain and to devise an exercise plan to help trim up his core. 

Alison and I took him through my new Canine Pilates routine designed to strengthen his core muscles and safely stretch his neck and upper back. He quickly picked up these exercises and seemed more fluid at the end of the 90 minute session. At least his head was turning around from his neck rather than the whole body. We plan to keep him on maintenance sessions to monitor his progress. 

Two days after his treatment session, Alison sent me an update "Smiley Riley hasn't made any whimper this morning so Les Ellam has helped him enormously already. Anybody who ever has a poorly dog with arthritis/mobility issues,or even unexplained pain, please do visit AchyPaw. AND he is very reasonable too so don't be put off, just do it" That sounds like a result to me.

Treatment given to the owner and not the dog

Luna is a 12 year old Labrador who had recently been diagnosed with arthritis in her knees and hips. 

Her Mum has made all the recommended house changes such as rugs and soft beds allowing Luna to move around the flat comfortably and rest without placing extra pressure on her joints.

Luna is bilingual as her Mum is Portuguese. When Luna is being awkward she gets told off in Portuguese but when she's being good, she gets praise in English! 

Luna's Mum used to be a paramedic and wanted to know how she could help Luna herself with massage as well as exploring other complementary therapy options. 

I was invited along, not to treat Luna but to help Mum learn a massage routine which would empower her and enable her to provide some much needed relief. Her paramedic training came back quickly and she was a natural with massage once shown how to perform the techniques appropriately.

We discussed the benefits of adding hydrotherapy, laser therapy and acupuncture to the mix. 

Luna is now in Mum's safe and competent hands. Sometimes it is not necessary to treat a dog but give their owner the right tools to help them along.

The next day Luna's Mum wrote back saying :

"Dear Les, thank you so much for your time yesterday.  Cannot thank you enough for the valuable resources you are providing me. I tried some more massage last night. Luna was lively this morning and we even play bit of fetch around the cars."

Good result I reckon

 

Holistic canine massage - noise phobia

Meet Binx 

But say his name quietly. Binx has noise phobia. Not just fireworks or noises like that but lots of things can make this dear boy anxious. The sound of a golf club on a golf ball if walking past a golf course, the bathroom door banging upstairs, motor bikes outside....you get the idea. 

 His Mum was referred to me after the trainer at his weekly dog class noticed that he was limping a little. When his mum read all the benefits that canine massage can do, she asked if I would be willing to come over and see if we could design a massage routine to help calm him down as well as looking at his wobbly leg. She was very interested in the energy healing aspect of AchyPaw massage therapy. 

I was told he can be a big aloof with people. I must have been giving off extra calming vibes then, as he simply lay down on the massage mat and didn't move for 120 minutes. His Mum was constantly shaking her head and saying "What are you doing? He is NEVER like this". It's sometimes a little difficult to isolate the specific - but it works, so I certainly wasn't going to stop. He loved everything I was doing to him...not a single complaint - except if I stopped. 

We had to help him up to turn him over so his Mum could practice the relaxing routine on his other side. 

2 hours later he eased himself up to the sofa with his head on one of the arms. As his Mum and I were chatting, his little head was slipping down the arm....he couldn't hold himself up he was so un-anxious (which isn't a word but sums up Binx's responses). His reaction and responses to the session really made my day. 

 This is what holistic massage therapy is all about - applying it to help all with sorts of different conditions. I've discovered, over my years of practice, that it isn't only indicated for arthritis or mobility issues - in the last few weeks I've had epileptic dogs, dogs with muscle tremors, anxious dogs, wobbly dogs, senior dogs...massage therapy can be inclusive and not exclusive. I love it. 

Combining complementary therapies works

Louise from A Touch of Reiki attended our Level One and Two Relax HAOK9 Massage course with the Healing Animals Organisation. She has just put up a Facebook post which fully expresses how adding a variety complementary therapies to a single treatment session can be very powerful. In this instance, it actually saved a dog's life. 

"As a graduate with the Healing Animals Organisation I cannot express how truly grateful I am for introducing Canine Massage HAOK9 level 1 and 2 with Les, Chris, Sam and Sarah as they are fantastic teachers and have taught me many skills and developed my knowledge. 

I have just returned from a second visit of a dog I am treating, a beautiful Labrador. Five weeks ago, her mobility was severely effected after been diagnosed at the age of five with arthritis and spondylitis the family thought it was time for her to pass over the rainbow as she was really struggling. With a huge heavy heart I was determined to give her a Massage and Reiki Energy Healing as I had planned to do. Four days after the Massage and Reiki Energy Healing I had a call to let me know PTS had been cancelled she had her mobility back, acting like a puppy was the words of the guardian!!! I cannot express how I felt!! Tears of joy, so much weight was lifted from my heart!! A BIG, HUGE THANK YOU!! Her Management plan in place now will be monitored with the condition she will have massage every 6-8 weeks, Distance and Hands on Reiki Energy Healing along with Natural Remedies, Nikken PetPad recently purchased thank you Caroline Rushforth and Hydrotherapy. I feel confident with everything I have learnt and practice on a daily basis at the Healing Animals Organisation has given this beautiful Labrador the quality of life back. Thank you for all the support, advice and guidance to my two and four legged teachers"

Links between Canine Behaviour & Mobility issues

Meet Wilf 

Sometimes behaviour and mobility are more related than imagined. 

Wilf is a handsome 7 year old Cockapoo who was referred to me with repeated limping and stiffness in his rear legs. The vet had said that he has possible arthritis of his spine and hips but does present with stress and anxiety. 

Talking to his Mum and Dad, they said that he has always been slightly anxious and would frequently bark if someone came too close to them. Despite his size, he is very protective to his humans. He also tends to be reluctant around larger dogs, preferring to stay away. 

Two years ago, he developed a pneumonia type infection from which he recovered but then he started to display the occasional limp with yelping every now and again when being lifted into the car. Sometimes, in the evenings, he also struggles to get up as though he is stiff. Clearly something going on. 

When I walked in, I was met with Wilf in full barking territorial mode. But I did as I do, and placed the massage mat down on the floor and sat by it. It took seconds for him to wander away from his Mum, sniff the mat and plonk himself by my legs. This was going to be a doddle. 

He drifted into doggy bliss until I touched his left hips when I received a definite look. He didn’t pull away, it was just that look you recognise after years of doing this of “OK….that is a little sore…..but not enough for me to walk away”. 

The session was mainly about empowering his Mum with a daily routine to help to alleviate his discomfort and hopefully enable him carry on enjoying himself without being anxious of other dogs possibly knocking him over which would cause him more pain. With Wilf, this was so easy – he loved the lot. Effleurage – mmmmmm, skin rolling – ahhhhhhh, kneading – bring it on. The works. 

As the pictures show, by the end of the session, Wilf was anything but anxious or stressed. 

A few days later, his owner wrote to me saying “Thank you Les for  a terrific session. Wilf had his first session with us last night and even turned over himself, so clearly loves it. Thanks again"

I think that is a result

Videos of canine massage workshops

I've now created a YouTube playlist on my AchyPaw channel with clips from several of the classes and workshops I have delivered over the years, including this one.

The video clips can all be found here

Meet Kizzy – or "when the world takes a full circle"

Alison heard of me from a local dog groomer and asked me over to try and help her dog Kizzy who has been displaying issues with her right leg for the past six months after a suspected fall.

When I walked up to her door, Kizzy’s Mum came out and said “I know you”. Indeed she did. This was Alison, the person who taught me all about human massage way back in 1996/97 at City College Brighton. Here was someone who gave me my qualifications TWENTY years ago and now here I was helping her with massage therapy. Spooky. How the world turns.

After a quick “Goodness…what have you been up to?” and twenty year catch up, I was introduced to the adorable frisky Kizzy - a 4 year old Parson Jack Russell/Springer Spaniel cross (yes….THAT frisky).  She immediately showed me how much she loves to bounce and play and lick while hiding her right rear leg.

She has become quite clever at hiding the point of issue while just getting on with being Kizzy. But that is what dogs do. Alison is a trained professional human physical therapist but was looking at Kizzy as a parent/guardian rather than through her trained therapist eyes. Once she could see how Kizzy was compensating with her gait and how she felt, she knew how to help.

Kizzy had been diagnosed as suffering from a probable luxating patella on her right rear leg, but of low grade currently. Alison was advised to look for physiotherapy as first treatment, keeping any surgical intervention as a later option.

Despite Kizzy having a therapist as a Mum, she took a while to accept massage. However, after 30 minutes or so, I asked Alison to feel where I was working and Kizzy looked round to her as though to say “Erm, no Mum…..Dr Les can do it thank you”. Oh, how the world turns! But soon Mum will be as good as me.

Between Kizzy and I, we identified several places on her body where she needs and wants massage which Mum now has to do, plus some simple gentle weight-bearing and stretching exercises to build up the muscles and mobility of her rear right leg. Hopefully, we can help her regain her confidence in using that leg and start walking comfortably again.