Recently, 7 year old Miniature Dachshund Rufus started dipping slightly from his back left leg. In his short life, he has already undergone 2 major spinal operations due to fenestrated vertebrae and his Mum was rightly conscious of the need to help him through any new mobility issues as soon as possible.
He appreciates some calming Reiki work during his massage, so Chris went to give a double therapy session.
He was very excited to see him. And responsive, settling in for some muscle tension release and compression, which is one of his favourite techniques. All the while, also getting some calming Reiki.
His Mum was astounded by his response and the way he looked even longer at the end of the session. His whole body also felt warmer and softer. He’d clearly been taking all the therapies in.
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
Hector is almost 13 now and a big Staffie. He was rescued a few years ago and his new Mum found he had intermittent lameness due to arthritis, calling me in to help from the start of his new life.
Over the time I have worked with him, his personality has changed to being quite shy to a bundle of Big Bouncy Staffiness. He smiles, he plays, he rolls around showing me his ample tummy, he has a wander round the room and then settles.
Hector is a classic example of the way we work with dogs - namely respecting their terms. The dog shouldn’t be forced to stay in one place because that is comfortable to the therapist. Hector may start on the massage mat and then move to his Mum’s feet or, more recently, up on his favourite chair. In fact, the latter is quite a good place to work with him as he fits exactly between the arms of the chair when he has a stretch – great for back work.
On the last session, he was 100% a chair dog. 30 minutes one side then, without prompting, he turned around so I could work on the other side. He has a large magnificent Staffie head which suits cheek massage perfectly. And he LOVES that technique as the picture shows.
During the session, his eyes went from wide, to dozy to sleepy. His smile grew bigger and his snores got louder (listen to the videos on the next post).
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.
Cathal’s Mum has known us for many years and even hosted us in her shop to chat to her customers about the many benefits of canine physical therapy. And now it is our turn to help her with a not often discussed benefit of physical therapy - digestive issues.
In 2016 we had a request to help Floc who was suffering from constipation. When he came to us, we performed lots of gentle work over his abdominal muscles which were, understandably, as tight as a drum. Before he left, he had a few successful ‘movements’ in our garden and then, over the next few days, his carer would send me plenty of texts describing other successes – LOTS of successes.
Cathal had been suffering from an Impacted bowel for 1 week and, like Floc, had been straining uncomfortably. This was, in turn, affecting his whole body. He was standing hunched, he was wobbly, he was constantly trying to push down. He looked very uncomfortable. Think how you would feel or stand in a similar situation.
His Mum had taken him to vets a few days before my visit where he had been sedated and flushed as the X Rays showed he was backed up into his colon. But he was still holding himself tight.
He is a bouncy boy with a short back for a French Bulldog. When he is well, he doesn’t really squat when pooing but stands and pushes. Any extra hunching due to this new discomfort, would affect his mobility further.
Cathal was made for massage – he adored it.
I started working on other areas of his body before getting to his tummy. But I needn’t have worried. He just smiled and sighed when working around his abdominal area.
I spent an hour with this lovely boy easing out his strained back muscles and generally helping his recover from his poo-tension.
After I left, he was fast asleep with a relaxed look on his face. Massage therapy is truly holistic working on the whole body.
Recently, 7 year old Miniature Dachshund Rufus started dipping slightly from his back left leg. In his short life, he has already undergone 2 major spinal operations due to fenestrated vertebrae and his Mum was rightly conscious of the need to help him through any new mobility issues as soon as possible. 
