Many moons ago I used to carry out human massage treatments (in my youth, so many moons ago indeed!). Something I have noticed is that people often thing that canine massage is similar in the way it is performed but it is not. When humans book a massage with a therapist that therapist will normally perform a set routine that ensures that attention is given to the overall body by allocating parts of the body specific time slots and this routine is normally adhered to closely.
Canine massage is quite different, from the first moment it is about finding the parts that really need work and also taking into account the affect these parts will be having on other areas ie. causing compensation issues such as a problem with the left leg will normally mean that the right will have some issues because it is trying to take the strain/pressure off of the left leg.
Massages always start with gait analysis, this is something I’ve actually been doing for years outside of massage and this has helped to give me a good eye for small imbalances that others might miss. Gait analysis is part of the canine massage course/certification and in order to pass a variety of dogs had to be correctly analysed and reported on and an essay written up.
After gait analysis, having hands on then allows me to confirm some of my gait analysis findings and also check for other issues, tight or hot spots etc. This is initially done via palpitation and muscle assessment.
It is after this that massage commences and consists of various techniques to free up areas of tension and issues of different levels and sensitivities. There are techniques to suit every individual including those experiencing pain, in this instance very low level work is used but still to great effect. Deep fibre friction is a wonderful way of working on very specific areas and knots and at the end of working on specific areas or overall treatment effluage is the perfect ending.
Stretches are carried out post massage and I am happy to show you low level stretches to suit your dog that you can carry out pre or post exercise.
Canine massage is a wonderful benefit to your dog, it doesn’t just have to be remedial either it can be preventative/maintenance and can help with a variety of behaviour problems. For those interested it can be combined with Reiki healing (click HERE for details of Reiki treatments) at no extra cost.
During a treatment, at all times, your dog and its emotions are taken into account, your dog is always my first priority. When carrying out a massage I will balance what needs to be achieved and your dogs needs at that time.
