Dog massage therapy

When something hurts, a dog stops using it properly and starts using everything else differently. Weeks of that leaves tight, overworked muscle a long way from the original problem, a dog with a sore back end often has a rigid neck and shoulders doing the extra work.

Addressing that is not cosmetic. A dog who is braced and guarded cannot move freely enough to get the benefit of anything else in the plan.

Pets with mobility problems usually have a primary problem and a pile of compensations built on top of it. Much of that compensation lives in muscle.

The principle is similar. The difference is that it is done with an understanding of how a dog is built and what this particular dog is compensating for, and it is working toward a goal in a plan rather than offered as a treat.

It is commonly used for dogs with arthritis, dogs recovering from surgery, and older dogs who have been slowing down and quietly changing how they move.

• Assessing stiffness: muscle, soft tissue or joint capsule? Working through where stiffness is actually coming from, motion palpation, agonists and antagonists, AROM against PROM, and what end feel tells you.
• The place of myofascial treatment in canine chronic pain Why fascia matters in dogs, what myofascial treatment does, and where it fits alongside conventional pain management in practice.
• Myofascial techniques in animal rehabilitation: a review How myofascial techniques work mechanically, neurologically and biochemically, the four areas where they help, and the five approaches used in practice.