A Dog Lover's Guide to Canine Massage - Benefits of Canine Massage

A Dog Lover's Guide to Canine Massage

This book is a welcome edition to the library of dog lovers and dog therapists. As a veterinarian and personnel masseuse to my own three dogs I can’t express enough the importance of touch. The oldest medicine known to mankind is the ‘laying on of hands’, the art of touch. Once thought of as a distant adjunct to the healing process massage therapy has come full circle and is now a mainstream practice for our pets. I strongly encourage my clients to take the massage class taught by the authors of this book. It truly is a beautiful gift to give our pets. Now I will be recommending my clients buy this book! A Dog Lovers Guide to Canine Massage is an articulate, well organized and comprehensive how- to manual on giving this gift to our pets. Every consideration to the practice of canine massage is covered in this book. Each chapter is easy to read and well diagramed. The contents of each chapter build on one another, fully preparing you to massage your pets. Especially useful is a chart listing specific breeds and where they are likely to have issues based on their anatomy and use. Buy this book, read it and practice on your dog(s). Your dog will thank you!

— Dr. Elizabeth Tullett, veterinarian and co-owner of Allen Heights Veterinary Hospital

Some Benefits of Canine Massage

Massage relieves stress. When done regularly, it helps prevent the negative effects of stress. Of course dogs experience stress and although they don’t seem to hold stress in their bodies the same way we do, stress, over time, can cause deeper long-term problems that require more serious intervention.

Massage is soothing and comforting. Who doesn’t need soothing and comforting? Consider times when your dog might need soothing or comforting.

Massage triggers the body’s natural ability to heal itself from injury, strain, surgery and exhaustion. There are those times when we or our dog are injured, or perhaps even have had surgery. Massage is often the best therapy to assist in the healing process.

Massage is an effective tool to detect stiffness, pain, swelling, tension and in the long run can avoid costly complications from overlooked problems.

Massage maximizes normal function of tissues, organs and bodily systems such as digestion, absorption of nutrients, elimination and the lymph system. Simply by the stress release and relaxation that massage produces, the entire body works more efficiently.

Massage helps muscles function more efficiently by loosening restrictions as a result of misuse or over use of our muscles. We all know the pain created when we continue to work when exhausted. One example is working out too long or too hard at the gym, or when we take longer walks after a sedentary winter.

Massage reduces the build-up of adhesions in the muscles that result from inflammation due to injury, surgery or trauma. Adhesions limit range of motion by shortening the muscles. We can feel adhesions as ropey areas in muscles surrounding an injury.

Massage improves our dog’s agility whether in play or competition because of its positive effect on stretch receptors, tendon apparatus, muscle fibers and fascia.

Massage encourages relaxation of the tissues through aiding in more efficient functioning of the nerves and chemical changes in the body.

Massage, through the friction strokes and stretching, creates a deliberate inflammatory response that in turn has the effect of “jump starting” the healing process. The resulting inflammatory responses inspire tissue repair in cases of injury and strain by calling forth the healing and energy cells of our body.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, massage increases the physical and emotional bond between you and your companion canine.