Doggie Massage

Leslie, are you familiar at all with T-Touch?  I think the "T" is for Tellington, which is the woman's last name.  I've heard lots of good things about that technique.

 I've heard of it but don't know much about it.  All I've heard is good stuff too.

I think there are videos available, probably books, too.  Maybe you've already googled it.

There are lots of different things you can do --

 1.  Dr. Fox has several pet massage books out and all of them are darned good. 

 this is just one of his books:  Healing Touch

2.  I've used PetMassage.Com not only to learn but to FIND a good canine massage therapist.  They have a set of how-to CD's you can get if you want to go more in-depth.  It's fantastic for everything from arthritis to behavior problems.

3.  T-Touch is awesome but the seminars are wickedly expensive.  Linda Tellington-Jones has been around a LONG time -- some people just dismiss it as "just" massage but it's far more than that but usually it's used for behavior problems and chronic problems.  Again -- investing in her basic set of CD's is a smart thing and man it comes in handy.

You will get much further in easing the arthritis with using some essential oils -- it's essential oil in things like Ben Gay that "help" but if you stick with just the basic oils you don't get all the gunky junk in the fur/coat.  The more oil you use the more 'heat' you get, the more you rub the more heat you get.  These aren't heavy oily-oils like mineral oil.  These are light oils -- you almost can't tell they ARE oils and they don't mark furniture, etc.  You DO have to be really careful to wash your hands super well or you'll transfer it somewhere like your eyes and you'll hate me.  I love White Flower Oil and WoodLock oils -- but I get them mailorder.  You can walk into most any health store (from Whole Foods to just mom & pop type little health stores) and get either peppermint oil or wintergreen oil -- both work great.

 The other thing -- if you will give a small amount of a relaxant *with* the NSAID (Metacam is an NSAID -- like any nsaid it can cause liver damage or stomach bleeding) you can generally either accomplish more with that same amount of nsaid, OR you can wind up using less.  In short -- when you hurt (particularly a joint) you tense up.  The more you tense up the more it makes that joint/vertebrae grind against itself -- so the more pain you get AND the more destruction you get.  Relaxing the muscles helps that nsaid to do *more* because it's not having to fight the tension of the pain-filled muscle/joint.

Most pharmaceutical relaxants (like valium) are habit-forming so vets don't use them.  But herbal relaxants - like valerian, or passion-flower or St. John's Wort -- aren't habit-forming and can really help a lot.  Giving a couple of valerian caps (or using the tincture in a bit of tahini or peanut butter) before you do the massage can really maxmize it.

I've had arthritis my whole life -- and as a result we tend to adopt animals that *have* arthritis so I've done this many times.

Some animals don't *like* massage -- it hurts, they hurt, they don't want any part of it.  The oils REALLY help there (because they can relieve the inflammation even without rubbing much), especially when combined with the relaxant. 

But some LOVE it.  Real massage is more than just petting -- because you literally are trying to stretch out muscles and build them back up again.

If you will email me I have a bunch of arthritis stuff I can send you.  Feel free to email me (don't pm -- this IS a document I'll send you as an attachment). 

 My agility club had a class on how to give doggy massages once. It was a fantastic class. One thing I learned about it is that you do not need to do the actual t-touch to have the desired effect. It's hard to describe, but what you DON"T want to do is put pressure on any joints, such as the spine. To massage the spine, you work on the outside of it, not directly on it. Every dog is different and will like / hate different types of touches, different types of pressure etc. When I do the spine area, I work from the tail to the neck, put a hand on each side and use my thumbs to apply pressure in a circular motion as I work forward.

Other big spots I hit are the hind quarters. Think hamstrings on us - the back of the thigh. Those muscles are usually quite tight and my dogs love that spot massaged. 

Other techniques I use with my thumbs is to just use a forward and back motion and I work my way down a limb. On the hip area I alternate pressure between my tumbs as I work over those muscles. 

My dogs love to have the areas massaged where their legs meet their bodies. Another favorite spot is around the neck and between the shoulder blades. I can usually put my dogs in to a trance doing these spots.

Google for massage therapists in your area and see if there is anyone holding a seminar or the like. Sometimes you'll find them at obedience or agility matches. i'm sure there's a lot on youtube as well but just be careful. If something doesn't look right, it's probably not. The dog should be totally relaxed when its getting a massage, not alert like it thinks it is about to get hurt.

 If you have ever had a massage, think back to the different types of motion they used with their hands and how they worked out tight muscles. The idea is basically the same.

Didn't I see TaoofGoldie back on the forum?  I believe she IS a dog massage therapist.  I just hate thinking of your boy in pain.  I'm sending painfree vibes to him & ((HUGS)) to you.

 my local library had this book and I think it is a really quick and friendly intro to massage LINK

This woman has a ton of videos demonstrating massage LINK

the tellington touch can be found online in various places and from what I learned and read it isn't the muscle specific stuff of the above - it was more a relaxing thing (I think its described in Scaredy Dog iirc)

I have tried to learn as much as I can about massage for dogs to help B with his knees.  He has such a lot of muscle in his hind legs and it is almost always tight. I also do stretching with him and once he started to accept my shenanigans he seems to like it LOL

this woman was on the Yahoo orthodogs site a while back and has good info link

I sure hope you can give him some relief!

gradyupmybutt

Didn't I see TaoofGoldie back on the forum?  I believe she IS a dog massage therapist.