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Meet Pepito and Christi!
This is Pepito’s first massage. Get into a comfortable position for you and your dog. Start by gently moving your hand in a circular motion from the front of the head at the third eye to behind the ears. You can exert a mild pressure with your forefingers in the depressions behind your dog’s ears. These are relaxation points. Pepito’s eyes are starting to close…..it feels so good. |
Next, massage the chest from the center, gently pulling outwards towards the dog’s side. With your fingers, gently massage the groove by the armpits. |
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| Pepito is starting to question the process as he looks towards his owner for reassurance. It was wise for me to take a pause so he could adjust to my touch. |
Pepito decides that the massage is OK….He thinks, “I will stand here while gentle pressure is applied on either side of my spine…starting from my ears to my tail. It doesn’t get much better than this!” |
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Pepito decides to express his enjoyment of my massage to his glutes and hamstrings by giving me a little nuzzle.
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And it DOES get better for Pepito. He is so relaxed he can no longer stand up…the end result is total relaxation. |
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CANINE MASSAGE
- Put your body behind your massage strokes. This will keep your massage from feeling pokey to your dog. It really feels better when you lean into a stroke and
use your body instead of your hand and fingers.
- Remember that massage is not the same as petting your dog. In order to affect
the muscles, you need to go beneath the hair and the skin.
- Harder isn’t necessarily better. Deeper isn’t necessarily better. Lean in and go
in as far as the tissue will let you. Go slowly and watch your dog for signs. Dogs
will tell you if you are too deep or not deep enough. A turn of the head, licking,
or eye contact generally is the initial signal that you are exerting too much pressure or that you are touching a sensitive area. Lighten up when you see this or you are asking for your dog to nip you. If your dog leans into you, then you know the dog is liking your touch and wants more pressure. Generally, they lean into your hands and get what they need. Watch and listen to your dog!
- Your hands need to be relaxed. You need to be relaxed. You need to feel you
have enough time. Just as your emotional/physical states are transferred to your dog through the lead, your states are transferred through your hands. Learn to put yourself in a relaxed state using slow movement and relaxed hands when you are massaging your dog. You can even turn on relaxing music.
- A massage can loosen up muscles and create a greater range of motion and
improve your dog’s movement for whatever sport you are doing. However, be cautious about massaging your dog right before a performance event. Muscles
can get too loose and create a greater risk of injury if a deep tissue massage is done right before ring time.
- Massage can gear your dog up or calm your dog down. It depends on the type of
strokes used, speed of strokes. In general, touching your dog is a good thing and helps develop a bond between you and your dog.
- Warm ups- I have to say a word about that. I see so many people at shows pulling
their dog out of a crate and then going into the ring or working their dog. How about a few moments of gentle touch (grooming helps achieve the same goal) and
then some warm up exercises...going for a walk, a little trot, playing attention games with movement...just to get your dog physically and mentally ready to move and perform. This will make for a happier dog with better movement, and less chance of injury.
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