Muscle Massage

Hoki had years of inactivity before we got her and following her cruciate ligament op we have been building up her exercise.

She loves to run around but if she does overdo it (which I do try to avoid, but sometimes its difficult to gaige) her muscles do seem to get very stiff.

I would like to massage her to help with this, but I don't want to get it wrong - I believe that if you massage one way you 'wind up' the muscles rather than relaxing them?

Does anyone have any suggestions of books/dvds/videos which will explain how to give a dog a massage?

There's something called the Tellington T-Touch, which is apparantly very good and useful:
http://tteam-ttouch.com/

Our local agri-college has been running day courses on it (at a quite reasonable price).

I'm sure there is a book about about it also.

This is the one you need I think

http://www.agilitywarehouse.com/prod...il.cfm?id=1214

I have watched it through and the application is explained extremely well indeed [ imo ]. Its commonly used to correctly warm up then cool down agility dogs, but is suitable for all dogs on a careful exercise regime, for oldies, for dogs recovering from injury, etc, it covers all aspects.

Usual personal disclaimer applies of suggesting checking with the vet when its for an injury / recovery related issue particularly as massage can be a tricky area but this is the one I`d present for Hoki`s needs as its not an invasive / pressure based massage but one designed to gently stimulate good supply to muscles and tissues to help avoid/minimise stiffness and lactic acid problems [ a common cause of stiffness in itself ].

This is the Galen website [ those responsible for the DVD I`ve linked to above ] and you can contact them directly to discuss Hoki`s situation for a free phone consult.

http://www.caninetherapy.co.uk/cmassage.htm

They are well known on the agility circuit and I know enough people who have used them directly in that capacity at shows, [ and have seen the results for myself ], to be able to give a recommendation fwiw

HTH :smt001

Linda Tellington Jones books on the Tellington touch are very good and Have easy to follow pictures.

My Dogs Love it


http://www.avonvalettouch.co.uk/howto.htm

The others have given specialist advice so I won't add any more apart from saying I regularly give Suki a massage. Been doing it since she was tiny and she even moves position to get me to reach her legs!

I start off with a very gentle head massage, moving down her neck and back. I then gently massage her legs and finally her fav bit is to get her paws massaged! Works wonders when she is in a stressful situation - OH thinks I've lost it but I know she appreciates it

Thanks guys for all your very helpful links and comments... haven't looked at the links yet, will do so at the weekend

I'll let you know how we get on