Dogs are not as good as humans (in general) at sitting still, so treatments for our pets are kept to a shorter duration of 40 minutes.

Treatments start with a gait (walking) assessment, conformation (structure) assessment, then proceed to hands on work. This gives your dog time to get to know and get comfortable with me, and for me to read his / her body language and willingness to be treated.

Dogs assimilate massage WAY better and faster than humans. Humans tend to try to remember what we did to cause a pain, how we moved, how we slept, etc. We are mentally and / or emotionally engaged with our aches and pains. Dogs on the other hand live in the moment and generally go, “hey, that spot feels good, yeah, get in there a bit more, thank you” then let that tension go quite quickly with a ‘release sign’.

Common release signs are yawning, a full body shake, and / or a stretch and wag. Once your dog lets that go, they come back for more work. That being said, being able to spend 20-25 minutes of hands on time within a 40 minute treatment session is getting A LOT of work done. And I will also be visually noting changes in gait / movement / posture etc throughout the treatment process.

Massage for dogs is recommended for the same reasons that it is beneficial for humans: reduction of stress and tension, to relieve sore muscles, to rehabilitate from injury, surgery and / or illness. Massage is also very helpful for preventing injury in our pets including very active dogs that participate in sports (agility, rally, harness, frisbee, dock diving, rating etc).