Massage Your Dog for Health

Massage for Pet Tips

 

A natural and low cost way to improve your pet’s health is Massage therapy.

 

Massage can be done at home and is used primarily to improve blood circulation on dogs and cats, while increasing the flow of energy. Massage is therapeutic for working out kinks, sore muscles, and joints. Increasing blood flow and the flow of lymphatic fluids throughout the body is beneficial for pets of all ages but especially older dogs.

 

The benefits of Massage are:

 

Lowering blood pressure

Relieves Pain and stiffness

Helps arthritic pets

Relieves soft tissue injury

Improves brain and nerve function

Aids in digestion and bowel performance

Helps obese pets increase circulation

Speeds recovery from surgery

Improves agility and range of motion

Facilitates improve skin and coat shine

 

Pet massage is best performed by a registered Pet Masseuse however here are some tips on giving your dog a good rub down at home.  Here is a quick How-To-Massage video:

 

 

How To Massage Your Pet:

 

Have your dog or cat lie down on its side on a rug or mat and make it comfortable. Put on some relaxing music and avoid distracting toys and food or treats.  This is a great time for bonding with a new dog or puppy or just spending some quality time with your pet while relieving pet pain and stress.

 

Start at the scalp by rubbing with thumbs around the skull and lightly on the sides of the head. 

Move to the neck muscles which get a work out daily so you may feel some tension in the neck rub gently until the stiffness disappears or the muscles become softer.

 

Next rub the shoulders along the spine bones as these are the strongest muscles

and feel for the major muscles while rubbing gently.  Do not just move the skin find the muscles with your fingers as you get to know the anatomy of your dog.

 

Using your two thumbs find the spine and rub the muscles on each side of the spine by rubbing away from the spine. Your dog will probably be drooling at this point.

 

In the front of course you have the chest and stomach area and every dog owner knows how much your dog loves a tummy rub. Dogs will lie on their back without too much coaxing at this point and enjoy every minute of your massage work. 

 

Rub gently in circular motions along the stomach area which increases blood flow and digestion.

If your dog is constipated or not, massaging the bowels will initiate healthy bowel movements. Rub in a clockwise direction for 3 turns and then in a counterclockwise direction for 3 turns again. Repeat this tai chi motion for the benefits of moving your pet bowels. 

 

For more healthy tips on massaging your dog and if you wish to read more see:

 

Dog Massage Book

 

Written By: Teris

 

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 15th, 2008 at 7:04 pm and is filed under Dog Health Issues, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.