Canine Massage

I had a lady who does massages on dogs and cats come out to the house Saturday to give me a lesson. I’d read a couple of books on canine massage, but I didn’t really like the thought of practicing on Reyna with one hand and flipping through the book with the other. Massage seems like something that could potentially help Reyna, both in keeping her calm and in lowering her pain levels.

The massage portion of the lesson went very well. The instructor was very clear about the various techniques to use, as well as what parts of the dog to avoid and when massages should not be done. Reyna had trouble settling down with her at first, but then seemed to appreciate getting a nice rub. She even settled down for me again later in the afternoon.


The only bad part about the session (and it wasn’t all that bad, just a bit out there) was that the instructor is very definitely into chakras and energy fields, distance healing and animal communications. Now, I firmly believe that my animals let me know how they’re feeling and if something is wrong, but I don’t buy into the thought that someone can have a “conversation” with my dog and suddenly know all of her underlying issues. The instructor also brought some flower essences to try. She said she let her pendulum "choose" which flower essences she should use for Reyna. Based on the descriptions in the book she let me skim through, her pendulum made some reasonable selections. Of course, someone reading the descriptions would likely have made the same choices….

Regardless of all of that, I still think massages can be beneficial to Reyna. We did a couple of short ones Saturday evening and Sunday, and Reyna definitely seems to enjoy them. If for no other reason than her enjoyment, I’d say that lesson was well worth the cost.