Animal Massage Guide » stretching

AMG Book Review – Stretch Your Dog Healthy by Raquel Wynn

admin — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:41:53 +0000

Stretch Your Dog Healthy
by Raquel Wynn
Personal trainer and holistic health specialist Raquel Wynn is a strong proponent of massage and stretching as preventative medicine for both humans and animals. In her latest book “Stretch Your Dog Healthy” Raquel not only teaches you how to stretch your dog from nose to tail, she also talks about massage, acupressure, aromatherapy, Reiki, detoxing, herbs, and more.

The book starts out with Raquel’s description of how she used stretching to rehabilitate both the minds and bodies of her two adopted dogs, Scottish Terrier Angus and Bichon Jake. Nothing is as compelling as a story with a happy ending, and these two little guys are truly lucky to have ended up in her care. It is also a great example of how alternative methods can work wonders where traditional medicine fails (or comes with very unpleasant side effects).

“Stretch Your Dog” is divided into three parts: I – Flexibility for Fido, II – Massage and Routines, and III – For the Health of Your Hound. There are also a few appendixes (chakra chart, herbs), a glossary and lists of resources and recommended reading.

Part I contains basic dog health information and a chart where you can record your dog’s current health to help keep track of improvements as you start your stretch and massage routine. It then moves on to stretching exercises with pictures of how to perform each stretch, with advice on modifications to each (very useful for me – Sadie will not lie on her side or back unless she’s asleep).

Part II talks about massage and includes instructions and photos of how to perform massages on different areas of your pet. It also includes specific stretching and massage routines to help with a variety of issues (“Grounding”, “Stress buster”, “Balancing Yin/Yang”, “Shoulder issues”, “Arthritis”, etc.). The acupressure, aromatherapy, Reiki and Holds sections are shorter overviews, with a few specific key points on each.

In Part III, Raquel discuss what she calls “Dirty Dog Syndrome” – dogs suffering toxic overload from medications, chemicals, food preservatives, etc – and how you can help prevent this from happening (which includes stretching, exercise, food choices, herbs, etc.). She also covers common ailments and which natural remedies to use as alternatives to allopathic (i.e. conventional Western) medicine.

I would describe this book as a thorough instruction manual for stretching, a nice overview of massage, and a great source for learning a bit more about a variety of alternative therapies and techniques. I recommend it to any dog owner who is interested in playing an active role in improving and/or maintaining his/her dogs’ health and longevity. Sure, it does take a bit of time to go through and do a thorough stretching/massage routine, but it is a tremendous opportunity to bond with your pet, as well as assess his/her health and catch any issues early on. And if you’re short on time one day, just do a few stretches or massage strokes – every little bit helps.

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Animal Massage Guide Guest Post Series: Jody Chiquoine

admin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:14:36 +0000

Today’s guest post comes from Jody Chiquoine, the founder and director of Fitter Critters, a canine rehabilitation and hydrotherapy facility in Lee, Massachusetts.

When her Newfoundland Zowie was traumatically injured, Jody, a registered nurse for 34 years, used her expertise in rehabilitating people to help Zowie back to health. Inspired by this experience, Fitter Critters was born. In addition to her Masters Degree in nursing, Jody is a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist, a member of the American Canine Sports Medicine Association and certified in canine massage.

Jody also helped design and introduce the first American Red Cross Pet First Aid course in Berkshire County, and offers instructor courses as well as pet first aid courses to the general public.

She is a founding member and current president of Northeast Pyr Rescue (a Great Pyrenees rescue organization) and recently co-authored “A Dog Lovers Guide to Canine Massage” with Linda Jackson (read my review).

Fitter Critters: Massage
By Jody Chiquoine, RN, MSN, FNP, CCRT

Fitter critters is my business. In 1999, I decided that my life would go to the dogs! I applied to dogs what I had studied and done in human health care for 30 years. Hence began the canine physical rehabilitation and therapeutic swimming business in Lee, Massachusetts named Fitter Critters!

Approximately 50-70 dogs per week swim and are treated in our indoor fitness pool or gym. In addition, we design individualized treatment programs that include massage and home exercise programs for owners to do on their dog. At our facility we offer dogs most of the rehab modalities commonly utilized in any human physical therapy program.

The most commonly treated problems are: arthritis, post-operative knee, hip or spinal surgery, hip dysplasia, neurological problems, and fractures or reconditioning following a medical illness. We offer weight loss programs, cancer care programs and bowel and bladder retraining. In all cases, we work in conjunction with veterinarian referral.

Massage and stretching (passive range of motion) is part of every treatment we perform. Equally important, massage is at the heart of the teaching we offer owners. Physically and emotionally, dogs respond better to massage than humans do. Owners are surprised to see that there is often a noticeable change in function and performance in one to two massages. They notice the deeper bond that is formed with their dog.

Three times per year, Linda Jackson and I teach a canine massage course to dog owners/caregivers. We believe that anyone can learn to do massage and no one knows the dog better than their human companion! We de-mystify massage by teaching caregivers what to do and how to do it. Our Book, A Dog Lovers Guide to Canine Massage was written as a functional and easy to use guided Workbook utilizing these same principles.

The response from clients, performance people, veterinarians and physical therapists has been overwhelmingly positive.

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