We’re here!
Complete Canine Massage Therapy has moved, and we are excited to be extending our provision of remedial soft tissue therapy and performance massage treatments to pet, working and sports dogs in the Henley-on-Thames area, whilst continuing to support our lovely clients in Cheltenham and North Cotswolds where our business was first established.
The Complete Canine Blog
We’ve given our website a revamp and now have this fab new blog through which we’ll be sharing advice, tips, news and stories about all things dog, including dog health, dog training and dog behaviour.
In fact, since we’re talking about it, we’d like to invite you to subscribe to The Complete Canine Blog right now!
It’s FREE and you only need to let us know your first name and email address, then every month you’ll receive your personalised copy of The Complete Canine Blog straight to your email inbox.
What is clinical canine massage?
It is a type of physical therapy involving the manual manipulation of the muscles and other soft tissues of your dog's body. Just like human massage, it has a wide range of uses including: soft tissue rehabilitation following injury or surgery; chronic pain management (for example in association with orthopaedic conditions such as arthritis); injury prevention, and; the enhancement of sports performance (e.g. for agility dogs, gun dogs etc).
Click here to find out more about how clinical massage works on your dog's different body systems, and how it can benefit dogs of all ages, breeds and disciplines.
Signs that your dog is in discomfort or pain
It's easy to think that our dog isn't in pain if they're not crying out or hopping lame, but the reality is that dogs are VERY good at concealing pain, and some dogs in particular are also very stoic. From an evolutionary point of view, it is not a very sensible thing to do for an animal to let others individuals know when they are injured or ill, since this could pose a risk to their safety if others spotted such weakness and decided to attack them.
Dogs do however communicate discomfort and pain in a wide variety of more subtle ways, such as: moving more slowly than usual; not weight-bearing evenly on each leg; showing hesitance to jump in or out of the car; looking at / licking your hand when you touch them in a specific area; showing uncharacteristic aggression towards other dogs in close proximity.
Click here to find out about more about the behaviours that your dog may demonstrate if they are experiencing any pain or discomfort.
Knowing what to look out for can help you identify when it's time to seek professional help for your canine chum's aches and pains.
Benefits of clinical canine massage
Clinical massage can dramatically improve the quality of your dog's life, with results you can see and your dog can feel, including: significantly reduced or resolved pain and lameness; more fluid movement with a greater range of motion; better posture; decreased stiffness; restored enthusiasm and energy for favourite activities; improved working / sports performance; 'happier' mood, and; more relaxed behaviour.
What happens during a massage treatment session?
The first treatment session involves a gait and posture analysis, health and lifestyle consultation, hands-on soft tissue assessment and a full body clinical massage treatment (as appropriate). Follow-up sessions focus primarily on the massage component.
Dogs can be massaged on the floor or on the massage couch, to suit their size, comfort and confidence. Whilst some dogs relax very quickly into treatment, others need a little more time to settle and are given the freedom to get up and move about if they want to take breaks.
Veterinary consent - it's the law
Before your dog can be treated by any kind of physical therapist, your vet must sign and return a consent form to confirm that the proposed treatment is suitable for your dog, and provide any relevant clinical information to the therapist. This helps to ensure the safety and continuity of your dog's health care.
Why choose Complete Canine Massage Therapy for your dog's treatment?
Before starting out in practice, I undertook my professional foundation training with Natalie Lenton's Canine Massage Therapy Centre, successfully completing the intensive and externally-accredited 2 year Therapeutic Canine Massage Diploma (now called the Clinical Canine Massage Practitioner Programme) in 2015.
Upon completion of my Diploma, I became a member of the Canine Massage Guild - the professional body for clinical canine massage therapists in the UK - which promotes safe practice and high standards including continuing professional development amongst its members.
I am committed to lifelong learning to ensure that I am always providing the very best service possible to my canine clients and their owners, and have continued to develop my knowledge and skills, incorporating further specialist training with the Canine Massage Therapy Centre including:
- Facilitated Stretching for the Canine Patient
- Advanced Deep Tissue Techniques
- Further Ventral Aspect Techniques
- Manual Lymphatic Drainage
- Neuromuscular Facilitation (Advanced Trigger Point Manipulation)
Complete Canine Massage Therapy is also fully-insured with Balens.
Finally...
We hope that you’ve found this little introduction to clinical canine massage and Complete Canine Massage Therapy interesting and useful, and that you’ve decided to keep up to date with us by subscribing to The Complete Canine Blog!
To find out more and to discuss whether clinical massage could be a beneficial treatment option for your dog, please do get in touch with me (Sara!) via any of the methods outlined on the Contact page of our website, and we’ll be happy to discuss how we can help.
"Restore - Maintain - Enhance" with Complete Canine Massage Therapy.