Permission

It is not always a forgone conclusion that dogs always want to be touched.

They are very much like humans in this respect. Sometimes they are too distracted, are in too much discomfort or they just may not be in the mood to receive a half-hour session of intensive touch and nurturing. Sometimes they just crave cave time.

Before beginning every massage treatment, we always begin by asking for and getting permission from our dogs.

When we ask, we must be open and willing to accept whichever answer they may give us. It could be “yes;” it could be “no.”

The act of participating by responding to you and your request draws them into the massage session process.

By simply responding, your dogs are empowered to take more control over their lives and emotions. Either of these responses will enhance your dog’s quality of life. They have quickly screened and assessed their body and emotions and chosen whether or not they would like to be massaged. This, by itself, is an exercise that enhances dogs’ body and emotional awareness.

After a couple of times of going through the ritual of asking your dog for permission to start the session the mere suggestion of the question will begin his/her relaxation response and movement toward meditative brainwave cycles.

This is an excerpt from the book, “Creating and Marketing Your Animal Massage Business”

New findings of PetMassage_TM Research Re: The skin between your dog’s toes.

Examining paws

The pads are the first information receptors for the physical world around the dog. They communicate the shapes, textures, temperatures, and other descriptive information that the dog needs to stay safe. The pads are flexible and can contour to the shapes they press on. Dogs use all five of their pads on each paw, four pads, one for each toe, and in the forelegs, larger palmer pads. The pads work together to collect and share information so that they can have a greater understanding of their environment. The fascia serves as the communication system for all the nerves, muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood and lymphatic circulation. Whatever any one of these functions experiences affects the entire network. The fascia communicates from one toe to another through the webbing between the toes.

During a PetMassage_TM, I make a point of examining dogs’ pads; stimulating them. I press and release the various textures on the bottoms of the pads, the sides of the pads, and the hairy hollows between them. The paws are where the rubber meets the road. Scratches, scuffs, cuts and embedded debris can cause considerable discomfort. Little irritations can morph into bigger problems.

Swelling as an inflammatory process

Often the toe joints are only minimally flexible. When they are, I assess the knuckles. Sometimes I notice puffiness which would suggest swelling. Swelling restricts movement by increasing the pressure within the joint capsule. The pressure also creates the increased heat that we detect over swollen, injured, or stressed areas.

The bones are the levers and attachment sites for the fabric of fascia. When the joint is moved too far, the pain receptors get squeezed and it elicits pain. So dogs choose to self-restrict movement to avoid pain. They may not toe touch, they may limp, and they may step tentatively. By reducing the movement within the joint, the elements of the joint have the time and opportunity to heal. This is the nature’s way.

PetMassage_TM Protocol

The PetMassage_TM protocol is to support the body’s systems, by using hand compression and joint mobilization to gently roll the toes. With one hand above and one hand below, the toes are rolled from side to side. This type of rolling moves the articulating ends of the bones about, to unexpected and unfamiliar patterns.

This is not new. We’ve been teaching compression, joint mobilization, and this rolling technique in PetMassage_TM workshops for almost 20 years.

New findings

This is the exciting new part!

I have recently noticed in several of my clients that when I gently massage the webbing between their toes, they retract that limb, collecting it back toward the body. This applies especially to the limbs that are held in rigid and immobile positions. The pressure I employ is mild; as if rolling a plump golden raisin between thumb and forefinger.

Is it a pain response? I experimented on myself. When I pinched the webbing between my foretoes forcefully, it did elicit hurt. However, since I would never use such pressure with dogs, the limb retraction must be an alternative motor response. Is it tickling the dog? No. Dogs appear to enjoy the foot massage and often appear a bit surprised when their legs soften and retract.

Autonomic response

This response appears to tap into the Autonomic response of the Reptilian part of dogs’ brains. It is similar to the Fight or Flee impulse. Let’s name it the call and response of noticing something weird between the toes and a quickly withdrawing response.

The dog is obviously accessing and responding with encoding from ancient genetic memory. Consider the lessons of stepping into an unfamiliar or dangerous or irritating environment. Dogs learned long ago that it is not a good idea to step on bugs, reptiles, and rotting wood infested with things that bite and sting. Best to avoid any nuisances that wriggle about between the toes. They also display confusion when they step on a turtle that they’ve taken for a rock and it moves.

The activity of gently massaging the webbing between the toes elicits the same movement as a dog that is not expecting the rock to move. They pull the outstretched limb back toward the core. This is a good and propitious thing. It apparently reminds dogs of feeling sensations that are unfamiliar.

We do not need to know why the limbs retract.

For a healthful and comfortable quality of life with adequate respiration and strong cardiovascular circulation, dogs require movement. Some of the older dogs who come for PetMassage_TM are so stiff that they simply cannot move easily or well.

Gently massaging the webbing between the toes is an easy way to get a dog to contract her limbs automatically, as willed from the body itself, without having to work against their preconceived or habitualized notions of how their limbs are “supposed” to function.

I am a bodyworker who lives in a world of continuous wonderment and appreciation for the complex nature of relationships within myofascia. Now we see that PetMassaging the webbing between dogs’ toes affects movement of the shoulders, elbows, wrists and paws in the fore, and the hips, stifles, hocks and paws, in the hind.

Movement supports the autoimmune systems.

Remember, the major lymphatic nodes are in the major joints. The lymphatic system is the foundation for the immune system. The major lymph nodes are the Submandibular (under the jaw), Prescapular (in front of the shoulder blades), Axillary (in the armpit), Inguinal, (in the groin) Popliteal (behind the stifle). These are the primary large movement areas: the head and neck, the shoulders, the hips and the legs.

The web signals flow in the opposite direction, as well. Dogs with undefined itchiness or discomfort, from allergies to stress, often intuitively lick the spaces between their toes. Usually the area we see is pink, or if it is a white dog, saliva stained brown. Dogs can get so obsessive that their licking escalates to raw, open sores. These are medical conditions that are beyond our scope of practice and require veterinary intervention.

Application for forelegs

This PetMassage_TM response is most effective with dogs who are stiff from advanced age, obesity, compensating for shoulder soreness, arthritis or injuries, and lack of balance.

Application for hindlegs

It is effective for dogs with such hind end issues as hip soreness and instability, stifle stiffness and instability, swelling, heat, and refusal to accept touch to hocks and paws.

This technique gets dogs to bend the joints in their legs. Folding the legs into the body increases circulation. Folding the legs into the body enhances flexibility.

Documenting and duplicating the response

As I am writing this, I attempted to duplicate the response with Camille, our 3 year old boxer. Cami, who was sleeping at the time, altered her breathing pattern, shifted her position on my lap, and instinctively pulled her elbow into her ribs. I’m enough of a whisperer to recognize her grumble, “Cut it out. I’m asleep!”

Okay, this time the limb pulled in because it was annoying. I get that. But, even with our young, healthy, and vibrant Sleeping Beauty, it works.

Find student reports on www.PetMassage.com

There is a menu item that we’ve entitled A & P, or Anatomy and Physiology http://petmassage.com/ap-resources/. These are student papers that you can use as a resource for your practice and education. We invite you to check out the extensive table of contents, each of which is the link to an original paper.

To learn more about the “Pads of the Paw” please visit: http://petmassage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Pads-of-the-Paw.pdf

I’m pickin’ up good vibrations, bop bop.

Awareness, or presence, or focus increases vibration frequencies.

Whatever we focus on increases its vibration. This is a hot topic in the quantum arena. The results of entire experiments have been shown to be skewed simply because there was an observer.

We are receptive to vibrations.

And have you considered that it works the other way, too?

A heightened vibration will capture/increase our attention.

• Ooh, ooh, ooh, good vibrations. I’m pickin’ up good vibrations, bop bop. (Brian Wilson, Beach Boys, 1964)
• You are in a crowded restaurant. You look up and find yourself watching someone who just entered the room. That person’s energy had a heightened vibration.
• You are seated in your car at a traffic light. Your attention is drawn to the dogs in the car next to you. Their vibrations were broadcasting their presence and you were tuned in to the frequency.
• You are driving on a freeway and you notice a particular tree in the midst of a forest.
• You are just visiting a local shelter and that one dog connects with you.
• You are walking your dog and look up to see a small plane in the distance; this, before you hear the faint growl of the single propeller.
• You are reading a newsletter and you notice the pattern of spaces between the words and lines. Hey! Pay attention, here.
• You are hiking through a prairie meadow and pause to admire one tiny wildflower.

During a PetMassage_TM, we are especially receptive to variations in body frequencies-vibrations

• You are stroking across a dog’s upper arm and notice the shape of the muscle under your hand.
• You are effleuraging a dog and notice that your hand is paused over a particular area.
• You are scanning an area with you palm and “know” that something isn’t right but you’re not sure what.

Whoa, we didn’t see this curve coming.

We need to train ourselves to access, trust, and respond to the codes that stimulate our awareness receptors. We cannot feel everything we need to with our hands alone. So, I ask for a second opinion.

Second opinion

Who am I asking? Who would know? I ask the one who is pure energy. The one (or two) that’s more connected to the ways of the ether than my mental and physical self. These are my guides. Aka: spirits. Aka: Akashic connections. Aka: Intuitive awareness. Aka: Desert Puppy, my personal guide’s name.

How do I conjure up these mystic entities, you ask? It is easy when you know what you are doing. By muscle testing. Aka: Applied Kinesiology. Aka: Pendulum work. Pendulum releasing and observational interpretation is simply a way to physically and consciously visualize what your intuitive mind is knowing.

Of course, practice makes better, so the more you practice, the more “practiced” you’ll be.

You can learn to access, trust, and respond to the unsee-able and the unfeel-able.

This is a skill set you can learn. Of course, the best way to learn is with personal instruction. So, this is taught in the Advanced PetMassage_TM for Dogs Workshop. Advanced graduates and I use this often in our PetMassage sessions. http://petmassage.com/?product=5-day-advanced-workshop-full-enrollment

The prerequisite for the Advanced Workshop is completion of the PetMassage_TM for Dogs Foundation Workshop. There are still 2 spaces available in the next Foundation level class. Register by phone at 800-779-1001 to get 10% discount for the November 5-9, 2015 workshop. Call Monday-Friday, 9 AM – 2 PM EST.

This instruction will take the massage you’re offering now, to the stratosphere!

We’ve made this PetMassage_TM energy work instruction available as home study course (for credit) and self study personal journey (non credit).

PetMassage_TM Energy Work for Dogs is taught in the Energy Work for Dogs Home study course. http://petmassage.com/?product=energy-work-with-dogs-home-study-course-copy
It is covered in the self study 2 part: PetMassage_TM Energy Work for Dogs, Accessing the Magnificent Body Language and Body Awareness of the Dog, book and 5-CD audio set. http://petmassage.com/product/petmassagetm-energy-work-with-dogs-book-and-5-cd-set/

Camille was fast asleep. Lying next to me, her head rested on the pillow next to mine. Her precious little brown face was even with mine. Camille’s REM (Rapid Eye Movement) state was obvious as she glanced about behind her eyelids. Her long legs twitched, jabbing into my side, as the three year old Boxer chased her dream-squirrel. Then, suddenly she was still. Her breathing became deep and even as I felt the air current quietly blowing across my shoulder.

I tried to get used to the breeze; but soon needed to change my position. It was irritating. I felt obliged not to disturb my dog. She was sleeping so peacefully; I could move. I lay there thinking about this curious dynamic. When did she take charge of the bed? I thought about how I never liked Spooning. Any human partner breathing on my neck for more than a few minutes while I was falling asleep was never an option.

Carefully, so as not to disturb the little angel, I turned over onto my side. I moved away from her and soon realized I was breathing on my other shoulder. Processing my annoyance there, in the dark, I started thinking that my breath might have effects on the dogs I PetMassage™.

Breath effects dogs during PetMassage™.

We have to breathe. Breathing is essential. Of course, the obvious reason is that it keeps us alive.

The color, cut and quality of our breath sends important signals to the dog. From our breath, dogs can tell our mood, our health, our experience, our commitment, our level of presence, if we are leaders or followers, if we are fearful, if we are tired, hungry and/or massively be(f)huddled.

Sensing air currents

The sensation of air currents, or breath, is one of the earliest and the most important of all the canine senses.

Just as with people, there are areas of a dog’s body that are more sensitive to air movement than others. The touch receptor nerves are present in greater numbers in those areas. This includes the muzzle and the lips, as well as the foot pads for dogs.

Vibrissae

Dogs have vibrissae, guard hairs. They are important and they are very sensitive.

According to Victoria Stilwell, author of Train Your Dog Positively, the whiskers dogs have above their eyes, on their muzzle and below their jaws are sensitive to changes in airflow around an object even before the dog touches it. These vibrissae, are so sensitive that when a dog approaches an object she can sense changes in airflow long before she actually touches the object.

Victoria advises not to trim them. Whiskers are there for a reason. It always felt so wrong when our groomer would give our late Boxer, Oskar, a show cut, buzzing off what I called his parking feelers.

(Wikipedia describes curb feelers or curb finders as springs or wires installed on a vehicle which act as “whiskers” to warn drivers that they are too close to the curb or other obstruction. The devices are fitted low on the fender, close to the wheels. As the vehicle approaches the curb, the protruding feelers scrape against the curb, making a noise and alerting the driver in time to avoid damaging the wheels. The feelers are manufactured to be flexible and do not easily break.

Dogs vibrissae are rigid hairs, embedded deep in the skin. They have receptor cells at their bases. Their function is to warn the dog of objects coming at their face or eyes and may account for dogs adverse reactions when we blow air onto their faces.

Dog’s brain study

Almost half of the area of a dog’s brain that is involved in touch is lit up by the internal vibrations from air currents to the face, and in particular where the vibrissae are, the upper jaw. Vibrissae help dogs “see” in the dark by sensing air currents that will let the dog know when he gets too close to an object. (http://lauriemetz.weebly.com/basic-dog-senses.html)

Canine discrimination of different types of air flow

In addition to whiskers, dogs have five categories of touch receptors within their skin, which allow them to discriminate different types of air flow. They can tell the direction, the force and what it is carrying. The air flow can be experienced as Pain, Body Movement and Position, Temperature variation, Pressure and Chemical Stimulation. The olfactory senses of the dog collect massive quantities of intel; especially when the source is downwind.

Air flow during a PetMassage™

This afternoon, as I was giving a PetMassage™ to Shorty, one of my clients, I thought about my breath. I wondered what effect it might be having on him. Could it be distracting him? Annoying him? Comforting him? Would the session be different if I turned my head to the side when I exhaled? Which is better: mouth breathing or nose breathing?

The most sensitive areas on a dog are the face, the paws, the ears, along the spine, the abdomen and at the base of the tail.

My face is often close to each of these sensitive areas during a PetMassage™. When I attend to each area, I breathe and my breathing is consciously connected. I breathe on the face, the ears, the neck, the spine, the thin skin of the medial limbs, and the paws.

You tell me. What do you think this element of body mechanics is doing for your dog’s session? How often is your face close to these areas as you are PetMassaging your dogs? Just think about it. Let me know in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.

Energy Work is part of every PetMassage

Last week, I had the opportunity to PetMassage Dugan, a big, 80 pound German shorthaired pointer. He is a bird dog. He had been out in the fields, running about, having the time of his life, when he developed a limp in his right foreleg. His pet parent didn’t know the cause; he’d stepped into a hole or possibly tripped over some brambles.

Pendulum is a visual aid

I palpated his leg and shoulder. I knew there was something going on; the leg was warm but was not getting any meaningful direction about what to do about it. I pulled out my pendulum and observed its movements as I scanned with my other hand. It was only with this visual aid that I was able to identify areas where his ch’i flow was diminished or stuck. Then, moving my hand over his leg, I attended to my breath while pulsing alternating ch’i current through my palms into Dugan’s elbow and lower leg.

The movement of the pendulum showed that what I was doing was working. The heat I had felt diminished. The shoulder showed more ROM. Working together, Dugan and I were effectively boosting the energy, comfort and mobility in his forelimb.

When he was returned to the floor after his PetMassage, there was a noticeable reduction in his limping. He was a happier dog and his pet parent was calmed and reassured.

You can learn to use PetMassage Energy Work for Dogs, too