The dog here and now
Dogs cannot tell us where it hurts, what the trauma was, and when it happened. Their physical and behavioral issues usually have unknown or forgotten origins.
Pain and stress travel via vectors of the body, referring stiffness, tenderness, temperature variations, and variations of circulation. We can watch the shades of tongue color, for example, to see how the body chi, and cardiovascular circulation, is moving (more about this in next week’s Helpful Hint).
Stressors must originate somewhere. There must have been some causal origin. For an issue to be symptomatic enough for us to recognize that something is going on, it must be pretty well developed. The question is, where do we focus our PetMassage? Is it on the area that cries out for help, or someplace twice hidden. We could get caught up in the what, how, where, and why questions; or, we can see these as limiting, and move beyond them.
If each part of the body affects and is affected by every other part of the body, then, with a full body PetMassage, we know that the dog’s body is completely stimulated. With all our “bases” covered, we can be confident that the appropriate movement has been initiated toward even the most reclusive permutation of pathway. The areas that need connection and balance get what they deserve. No turn is left unstoned.
The simple directive of PetMassage is to assist the dog to create the best for himself out of what is going on in his body, here and now.