“Tell me
where it hurts”, the masseuse asks me, and I gladly reply without hesitation,
“everywhere”. And with that said, I close my eyes, take a deep breath, relax my
muscles, and let the 55 minute healing session begin.
We all have
pain, back pain, neck pain, migraines, tendinitis, arthritis, and yet the list
of places that it dwells seems never-ending.
And it comes as no surprise that the root cause lies within the routine
activities of our everyday lives -- stress, jobs, accidents, aging, surgery --
just to name a few. We go to the doctor, we take medication, we do sports, we
self-diagnose thru google, and even after all of that, when we start to feel a
little bit better, we say a small prayer of thanks for the temporary relief,
and then go back to holding our breath until the next joint starts to ache. But
every once in a while, when the rhythm of life slows down, and we find the time
to stand still for 60 minutes, we indulge in one of life’s greatest guilty
pleasures, and treat ourselves to a massage at the spa.
Now, while
all of this makes perfect sense to us as human beings, how often do we consider
doing the same thing for our pets? Dogs don’t work from 9 to 5, cats don’t get
into automobile accidents, hamsters don’t tear their ACL playing football, and
parrots certainly don’t get headaches from listening to their colleagues drone
on about their crazed teenagers.
Nevertheless, believe it or not, massaging and stretching your pet can
have lifelong benefits on their overall health, especially since they age at a
much faster rate than we do.
Nathalie
Jansen, founder of Fitdog, and veterinary acupuncturist, Dr. Theresa Miceli,
periodically conduct dog massage and stretching seminars, aimed at teaching
people the importance and benefits of massage, as well as how to properly
perform the techniques on their own. The workshop is held at their location in
Steinsel, Luxmebourg, and typically last around 3 hours. Participants are
encouraged to bring their well-behaved and sociable dogs so that they can practice
the techniques on their own dogs, and the dogs of others. And even though the
anatomy of each dog is the same, the feeling and how the technique is applied
can vary dramatically from breed to breed.
A
presentation is prepared for each participant as part of the course material,
and distributed at the beginning of the class. The material includes an agenda,
notes, essential facts, technique directions and guidance, principals,
contraindications, and benefits. There were 4 massage and 3 stretching
techniques, each explained in detail and then demonstrated on a dog, after
which each participant has the chance to duplicate the instruction with the
assistance and under the supervision of Nathalie and Theresa.
I attended
the course held on February 20, 2016, partially out of curiosity, but also
because my dog is approaching her senior years, and I want to be as
knowledgeable as possible about the potential problems that could occur, and
what I can do to prevent them or at least recognize signs of distress. To my
surprise, many of the other participants were there for the same reason, even
if they had a much younger dog. I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed
the workshop, and have come away from it with an era of confidence that I
didn’t have before, and an eagerness to test out my newly developed skills as
soon as I got home.
I strongly
believe that Nathalie and Theresa have developed something truly unique, and
hope that the word continues to spread and the interest continues to grow. It’s
too often that therapy is overlooked as a complementary treatment in addition
to regular medication and veterinary treatments/operations, and it’s
entrepreneurial establishments like Fitdog, that strive to enlighten
individuals about the multitude of options and resources available. But the
bottom line is, that Nathalie and Theresa can’t do it alone. It’s up to pet
owners to do the research, educate themselves, and act accordingly. And like
the timeless cliché says, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him
drink.
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