Eastern Suburbs Dog Training Club

There are a range of bodywork techniques that can be used to improve your dog’s physical as well as mind/body health and integration. Some of the natu-ral health modalities around include:
 
• Bowen Therapy
• TTouch
• Kinesiology  • Acupressure
• Massage
• Chiropractic

What most of these modalities have in common is the philosophy of balancing the whole body and that the physical and emotional health of a dog can often be intrinsically linked.

Therefore natural bodywork can be a useful therapy for your dog, not just for physical problems, but also for behavioural problems.

Bowen Therapy - a system of manually applied myofascial stimulation across an animal’s body. It looks like a rolling/stretching technique across soft tissue using the fingers on the skin and fur. Bowen is good for any type of soft tissue/muscular-skeletal problem. It is also beneficial for dogs with digestive, breathing and lymphatic problems.

Kinesiology - these techniques have their roots in traditional Chinese medicine and include acupressure and acupoint work; cranial sacral balancing; and bal-ancing reactive patterns between fascia, muscles and meridians. Kinesiology is helpful for a range of both physical and behavioural problems.
 
TTouch - a technique developed by Linda Telling-ton-Jones that focuses on mind/body connection and can be used by the layperson with their own dog without too much training. It is the use of circular movements over particular parts of the body to effect mainly behavioural change, but there are reported benefits with physical problems as well – particularly pain and skin conditions.

Acupressure - the use of thumb/finger pressure over acupuncture points. The selection and sequencing of points is guided by the dog’s symptoms and prob-lems either physical or emotional. Photonic Ther-apy works in the same way, but uses red light at a particular frequency to stimulate points.

Massage - this can take on varying forms, but simply put it is the direct stimulation of muscle fibre along the muscle. It can be used as a relaxation technique or to help muscles recover from overwork or to warm up muscles prior to activity.

Chiropractic - is concerned with the alignment of the skeletal and structural system generally and the impact that poor alignment has on neural & body function. Chiropractic adjustments, as they are termed, are made to effect better structure to support optimal functioning of the body.

Any of the above modalities has something to offer your dog. Where dogs are wary of needles, Photonic Therapy and Acupressure along with Bowen Ther-apy can be a suitable alternative.

TTouch and Acupressure offer scope for those dogs with emotional and behavioural problems. Chiro-practic can aid the dog  that has a propensity for ver-tebral stress.

For performance dogs, Bowen can provide a blend between working physically via the muscular system and from a traditional Chinese medicine perspec-tive by stimulating over acupressure points.

It is common for one modality to work better for some dogs than others. Therefore don’t rule out all natural bodywork modalities, because one has not worked for your dog. Explore and try others 
Helen Anderson, Animal Natural Therapist

Helen Anderson, Animal Natural Therapist, December 2009

Bio Note: Helen provides a range of natural therapy services through her practice “Animal Equilibrium” and has a new  clinic in Paddington.

For more information about Helen and her work, please see her website www.animalequil.com or contact Helen directly on (02) 47748023.