Canine Massage: It's Not Just a Spa Day
Hello everyone, this is Krista with Episode #171 on the Wag Out Loud pawdcast. You know when you're on the couch and your dog stretches out next to you and lets out a long sigh? Well, that means that they're happy. They're soft vocalizations such as sighs and maybe some low groans, those are signs of contentment in dogs. So your dog snuggling up and sighing doesn't mean they're bored. It actually means that they feel safe and comfortable right by your side.
Welcome to the Wag Out Loud pawdcast, where we are obsessed with bringing you helpful tips on canine health care, nutrition, and overall wellbeing. If you'd like to support the show, check out the amazing online events, products and resources that I personally recommend on the Wag Out Loud website. I'm your host, Krista and I'm super excited to be bringing you yet another tail wagging episode.
Hello dog lovers and thanks for tuning in to a another informative Wag Out Loud pawdcast episode. Today we have the pleasure of learning from Caragh Reilly, and she is going to chat with us about It's Not Just a Spa Day, but how therapeutic massage can actually benefit the health and mobility of dogs at every life stage. Caragh, thank you so much for being with us today. So appreciate it.
I'm so glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
Well, I want to first ask if you can please introduce yourself and share with us what got you interested in canine massage in the first place?
Absolutely. So I've been doing canine massage for just about 5-5 1/2 years now. I was in a corporate career for much of my life and felt that something was missing. I adopted my dog after about 10 years ago and it kind of reignited my passion for all things dog. And I decided that it was time to make a bit of a life change and find a career that felt a little bit more fulfilling and rewarding for me. So I took a little bit of a break from my corporate life, started taking some classes and found canine massage and just absolutely fell in love with the work.
And I'm sure Oscar is totally in love with you doing the massage.
He's not too disappointed.
Oh, that's so cool. Well, why don't we break it down? What exactly is canine massage because as we alluded to in the title, you know, we think of going to the spa. And there's different techniques, you know, it could be more fluff or more hardcore, like, you know, Swedish or Rolfing. So what exactly does that mean, when we talk about massage for our dogs?
What is Canine Massage?
Yeah, I mean, it can mean a lot of different things. And really, there's applications for massage for every dog at every stage of their life. But you know, while certainly massage has tremendous relaxation benefits, just like we know, when we go to the spa, I think sometimes we overlook the clinical benefits of bodywork, and how it really impacts the body not just emotionally in terms of triggering a relaxation state, but also physiologically helping address pain, helping address tension, and kind of providing benefits throughout the body and to every body system. I think it's a pretty incredible modality because it does impact every body system, and really can be used for almost any dog based on whatever they're going through both emotionally and physically.
Okay, and we're talking just about muscles, so soft tissue, right?
Soft tissue, I mean, but you know, that also includes muscle, connective tissue, like fascia in the body. So you know, all of that carries tension and is impacted by you know, whatever is going on in the body and from your health condition. So it's not just tension relief, but it increases circulation and has tons of other benefits, which I'm sure we'll get to talking about during this during this talk.
Well, I think we're there. So let's unpack some of those benefits.
Benefits of Canine Massage
Awesome. Yeah, I think that a lot of people when they think about massage for their dog, they probably naturally go towards addressing, you know, arthritis and stiffness for dogs that are seniors. And certainly a lot of the clients are just that and certainly has wonderful benefits for geriatric care. But I think what's so exciting about this work is that it can offer so much variety if you choose to work with all sorts of different types of dogs. So I like to share just how it can affect dogs at different life stages to give some examples. So, I have a couple of clients that are actually puppies. I think the youngest one that I'm working with now is six months. And how massage can really help is to start acclimating dogs to intentful touch, which is essentially massage. Massage is touch with intent to get them used to handling. And it's a great way to set them up for a lifetime of success with handling at, you know, professionals like groomers or the vet. I've also worked with dogs that are skittish or weary of touch. So by introducing positive touch early, you can help socialize the dog. And then I also really work with a lot of young dogs where they're exuberant and active and throwing their bodies around and running around at the dog park. And as you can imagine, when you're overactive like that your body can hurt, even if you're young and agile, and healthy. And so by really interceding early with body work, you can prevent injury down the road, and keep them moving and feeling their best as they grow.
I never thought about it that way. But that really makes a lot of sense.
Yeah, and I mean, certainly, so that's just one example is puppies, but as they transition into adulthood, I do a lot of preventative care where clients have me work with their dog just to really keep them moving and feeling their best and to prevent kind of health issues and tensions from becoming bigger problems down the road. And certainly, I'm involved a lot with dogs who are undergoing injuries or have gone through surgeries, that have a lot of orthopedic conditions that dogs are prone to such as tearing CCLs or suffering from luxating patellas, where their kneecap pops out of the groove. And these are all issues which are either dogs are either going through rehab for or have been surgically corrected. And massage and bodywork is a tremendous modality for helping them heal through that process.
Well, you talk about healing, is it because through massage, you are actually improving the blood flow? Is that why it helps?
Does it Improve Blood Flow?
It's a great question. It's one of the primary benefits is increasing circulation. So what keeps soft tissue healthy in the body is by having blood flow come in because it brings oxygen. Tissue needs oxygen to be healthy. So when we increase and boost that circulation in the body, we're helping bring in that great oxygen to the tissues and also flushing waste products out of the tissues as well. So it is definitely a primary benefit. And one of the key physiological reasons to consider massage.
That makes sense. And what is massage doing to actually reduce pain? Is there an anti inflammatory effect?
Does It Reduce Pain?
Yeah, certainly by you know, as I said, bringing in some increased circulation, you're bringing nutrients into the tissue, which can help tissue heal. You're flushing, waste and byproducts out. But it's also really impacting the nervous system, and the pain signals that are going into the brain. So by stimulating the nervous system, you're triggering something in the body, that's called a parasympathetic response, which is the body’s state of rest and relaxation. And you're also not to totally geek out on you, but you're bringing a lot of tactile stimuli to the brain. And there are some theories that, you know, if your brain is registering some of those tactile stimulations, they're not getting the pain signals as loudly in the brain. So it helps diffuse that sensation of pain. So you're kind of addressing pain on two fronts, one on the nervous system and just kind of tricking your brain to say, hey, this feels good, and it's not as painful. But then you're also physiologically addressing some of the pain by you know, helping the tissue heal.
I never thought about that. That makes sense, though. And you mentioned you know that it helps to relax a dog and alleviate their stress. Does that mean that massage would actually lower their blood pressure as well?
Lower Blood Pressure?
Yeah, absolutely. Blood pressure, it definitely has a nice stress reducing anti anxiety effect. It's another group of dogs that really can benefit from bodywork. I've worked with dogs in the shelter environment where they can be a little bit of stressful or dogs that suffer some anxiety conditions. And giving a dog a break through massage to let the brain kind of chill out for lack of a better word. Gives some comfort and just lowers stress. And then you know all those health effects that when you lower your stress, reduce your heart rate, reduce your blood pressure, calm your breathing. It provides all that emotional benefit.
Well, when I looked into this before, you know, I know you and I talked quite a long time ago to schedule this interview. I didn't know that massage can actually help improve the immune system. How does that work?
It Can Improve the Immune System?
Yeah, well, massage, there are some specific techniques that you can do specifically a manual lymphatic drainage is a great technique for dogs that need some immune boosting but the lymphatic system in the body is basically the immune system in the body and it's a one way system that sometimes can get a little bit clogged up. And so by manipulating lymph throughout the system and helping the flow improve, you are actually boosting the immune system. It's kind of a lesser known technique. But it's really, really a cool one. It's also a great way to clear excess swelling after an injury or surgery. So definitely encourage people to look into lymphatic massage, not just for their dogs, but for themselves, because I think a lot of people don't know about it, and it's highly effective in the healing process.
And what about massage, improving digestion?
Yeah, I mean, just by improving, you know, circulation, again, you're stimulating the digestive tract. Certainly, there are techniques you can do to kind of help with the overall flow along the digestive tract, which can be helpful. I've worked with dogs say with irritable bowel disorder, or just kind of some GI stress, and just kind of help overall keep things moving. And, you know, can help, again, with some pain relief in that system by stimulating the digestive tract, and then when you're working the abdomen from other areas.
It goes way further than just what you think of massage. It's just topical, moving of the skin and maybe getting into the muscle.
Yeah, it really does. I mean, there's virtually no dog that could not benefit. I mean, certainly, there are some situations where massage is not appropriate. For example, if your dog has an active infection that they're fighting or a fever, or that they have, you know, a severe kind of nerve pain syndrome, where you know, you could be causing pain, but I would say for you know, 98% of dogs, there is some way that massage could benefit them.
Okay, well, we are going to take a quick sponsor break. And in the second part we are going to talk about, you know, would your dog be a candidate and to find out from you what exactly is involved, and the different techniques. So everybody hang on, we will be right back.
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Hello, everyone. Welcome back. We are speaking with Caragh Reilly and we are talking about canine massage. And I am learning so much. There's just so much more to it. So when we left for the break, Caragh, you were mentioning maybe some dogs that are not good candidates for massage. But pretty much most dogs would really benefit from it. So why don't you tell us about the different techniques? Because I think you mentioned there are different ones, especially you know, the lymphatic drainage that was really cool. What other techniques are there?
Massage Techniques
So you know, canine massage is really based in Swedish massage techniques just like it is in humans. So of the core kind of soft tissue work that we're doing. We're doing a technique called effleurage, which is long, sweeping strokes. We're doing a lot of compression techniques where we're kind of working into the muscle belly to spread the muscle fibers and bring increase the blood flow in there. We're also doing some work where we're maybe kneading the skin manipulating the skin doing what they call petrifies techniques. So we're we're working with the fascial tissue. Fascia is a connective tissue that covers everything in the body and really connects everything. So you can be working fascia in one area of the body and having an effect in another, another area. Again, another technique where if you haven't had fascial work done on yourself as a human, I definitely recommend you look into that, in addition to looking into it for your dog. Again, we're using all those basic Swedish techniques. But then for, you know, canine massage therapists that are certified in this work, we're also going into some advanced techniques that have deeper effects such as trigger point release, trigger points are very hyper irritable spots in the skin, which you can release, they can kind of cause deferred or active pain. I don't know if any of you are listening in have ever had a massage and they they're working or knot and your neck and you feel it all the way down your arm or up into your head. That's a trigger point that you have. And so you know, releasing those trigger points helps reduce reduce pain all over. We're often doing orthopedic friction work on tendons and ligaments to help with you know, tendons and ligaments healing, if there's injuries to those components of the body. I mentioned manual lymphatic drainage, which is excellent for immune boosting and for healing after injury, and surgery. And, you know, in general, we're just also providing just a very nice positive touch experience, I try not to underestimate the power simply of applying touch to dogs, because we can communicate so powerfully through touch. I think, you know, you think what happens, if you're grieving and say, What does someone instinctually do to provide comfort, it's giving you a hug, placing a hand on your shoulder, it doesn't have to be deep or intensive, but just even a gentle touch can communicate so well and provide comfort. So, you know, physical effects of massage aside, I think that massage is a tremendous way to improve, you know, bonds with dogs, and to help, you know, provide them comfort and a sense of well being.
Yeah, absolutely. And I can imagine the sporting dogs would really benefit because they are doing some you know, I know I used to do agility with Winston. And dogs like that. Probably need it.
For Sporting Dogs
Sporting dogs are kind of like the elite athletes, right? And they are out there working their bodies really hard. So I would say what's great about you know, the sporting world is they were kind of ahead of the times and I think that you know, massage and bodywork is pretty commonplace. You know, if you trial, you'll often see massage therapists on site to help pre and post event to help dogs prime for their events, and then you know, help with their recovery. But yeah, even if you're just doing it for fun, you have to be cognizant of the fact that you're putting a strain on your dog's bodies and they may be prone to injury. So by kind of introducing some of this body work, you're helping to prevent potential injury and keeping them at the top of their game.
Absolutely. And I know I've had guests on before talking about acupuncture, and they also mentioned acupressure. So, is acupressure actually considered a form of massage?
What About Acupressure?
Acupressure, there's a separate certification process. Many canine massage therapists are also trained and certified in applying acupressure. One thing that I think it's a great thing to note is that what pet professionals can practice in terms of massage, acupuncture, acupressure does vary by state. There are veterinary practice laws that are state by state which indicate if you must be a veterinary professional to implement some of these modalities. As a general rule, acupuncture with needles should be performed by a veterinarian. And sometimes in some states massage also needs to be done under a veterinary professional’s guidance or within a veterinary practice. And Acupressure is one of those other things. For example, I'm here in Illinois, and I can provide therapeutic massage outside of the veterinary world but I do not practice acupressure just to align with Illinois veterinary practice laws.
I didn't know that interesting. Okay. Well, it's actually comforting to know there is regulation out there for for this. So thanks for pointing that out.
Is It a Regulated Industry?
There is regulation. It's not always enforced. You know, I think that yeah, it's one thing that I'd love to see since it's even getting into this field, the growth and the awareness of the need for better, more supervised training. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a therapist in your area, doing a little research to kind of understand the credentials that the massage therapists in your area have because it's not a regulated area. If anyone says they are a licensed massage therapist, be a little bit wary because there actually is no canine massage therapy license. The certification process, and if you are looking for kind of a great organization to find a reputable therapist, the National Board of Canine Animal Acupressure and Massage, NBCAAM is a great resource to find a practitioner that's gone through appropriate training, which includes a certain amount of training in anatomy and physiology, ethics, all the massage and that they've had a good deal of supervised hands on training under the purview of an instructor because some programs out there are claiming they're certifying people just with online training. And unfortunately, I think that's doing a bit of a disservice to the industry, because how can you learn a hands on trade without really good hands on training? So just something to be aware of, in your communities. You know, to kind of look into the training programs of any therapist, you engage.
Great advice. Well, Caragh, I went to your website, and I love your website. It's, it's very well done. But one thing that stood out to me is something I learned earlier this year, that blew my mind that dogs don't have collarbones.
Yeah. It's kind of my little trivia for new clients. That dogs’ front limbs are not skeletally attached to their body, they don't have a collarbone bone like we do. They have kind of a small cartilage piece. But I think that it's fascinating to know that about dog’s bodies, because it puts into perspective, how much strain they may be putting on their front limbs. Dogs actually also carry about 60% of their weight up front. So they're putting a lot of strain on their shoulders, elbows, wrists. And when you think of the fact that their limbs are not skeletally cemented to their body, but instead that's all attached by muscle and connective tissue. I think it's another great reason to think, wow, I think massage and bodywork is something that would help keep those joints moving their best, because we're taking some of that tension out when they're really bearing a quite a load.
Yes. Just another reason.
Well, I can go on all day about the reasons.
Of course you could. Well, how long? Typically I know every dog is different. But how long do the effects of a massage session last?
Typical Sessions
Yeah, I mean, it depends on what the goal is. Usually, if you think about how we feel after a massage, you're feeling looser, or feeling less tense, you're feeling some reduced pain that typically lasts, you know, a couple of days to a week, it depends on the severity of the condition that you're going through. You know, so I think every dog is an individual, and it depends on when you're intervening, I guess in a dog, you know, pain cycle, and you know how severe some of the issues are that they're dealing with. So you know, it can be a short lived thing, or it can can last quite a bit, I would say that, you know, I have some dogs that I work with weekly. And then I have some dogs that really just are pretty good. And I see them once a month or once every other month because they're young and healthy, and they are generally moving fine. And when they start to get a little stiff, their owners bring me back in.
Okay, and how long is an average session?
It depends on how much touch the dog will tolerate. I personally offer sessions that are anywhere from 30 minutes to 60 minutes in length. Interestingly, even if a dog absolutely loves their massage time, they tend to max out. And every dog's tolerance of intentional touch varies. But you know, I have a couple of dogs that I always laugh, they're passed out sleeping and snoring and at minute 29 are up and ready to move on to the next activity for the day. And then of course, I have a couple of dogs that probably would lay there all day if I let them. But if more and more and more. But you know, just like with uss, you can overwork tissue, right. So just because we'd love this claim that we'd lay on the massage table all day, it's not necessarily the best thing for your body. So I tend to find that, you know, 30 to 60 minutes are great session lengths. Usually my smaller dogs are shorter sessions, some of my bigger dogs I take a little longer to work through their body, but it's really about reading the dogs cues. And I'm you know, it's a force free, you know, kind of profession. I’m never restraining the dog forcing them to enjoy the massage. I want it to be on their terms, because if they're stressed about it or being forced to stay in place, they're not reaping the benefits. So it's a conversation that I have with each of my dogs during every session and every session might be different.
Like we're all different. Makes sense. So you of course do in person sessions with your clients, but you also do virtually and how does that work? Do you kind of teach the pet parents what to do?
Great question. Yeah, I started offering this as in home for a variety of reasons. I mean, I could have worked in a facility and some people do that, but I like and I'm passionate about some dogs that are maybe a little bit more nervous, or if they're a senior, it's difficult to get into a facility. So I find that dogs are often comfortable in their own home. So it's great when I can do that in home. But during COVID, I had to be a little flexible. So my virtual sessions actually started at that time, when I wanted to provide a way to still bring some comfort and assistance to dogs when we were not able to or people were uncomfortable, you know, with continuing with an in home session. So in that situation, I do a zoom call. And I'm basically walking them through some basic techniques, and where to apply them on the body. Currently, I do offer that just for my own existing clients versus new clients, because I like to know what I've felt their body before and can provide better guidance over the phone. But a great part of, of this job is providing pet parent education. And I'm always willing to show pet parents how to perform some techniques to do in between our sessions, because, you know, my passion is to help your dog feel well. And it's not that I'm the only one that can provide that. And I want to keep dogs moving and feeling their best. So I do love showing pet parents some simple techniques they can do. And there are some great ones that that everyone can do at home to keep their dogs moving well, all the time.
Right. Well, and I'm really impressed, Caragh that you, it seems like you are taking this a step further. Because you're also trained in advanced post surgical, edema management, tendon and ligament healing, and also oncology techniques. So that's quite impressive that you are so well rounded.
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's when I first got into this work, it is one of the reasons why I became so passionate about it, it's, it's really fun to get to work with so many different types of dogs and build relationships with those dogs. And the variety of it, for me was great versus to say working in a rehab facility, which is tremendous, and they do wonderful. And most of them offer, you know, massage therapy in that setting. But I wanted to branch out and kind of have access to dogs undergoing different things. And I love that every day looks different. And every session looks different. And so, you know, I'm always trying to learn and additional techniques and just bring new services to these dogs so we can help them live long, healthy lives.
That's what we're all about. Right?
Absolutely. Yeah.
Well, Caragh, as we are wrapping up here, where can everybody find out more information about you and your company Wellness and Wags?
Yeah, I mean, I think my website is the primary spot. WellnessandWags.com. I'm also on Instagram and Facebook. Certainly if you want to see pictures of, you know, cute dogs that's probably on Instagram, because that's where I go for all my cute dog pics. But yeah, certainly would love for people to check me out. And I'm certainly always available for questions. I often get, you know, people reaching out to me about how do you train in this and things like that. So I'm always happy to answer questions if anyone's interested, direct message me or send me an email as well.
Social media URLs
Instagram: @wellnessandwags
Facebook: @wellnessandwags
Great. Well, I'll put all of this in the show notes so people can reach out. And is there anything that you'd like to leave us with today?
I don't think so. I just you know, it's been really fun chatting with you and sharing, you know, this industry and this work with your audience, because I think it has so many incredible benefits. And so many people don't think about it for their drugs just like we forget to get massages for ourselves. So it was just great to share, be able to share how much I love this work and how much I've seen this work help dogs. And I hope that some of your audience will start considering it for their dogs and it would be great to, you know, hear how it's benefiting them.
Oh, that's great. Well, hopefully everybody in the audience learned something new today. Go ahead and reach out to Caragh because you can tell how passionate she is about her craft. And Caragh, I just want to thank you for being here and for all that you do.
Thank you. It's my pleasure.
I want to again thank the team at Green and Experience for not only being our monthly sponsor, but for also creating the amazing plant-based fetch ball, a safe and natural toy that I feel good about giving to my dog Winston. Check out their online store by going to Etsy.com and put GreenandExperience in the search bar. You can also find the direct link in the show notes. Choose from a set of two or three fetch balls and save by using the code WOL15 at checkout for a 15% discount. Also, if you purchase two or more fetch balls and yours is one of the first 100 orders, you will also receive a FREE encapsulated dog tag valued at $15.
Thanks for listening. You'll find some helpful links in the show notes and if you enjoy the show, please be sure to follow and listen for free on your favorite podcast app. And please, please share your feedback. Visit WagOutLoud.com for great product recommendations with discounts, amazing online events and fantastic resources. That's also where to visit our Bark About It page where you can suggest topics, guests or products. Be advised that this show offers health and nutritional information and is designed for educational purposes only. You're encouraged to do your own research and should not rely on this information as a substitute for nor does it replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your dog's health, you should always consult a veterinarian or a nutrition expert. Have a tail wagging day and we'll catch you next time.
Hey Winston was that another tail wagging episode?
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