Kennel Club show breeds novel ways to put on the dog

By William Hageman (for the Chicago Tribune)

...Learning experience

"Check out Jonathan Rudinger. Watch him. Listen to him. Take notes. Visit his website (www.petmassage.com). Your dog will love you for it.

Rudinger is the founder and executive director of the PetMassage Training and Research Institute of Toledo, Ohio. He will be giving pet massage demonstrations at the Purina Dog Team area and working on show dogs at his own booth.

This is more than rubbing little Spanky behind the ears and watching him get glassy-eyed as a goofy dog grin crosses his muzzle.

"We combine the aspects of human massage, the Swedish form, which is long stroking, and petrissage, which is deep kneading, with accupressure and some more alternative forms of [massage]," Rudinger says.

And dogs love. Well, most dogs.

"There are huge variations within breeds," he says. "I mean, I've worked with Chihuahuas that are lovely and wonderful, and then I've had Chihuahua's that have tried to attack me."

Not a pretty picture. Still, out of the thousands of dogs Rudinger, a former Loop art gallery owner, has worked on, he has never been bitten, "but I've come close."

The massage benefits dogs of all ages, Rudinger says. And they can help smooth over the rough spots. You don't really think about it, but dogs do a lot of grieving," he says. "Say you have a kid turn 18 and leave for college. Then that child leaves, the dog really does grieve that loss of the child from the home. So dogs have a lot of emotional stuff. [A massage] puts them in a frame of mind where they can make a connection between their mind and body. It's a lot of comforting, a lot of holding, the touch."

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