PetMassage for Dogs, Art and Essence of Canine Massage offers the tools to begin or expand your canine massage practice. It is a more advanced text for students who have the intention of, or are already, practicing canine massage professionally. PetMassage for Dogs, Art and Essence of Canine Massage includes animal massage theory, vocabulary, hand and body skills, body and breath mechanics, canine behavior, how to observe canine reflexive responses to your movements, and much more. Each lesson validates the intuitively personal way you already have of interacting with dogs, while reshaping and expanding your set of professional skills and techniques.

PetMassage for Dogs, Art and Essence of Canine Massage is your preparation for PetMassage hands-on workshops, distance learning and PetMassage online courses. 316 pages with index, glossary, photos, First Edition.

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Contents
Introductory chapter

PetMassage for Dogs, Art and Essence of Canine Massage
Contents and Introduction

Contents
Introduction 4

Influences and Development of PetMassage 9
Two premises 10
The author's story: PetMassage begins 12
Epiphanies 18
PetMassage evolves 23
Influences on development of PetMassage 25
Tribe 28 Survey says 30
About you 32
History of massage 33
Earliest animal massage 34
The PetMassage School 35 What you need 37

Basic PetMassage Skills 39
Skills 40
Permission 42
Touch, your touch 49
You've got your whole world in your hands 52
Pressure and duration 55
Entering and exiting 59
Palpation 60
Breathing 63
Palpable impressions 65
Vectoring 68
Tips for vectoring 76
Touch with movement, the stroke 78
Pushmi-pullyu 80
Directions of strokes 82
Connections 84
Assessment strokes in series of threes 86
Whose assessment 91
Scratching 92
Repetition 94
Clasped hands 95
Compression 97
Joint mobilization 100
Hey, hey. What do you say? 104
Coming to terms with PetMassage 106
Kneading 108
Skin rolling 110
I'll have that with a twist 112
Muscle Squeezing 113
Frictioning 114
Tapotement -- percussive strokes 116
Finger flicking 118
Slapping 119
Cupping 120
Thymus thump 122
Shaking 124
Rocking 125
Holding patterns 128
Reactive movement massage 131 Positional release 133
Positional release: Compression to expansion, demonstrated on an appendicular joint 134
Positional release: Stretching to initiate recoil, demonstrated on the head, neck, trunk and pelvis 137
Putting it together: the follow-on 140
Feeling the shifts: internalizing releases 142
Stretching 147
Yawn 149
Fascia 151
Twelve body systems within the fascia 153
Connect the dots 159 Grounding 160
The post massage integration shake 162
Body mechanics, part of body language 163
Where oh where 165
Safely assisting your dog onto and off the table 168
Setting the scene: enhancements and distractions 170

Putting it all together: Basic full body PetMassage 176
A PetMassage session 177
Elimination and hydration 201
Thoughts and imaging 202
Documentation 203
Benefits for dogs 207
Geriatric PetMassage Session 208
Sports PetMassage 209
PetMassage focus on the tail 212
Focus on the neck 215
PetMassage focus on the shoulder 217
PetMassage focus on the hip 219
When not to PetMassage 221
Safety 225
Humane Society story 227
What are we not seeing? 229

Your PetMassage 233
Facilitating 234

The role of presence 236
You're the only one who can provide your PetMassage 238
PetMassage Scope of practice 240
The function of a mission statement 242
Addresses the history of the dog 243
What's next? PetMassage workshops and online courses 244
PetMassage for kids 248
Lessons humans can learn from dogs 249
Lola's story 250

Additional information for your reading enjoyment 253
Appendix 1 Survey: Job description for PetMassage provider 254
Appendix 2 Fascia dynamics 261
Appendix 3 Healing crisis 263
References/Bibliography/Suggested Reading 266
Glossary 270
Index 288
More fine PetMassage CDs, DVDs and books 299
About the author 304

Introduction

PetMassage for Dogs, Art and Essence of Canine Massage may be the first book you read about canine massage. If you want to see if PetMassaging dogs would be a good fit for you, and this is your first toe in the water, I hope you find this series of lessons easy to follow, encouraging and inviting.

If this book is continuing education, you will see that PetMassage may differ from the human and animal massage that you already practice. PetMassage for Dogs is one of the texts for PetMassage Foundation level workshops and online courses.

PetMassage began by incorporating systems and techniques from diverse practices. It draws from Swedish massage, medical massage, sports massage, Healing Touch, intuitive shamanism, native/aboriginal culture, naturalist animal communication, animal behavior and old style, traditional veterinary practices. PetMassage continues to draw on the best of the old and the most effective of the new, forming a system that is compatible with, and that enhances, every size and shape of bodywork.

I recently had the opportunity to give a (human) massage to an elderly woman who had never had a massage before. She'd been experiencing cramps and numbness in her legs and didn't want to add any medications to the ones she was already taking ... especially pain killers and muscle relaxants. When her sister told her about the relief she's gotten with massage, desperate for relief, she called and scheduled her session.

When she arrived, my new client shared that she was confused and embarrassed. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. What happens during a massage session? How she was supposed to act? Was she supposed to take off all her clothes?

I knew that her inner verbal anxiety was so loud that she would be unable to hear any long explanations and descriptions. They would have made as much sense as adults in Peanut's cartoons, "Waa-waa-waa-waa." With confident body language and a few simple phrases, I was able to communicate through the din, that she was safe and in nurturing hands. She was confused. She could feel that I was showing my respect for her mind and spirit, as well as her body. I felt honored that she entrusted me in her experiment in this new avenue for her health and wellness care. I accepted the responsibility of providing her with the best experience I could offer.

This is just like working with dogs. They too don't know what PetMassage is, or what to expect. They might take one look at the table that we use for our sessions and tap into memories of angst-riddled experiences at groomers and vet offices. Again, I always acknowledge their anxieties and concerns. These are the filters through which they will perceive their experiences. I am always honored to introduce them to the world of PetMassage and the possibilities it offers.

My new human massage client, by the way, felt tremendous relief from her symptoms and anxiety. She was so comfortable with the process and my approach to helping her optimize her well-being that she continues to return for additional sessions.

My first massage opened doors between my body and mind that were longing to open. Under the slow, soft touch of my massage therapist, I drifted in and out of twilight consciousness. Concepts that I'd been questioning and meditating on fell together in ways that finally made sense. I left the table with a new understanding of myself and my place in my world. I discovered that I was able to work with people in more authentic and intimate (non-sexual) ways. In fact, the terms authentic and intimate took on more authentic and intimate implications. I learned to connect, that such a connection was possible, spirit to spirit. And this was from one massage!

You can see that for me, my first massage was a life-altering event. I had been on a life-long quest to tap into my inner, soul-self. My goal was to discover who I was, what I'm doing here, why I'm living now, at this time, and find out if there were lessons I had to learn? Were there past life lessons and skills that I had forgotten? I had been on this quest from as far back as I could remember.

One of my childhood books that I studied, for example, was Aesop's Fables. I'd pour over the stories and their accompanying drawings. At seven and eight years of age, I was sure there were messages and hidden wisdoms there that I was not seeing. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones was another book I analyzed as a nightly ritual. Oh, if I could only hear my little hand clap by itself.

Now, with PetMassage, I have learned the lessons. I've accessed the forgotten skills. I have developed ways to open each of my clients, human and animal, to their healing potentials. I introduce them to their own intuitive, natural, and beautiful body-mind-spirit connections.

The stunning effects I experienced during my massage that afternoon clarified my personal philosophy and shaped my expectations for the experiences my massage clients could have; whether they are human, canine, feline or equine. Every PetMassage is an event that provides some sort of shift; a life-course correction.

It could be huge such as a geriatric dog who stops limping or spontaneously exhibits puppy-like exuberance. Or it could be so small as to be undetectable. To quote Sam Cooke's 1964 hit, “Yet I kno-o-o-ow a change is gonna come. Oh, yes it will.”

This analogy applies: it only takes a plane taking off in Chicago a tiny variation in course or speed to make a big difference, on down the line. It could eventually land in Los Angeles or Seattle, or get there in four hours or six, or it might make several stops along the way.

I hold the same level of intention for you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help you shape your first impressions of canine massage, PetMassage for dogs. This book will be conversational; informal. I think that it is more enjoyable to learn new skills and new ways of approaching old skills, from someone who cares about whether or not you are “getting it.”

I've been where you are. In my case, I can confidently use the term “clueless” to describe my approach in the 1980s when I started with bodywork on horses, and “clueless” again with dogs in the 1990's. You are surely further on in your life lessons than I was when I began.

In this book, we will discuss the basic skill set of hand positions, touches, strokes, and several manipulation techniques. You'll learn to incorporate your entire body; use all your senses--even some you may have forgotten you have --to maintain your presence in the PetMassage "zone." You will learn the fundamental intentions of PetMassage, its history, uses, contraindications, and enough practical skills for you to deliver a confident, supportive PetMassage to your dogs.

PetMassage for Dogs will prepare you for the beginning massage sequence taught in PetMassage for Dogs Foundation workshop.

What kind of expectations can you have in studying this book? I cannot guarantee that you will enjoy massaging dogs, although I cannot imagine anyone not absolutely loving the experience.

I can promise that you will not be a PetMassage expert. Expertise in any new skill set takes time and experience. PetMassage for Dogs will give you a solid foundation, though. The techniques and theories offered here have been developed over a decade-long process of teaching over two hundred week-long workshops. You will find them very effective at helping dogs reestablish balance in their lives. And balance is what we are seeking. Balance creates happiness, health, and community comfort.

I can also promise that you will learn about yourself, your connection with dogs, and how you can help dogs discover their naturally intuitive, potential for wellness.

It would be pretentious to say that after you've completed this book, we'd be friends; or would it? Our conversation needn't be one-sided. I am available to personally address your questions and concerns through email. Write me. I'm looking forward to our dialogue. I'm at info@petmassage.com.