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| Holistic Touch Therapy | Improving Life Through Touch September 2005 |
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Welcome to the The Power of Touch, the Holistic Touch Therapy Newsletter. I am sure you have all seen the recent heartbreaking stories of stranded and sick animals in devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Humane Society of the United States Disaster Animal Response Teams (HSUS – DART) are finding animals trapped in flooded houses, caregivers wandering the streets desperately searching for their dearly loved pets, and nearly destroyed animal shelters where the surviving animals have spent days keeping their heads above water in their cages. Block after block, DART teams are entering homes and apartments searching for stranded animals. In Mississippi, one of the DART teams rescued a dog who had been washed into someone's attic; the storm surge had stranded the animal. The woman who owned the house was elderly. She had been able to slip some food and water into the attic for the dog, but hadn't been able to go upstairs to carry him out. More than a thousand animals have been rescued so far, but thousands still need help. Please check out the HSUS website (www.hsus.org) or any of the other reputable aid groups to keep abreast of rescue efforts and if possible, to lend a hand for the many animals in need. On a lighter note, you are encouraged to send in questions about animal massage and acupressure. Please drop me an e-mail (suefurman@earthlink.net) and get involved. Sharing benefits our dogs and brings us closer together as a community of animal healers. |
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| Massage is Purposeful Touch | |||||||||||
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Simply put, animal massage is petting with a purpose. The dog thinks you are petting and you know there is a purpose. The purposeful touch of massage relaxes, soothes, decreases anxiety and strengthens the human- canine bond. As I noted last month, massage influences the body, mind and spirit of the dog.
The powerful touch of massage can benefit dogs of all sizes, ages and activity levels. Whether your canine friend is a dedicated couch potato, athlete or working dog, massage can raise his level of fitness and health and his general quality of life. And it is a rare dog that doesn't like massage. Even as a puppy, Logan gave me kisses of thanks after each massage (see picture above). Massage can have a positive influence on all of the systems of the dog's body but the effect is more obvious on the skin, skeletal, muscle and circulatory systems. This month, let's consider the skin. The skin is the largest organ of the dog's body. It makes up about 7% of the body weight so a 50 pound dog has about 3.5 pounds of skin. When the skin is touched, amazing things happen. The skin has about 5 million receptors ready to detect "touch messages" and send them to the brain using some of the 100 billion nerve cells that are present. The brain stimulates the production of chemicals like endorphins (the "feel good" hormones) that feed cells and inflence emotions. Purposeful touch truly influences the body, mind and spirit of your pet. Read more in my book, Balance Your Dog: Canine Massage, or register for my canine massage classes (October is the last 2005 class). Let me teach you how to bring relaxation, comfort and healing to your dog and all your canine friends. |
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| Canine Quotes | |||||||||||
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Somewhere a little dog doth wait; It may be by some garden gate. With eyes alert and tail attent - You know the kind of tail that's meant - With stores of yelps of glad delight To bid me welcome home at night. John Kendrick Bangs |
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| People Team with Pets and Lose Unwanted Pounds |
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Did you know that over 60 percent of adult Americans are now overweight, and an estimated 30 million cats and dogs in the U.S. are too! We are heading into fall,and the extra pounds around my middle remind me of my summer indulgences – too many picnics and too little exercise. Members of my Wolfchase pack came through the summer season in better shape, because I carefully measure their food and limit their snacks. Unfortunately, the hounds were not fond of the hot weather and lost ground in the fitness department due to inadequate exercise.
If like me, your weight loss program is going to the dogs, and your dog could stand to loose a few pounds or at least buff up a bit, you will love this! A new study, People and Pets Exercising Together(P-PET) by Norhtwestern Memorial Hospital and Hill's Pet Nutrition examined the role of companion dogs as social support for their owners during weight loss and weight maintenance. The results were reported at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity's (NAASO's) Annual Scientific Meeting held November 15, 2004. In the one-year P-PET study, dogs and owners alike lost unwanted pounds! That's really important in light of the studies we considered last month that linked obesity in dogs to diabetes, lameness and length of life. The year-long study compared weight loss and weight maintenance in three groups of overweight participants: a dog/owner group (36 people and their dogs), a dog-only group (53 dogs), and a people-only group (56 people). The goal was to see if a faithful pet could provide effective social support for a person to lose weight and maintain weight for up to one year. During the study, dogs were provided with a low-fat, nutritionally balanced food, a recommended exercise program (i.e., 30 minutes of moderate physical exercise at least three days each week) and a regular weigh-in schedule. Similarly, people were provided with meal plans and pedometers and were instructed on lifestyle pattern behavioral strategies. In the one year study, both people and dogs lost weight and stuck to the dog- friendly program and kept it off. Dogs lost an average of 12 pounds and their owners lost an average of 11 pounds. Roseann and her dog, Spats, (pictured above) were one of the great people/dog team success stories in the P-PET program. Roseann lost 30 pounds and Spats (a Lab/Husky cross) lost 13 pounds — that's 15 percent of his initial body weight. "Caring for and loving my dog is what motivated me to be a part of this program," says Roseann. "It is a real lifestyle change. We worked together, lost weight and kept it off over the course of a year, and now there's no turning back!" Kudos to Roseann and Spats. |
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| Bare Bone Facts | |||||||||||
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| Touching Tales ~ Phoebe's Story | |||||||||||
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It's been 8-10 months since Phoebe, my Search and Rescue dog, started having pain issues. I've lost track of the exact timing in my head. The first problem I noticed was after a search practice. Typically Phoebe went "all out" during the training and play afterward. An hour or so afterward, when she got up to get out of the car she whimpered and was stiff. By the next morning she was fine, running around like crazy. This went on for awhile with a couple of visits to the vet, but there were no findings. The pain moved around from place to place in her pelvic region, and seemed to be muscle related. It was very frustrating. During this time I would massage her and find different areas tight, in compensation probably, but couldn't find the cause. Gaiting her would produce different results on different days.
Phoebe didn't want me to massage her anymore so I took her to a Chiropractic Vet named Chris, hoping Phoebe would let someone else work on her. By the time Chris reached the lower lumbar, Phoebe had had enough but Chris was able to get the last adjustment in around L6. The reaction from Phoebe was amazing. She smiled from ear to ear and her tail wagged a hundred miles an hour. But the results did not last. Phoebe's pain episodes became more persistent. In one search practice she shut down midway through although she tried her best to finish. Thirty hours later she was moving around again as usual. I requested an X-ray from the local vet and was told there was a ventral spondylosis between L7-S1 that could be the problem but typically would not cause such pain in most dogs. Further testing by a neurologist came back clear. Finally, an MRI taken after a hard workout with Phoebe in pain showed more spondylosis and a bad disk between L6-7. The neurologist and I were both very surprised. After some "issues", Phoebe and I switched to another neurosurgeon at Colorado State University for surgery. Before surgery the doctor showed me the MRI for the first time and said the problem disk was actually between L7-S1, with the L7 foramen very narrowed. During surgery the neurosurgeon saw "severe nerve compression". When she took the dorsal part of L7 off to remove excess bone she stated that the nerves looked blue and bruised but returned to normal white after 15 minutes of having a good supply of oxygen return to them. No wonder Phoebe hurt. Massages post-op are very light in the pelvic region and hind legs. My primary goal there is to keep the circulation going and relax her. She also doesn't like me to work the individual muscles in back. With possible nerve, damage I don't know what she feels. Touch may hurt. She also is bored and needs calming to keep her quiet for weeks. As she heals we can get more aggressive with massage. Right now she loves effleurage and raindrops, head to toe. So, Phoebe gets her staples out in a few days. Thanksgiving Day will be three months post surgery, and we hopefully will be back working. The day after Thanksgiving is Phoebe's sixth birthday. We have a bunch to celebrate! Phoebe's Story was written by Paula Bindrich who wrote a Puppy Dog Tale about a younger, spryer Phoebe for Sue's book, Balance Your Dog: Canine Massage. Please share your Touching Tale of how massage or acupressure has influenced your dog or one you have worked with by sending it to Sue at suefurman@earthlink.net |
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| Upcoming Massage & Acupressure Classes | |||||||||||
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The last 2005 canine classes are upon us! Register now for:
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