Rovers Remedial Massage Therapy

02/12/2024

Keeping your pup active and their muscles strong is key to long term joint health.
👉 How do you keep your dog's muscles healthy? Share your tips below!

29/10/2024

Dogs can sometimes get nippy, often due to fear and anxiety. During the massage sessions, I pay close attention to your dog's body language to ensure their comfort. For dogs like TeeJay, who can nip when feeling scared, we occasionally use a soft muzzle to keep safe while still providing the care they need.

20/10/2024

Be Cautious with Synthetic Vitamins for Your Dog's Health 🐾

While synthetic vitamins and minerals can play a role in your dog’s diet, it's essential to understand their potential drawbacks to ensure you’re making the best choices. Here’s why a bit of caution can go a long way:

1️⃣ Lower Bioavailability
Synthetic vitamins may not be absorbed or utilized by the body as efficiently as natural ones, which means your dog might not fully benefit from them.

2️⃣ Risk of Overdosing
These concentrated nutrients can sometimes lead to imbalances or even toxicity, especially with fat-soluble vitamins like A and D.

3️⃣ Potential Side Effects
Some dogs may experience digestive issues or allergic reactions from synthetic additives, particularly if the source materials contain allergens.

4️⃣ Nutrient Interactions
High doses of synthetic vitamins can interfere with the absorption of other essential nutrients, disrupting your dog’s nutrient balance.

5️⃣ Long-Term Impact Unknown
Since synthetic vitamins don't interact with the body like naturally occurring ones, the long-term effects of continuous use are not fully understood.

Choosing whole food sources for your dog’s vitamins and minerals ensures they also benefit from natural co-factors, enzymes, and phytochemicals that synthetic nutrients often lack.

If you’d like to dive deeper into this topic, check out my blog, 'The Pitfalls of Synthetic Vitamins and Minerals in Canine Diets: What Every Dog Guardian Should Know.' Link is in the comments!

If you're looking for a place to gain trusted insights and support, my 💖 Dog Mom Society 🐾 will be re-opening in the next few weeks, you can join the waitlist in the second link below !

17/10/2024

Discover the latest research on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and hormone-sparing sterilization for dogs. Learn about the health impacts of...

11/10/2024

Rupture of the CCL is one of the most common reasons for hind limb lameness, pain, and subsequent arthritis. The development of this problem in dogs is much more complex than in humans. Furthermore, dogs suffer from different degrees of rupture (partial, complete).

11/10/2024

05/10/2024

Have to agree

03/10/2024

🐾 Our canine friends have been by our side through it all. Now, it's our turn to give them something back in their senior years. 🐾

Just like us, senior dogs can experience aches and stiffness, especially if they’re living with arthritis. But with regular massage and the healy quantum frequency device, they can enjoy a more comfortable, pain-free life!

I love helping my senior dog clients feel their best, reducing discomfort and improving mobility 🐕💙

In honor of our beloved seniors, I’m offering special rates for older dogs, just like Seniors' Day for humans! Senior dogs often require a bit more regular maintenance, so to make it affordable for pet owners.

Let’s give them the care they deserve. 🐶💆‍♂️
www.roversremedial.com.au/contact.html

10/09/2024

The dog has zero need of carbohydrates. Even the kibble manufacturers agree here. They are included as they can be an "excellent source of energy", sort of like the way Mars Bars and Coca-Cola are, I guess.

But how excellent. It's said that sled dogs lose around 10% of their body weight during the Idiatrod (620miles/1000km). I recently heard this weight loss is significantly less of a thing when the dogs are raw-fed over such distance but I never saw actual evidence of that until now. Check this out, adapted from Houpt and Zicker (2003):

"The responses to a season of quail hunting by English Pointers fed two different diets were compared. The diets differed in protein and fat. Diet A was 13% fat and 23% protein, and Diet B was 49% protein and 28% fat. The dogs on the higher fat and protein diet (Diet B) lost less weight and performed better in that they found more birds per hour".

The authors conclude "...it seems that the fat, or energy density of the food, is the more important aspect of endurance performance."

So yes, dogs can run fast on carbs, possibly even faster, it remains to seen, but at what cost to the body as it is cannibalised for protein and fat, we don't know.

Remember, the more protein you feed sled dogs, the less physical injuries they get through the season.

This makes sense. Joints and cartilage and bone and synovial fluid are built on protein. The less building blocks you get, particularly while young and in pre-season, the greater the potential for disaster.

This was highlighted to us over the weekend in Helsinki - if cats just get 25% real food in their diet (largely meat) they are significantly less likely to suffer osteoarthritis later in life.

Other work by DogRisk surveyed more than 200 GSD's and found raw feeding was protective to hip dysplasia.

But this is sled dogs. Very high-performance animals with insane, borderline unnatural energy demands. This is not your average dog. For such animals, the carb debate is completely redundant.

***
REF Houpt and Zicker (2003). Dietary effects on canine and feline behavior. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract, 33(2):405-16

10/09/2024

Charlie decided that he preferred to have this massage session on the couch 😃

05/08/2024

Couldn't resist getting my hands on the beautiful Rosie and her long, lean muscles. Did you know Greyhounds have white muscle fibers, which means they can work really quickly to get that speed but fatigue easily.

27/07/2024

Week 6: The Respiratory System

Massage helps your dog’s respiratory system by:

Improving lung capacity and respiratory efficiency by relaxing respiratory muscles.

Reducing symptoms of respiratory conditions like asthma by promoting relaxation.

Enhancing relaxation, leading to deeper and more efficient breathing.

Promoting better oxygenation of tissues by increasing overall circulation.

04/07/2024