Canine Wellbeing - Merishia Massage & Rehabilitation

01/08/2024

I wrote this information to help new puppy guardians about growth & how much exercise does a puppy need. 😊

31/07/2024

27/07/2024

My little office helper today. 🥰

27/07/2024

I feel so proud to have another years membership with The International Canine Behaviourists. This organisation is about recongnising experience as well as quailifcations. I have to show evidence of all my CPD learning each year to continue with my memebership. 😃

25/07/2024

Had some one on one with my little princess 👸 today. 😍

24/07/2024

You will see on the internet it suggests 5 mins walks per month of your puppy’s age. So, for a 3-month-old puppy it would suggest walking them for 15 mins twice a day. There is no scientific evidence to support this advice, and this will not allow us the time for socialising and helping to build muscle strength to support a young dog growing bones. The 5-minute rule may be a good guideline as we don’t want to encourage over exercising either.

So, let’s look at this in a different way, it is far better for a puppy to have 45 minutes of sniffing in the park than 45 minutes of chasing a ball. The sniffing will encourage slow movement and engage a puppy’s sniff system working on the olfactory receptors. Ball chasing will create repetitive movement patterns and cause joint development dysfunction.

Now let’s look at breed specific a toy breed puppy may not be able to run or walk more the 15 minutes, but then think about a working breed puppy, 15 minutes may not be enough physically exercise.

Socialising with other puppies can get out of hand too, if play is not supervised this can lead to over stimulation and too much physical exercise, which will impact a puppy’s growth.

So, the conclusion is, think about breed specific and how much is too much for that individual rather than one size fits all. Also think about the mental stimulation that is being put on that individual every time they have a new experience in a new environment.

17/07/2024

New flyers at the printers. 😀

17/07/2024

🐾One of the things I look at when seeing a dog for the first time, is talk to the guardian about thier dog's coat patterns, textures of the coat & colour.

🐾Recognise what is normal for your dog & keep an eye out for any changes, as this may indicate a muscular change.

🐾As part of rehabilitation exercises I will teach a dog to sit straight, because over time a sloppy sit can create muscular imbalances & the pelvis & hips can becomes misaligned.

16/07/2024

This lovely lady came for her maintenance rehabilitation session. 💪

Piper did some rehab exercises & had fascia release & some mobilisations release on hindquarters & forequarters. This helps to keep her muscle health and mobility good. 🐕

She was very tired once she left, so a duvet day for Piper. 🩷

26/06/2024

I had lots of Bruno cuddles this morning.

Bruno has Been through so much recently and is now back to being comfortable and himself again. He has amazing guardians, who go above and beyond for all his complex needs.

Bruno has muscle atrophy on his hindquarters mainly, which means his fore limbs are compensating.

He had a lovely massage session and I was able help relieve tension in his neck forequarters.

Go team Bruno. 💪
🩷

25/06/2024

👩‍🏫This is the rhomboideus muscle, it is a deep muscle from the back of the skull to the top of the shoulder blade.

The orgin of this muscle is from cervical vertebrae C1 to the thoracic vertebrae T6.

This muscle lifts the shoulder forward and backwards and stablises.

If this muscle is tight it can restrict neck and shoulder movement, and can overcompensate for forelimb lameness.

11/06/2024

My new website. 🩷

At Canine Wellbeing, I believe in the power of touch to promote healing and wellness in dogs. As a skilled and compassionate Massage Therapist, I use a range of holistic therapies to address your dog's physical and emotional needs. Whether your dog is recovering from an injury, managing a chronic co...

22/05/2024

11/05/2024

THE STIFLE JOINT 👩‍🏫

🐾The stifle is the dog's knee. This is the joint forming the junction between the femur and the tibia and fibula, plus the patella which slides over the joint as the dog moves.

🐾The stifle joint is a synovial joint, which is a joint found between bones that moves against each other and has cavity filled with fluid. The range of motion for the stifle is flexion and extension, which flexes and extends the pelvic limbs during walking, resting, and standing.

🐾Patellar luxation (dislocation) is common in small breeds. This is where the patellar moves out of its normal groove and can inhibit the knee joints range of motion, as it can not extend properly.

🐾The stifle has ligaments, which are fibrous connected tissue that attach bone to bone. The ligaments help stabilize the joints to distribute force and protect other articular tissue. Rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament injury is one of the most common reasons for hindlimb lameness, because this ligament helps stabilise the stifle during weight bearing. The injury can be partial or complete Rupture and is referred to as 'cranial cruciate ligament disease' (CrCLD), this will cause hindlimb dysfunction and pain.

08/05/2024

Milo came for his maintance massage, which helps keep him comfortable and we can address any concerns quickly, before they turn into a more serious issue. 😃

07/05/2024

The very handsome Barney came for his maintance massage. It is always lovely having a Barney visit. 😍

07/05/2024

Jasper came for his monthly maintenance massage today. 💆‍♂️
He loves his therapy sessions and just goes into complete relaxation once I hit the right acupressure points on his ears. 🩷

07/05/2024

I had the privilege of having a visit from my little friend Lottie this morning. Lottie is elderly but is still happy and enjoying life. She comes for a regular maintenance massage and mobility check. 🩷

05/05/2024

A lovely day out the big bark with friends. Mika found it all overwhelming, but was a good experience for her and Paisley was happy be in her pushchair. 💖

04/05/2024

I have gone all digital. Here is my digital business card. Save my card. 🩷

04/05/2024

This is my Friday morning training group. Such lovely inspiration people and dogs. 🩷

A lovely session with this mornings group, doing social wood walk, hoopers, stays & finish with a little course on the way out of the field.😍

04/05/2024

Another years membership with the IAAT. Very proud to be excepted as member. This is important because membership recognises experience and qualifications. 😃

01/05/2024

Peri & Petra came for a visit today. Peri had his maintance massage, and melted in my arms for the first time, he needed some soft tissue massage. ❤️💆‍♂️

Petra came for some social time, as she can sometimes be worried about new people. Today she was a cheeky happy little girl, who even asked for a gentle neck massage. ❤️💆‍♀️

01/05/2024

🐾 KNOWLEDGE - 5 WAYS HIP ISSUES AFFECTS POSTURE 🐾

🧐 An issue in one part of the body can affect ALL of the body.

💪 The dog's body is designed to carry about 60% of their body weight on the front end.
🦵 Issues at the back end - such as hip dysplasia, arthritis - can change EVERYTHING.

🤔 What does this mean?
🙁 This leads to muscles becoming painful and overworked, in all the wrong places.
But what can be done? Lots!
🌟 In young dogs, building strength & helping to develop good postural strength is important, while preventing and treating any pain that they may experience.
🌟 For older we need to make sure we control the pain and inflammation they experience, while helping them to rebuild the muscle they have lost over time.

😁 Want to know more? Comment below the word HELP. x

11/04/2024

💜🐾Ouch 😩my ⁉️hurts🐾💜
❤️‍🩹It can be very worrying when our animals are in pain 😔 sometimes it is very obvious where & why ❤️‍🩹

🧐But not always, & this can become frustrating for us & for the animals we care for when we can’t seem to find 🔎the cause……. It may seem never ending 🙃or you may find a problem, fix it & then something else happens 🤷‍♀️

🐕Tucy my super canine model in this picture is showing you that everything is connected 🐾 animals may show a secondary problem that we can help & treat 🙌but this may lead to the primary problem or even more secondary problems 😩 I know many of my clients have been through this unraveling & it can feel like such a long hard process 💕

🙌Your animal therapist will spend time on the targeted area 🙏But they should then continue to assess & treat the whole body 🙌

🐕If your dog or horse 🐎 has multiple things that they are dealing with 🙌you may need several sessions close together to gain ground before moving on to a maintenance program 🙌🐕🐎🙌

🙏Please remember to listen to your animals 🐕🥰🐎 & to your therapist & Vet 😊 ask lots of questions about how they & you can help to improve their wellbeing 🙏

03/04/2024

Had a visit from this lovely lady today. She enjoyed her maintenance massage to help support older joints.

She had a special snuffle after her treatment. Such a special lady. 💖

08/08/2023

Play with sound on.

08/08/2023

This is the lovely Miss Nelly who has some complex behaviour issues, with some muscular imbalances.

I am so proud of Nelly, it is a long journey in helping her as some behaviour cases can be, but she is building her own banking system of confidence, with the guidance of her amazing guardians.

We are working on her muscular imbalances doing rehabilitation exercises, to help build core strength and coordination.

With all behaviour cases we need to understand the complexity of each behaviour so a dog is able to start building their own banking system.

Always make new learning experiences rewarding, then a dog will want to learn more. ❤️