White Oak Clinical Canine Massage

14/02/2025

07/02/2025

✨️ Monthly Maintenance Massage for this stunning lad yesterday.

Morgan is an absolute dream to work with. As an agility dog, Morgan really benefits from these regular treatments, not only to maintain healthy muscles & joints, but to help enhance performance too.

It's wonderful to hear how Morgan is performing in agility & training. And I hear he is doing very well 👏.

06/02/2025

🩷 These two beautiful ladies very much enjoyed their first Cranial Sacral Therapy sessions today.

Cranial Sacral Therapy (CST) is a very gentle, non-invasive therapy that works to support harmony & function in the skull & head bones (cranial), vertebrae, cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the spinal cord, & the sacrum (pelvis).

It is used as a stand alone treatment, or in conjunction with other bodywork techniques such as massage & stretching.

Although all dogs can benefit from this wonderful therapy, brachiocephalic (short nosed) breeds in particular, find this therapy beneficial as it promotes space within facial structure, & helps to release tight areas such as the jaw, hyoid, neck, head muscles, & pelvis.

03/02/2025

💙💙 Before & After Photos.!! 🐾

My boy Zeus has lumbosacral disease. He was born with a short L7 vertebrae, which means his pelvis sits a little high up into his lower back (lumbar vertebra).

🔖 This anatomical dysfunction reduces musculoskeletal flexibility in the area, causing his lower back muscles to become tight, with symptoms such as lower back/hindlimb discomfort, stiffness, mobility changes, pelvis tucking, & building pressure onto his hindlimb joints through excessive joint angles.

✨️ Fortunately Clinical Canine Massage Therapy is phenomenal at managing these issues. At 3 years old he was diagnosed & offered medication. However, Zeus is now 6 years old, active, loving life, & has been supported only with clinical massage therapy thus far, which also includes specific musculoskeletal stretch & movement techniques.

⚖️ Although I cannot change Zeus's vertebral issue, I wanted to show you what a difference treating secondary muscular & fascial problems with massage therapy can do to help support orthopaedic & neuromuscular conditions.

Below - Photos 1 & 2 show the difference in posture before & after a massage treatment.

Photos 3 & 4 show the difference in joint angles before & after massage. Notice how straight the joints are in photo 3, and how much freer & less dramatic the joint angles are in photo 4.

Photos 5 & 6 gorgeous & loving life ❤️

02/02/2025

I have had the privilege of working with a beautiful Greyhound client recently. They are an amazing breed to work with, & I for one, adore them ❤️.

Certain breeds can be predispositioned to anatomy that may cause musculoskeletal problems, now or in the future.

An example is the Greyhound.
Greyhounds are bred to race, which means a lean skeletal frame on which big, powerful muscles are attached to. Certain muscle groups, such as the hamstrings are genetically programmed to reach maximum size & strength capacity, so making the Greyhound the fastest sprinter of the dog breeds. Hypertrophy (oversizing) of certain muscle groups is common in Greyhounds, especially ex-racers. This condition goes hand in hand with muscle hypertonicity, both of which often bring about much stiffness & dysfunction in the lower back & hindlimb regions.

Clinical Canine Massage is an excellent therapy to address these issues as it targets the symptoms of hypertonicity & hypertrophy such as stiffness, slowing down, gait/posture changes, & difficulty jumping up/using stairs/ stepping up on a sofa, etc.., by releasing the muscles from bound fascia, promoting normal muscle resting tone, & facilitating proper muscle function, which in turn supports the proper joint function & health.

25/01/2025

🩵 Trip down to Bournemouth this morning to treat the Gorgeous Merlin 😍.

Merlin has recently had bouts of jaw juddering, intermittent forelimb limping, & sensitivity in the neck region. Now these things may not seem related, but believe me, these issues can be strongly interconnected.

On assessment, Merlin was very tight through his atlantoocipital joint & atlas vertebrae, which was radiating into surrounding muscles, including facial, neck, & forelimb regions. It's amazing how everything connects..!!

Working with massage, myofascial release & craniosacral therapy techniques, we managed to release & treat areas of issue, allowing Merlin to maintain musculoskeletal flexibility, mobility, comfort, & health.

24/01/2025

🎖Reaching a milestone...so proud of this lad & his family.

After 3 months post-op for a very nasty elbow fracture, Webber the Wonder Dog was finally given the all clear to begin hydrotherapy in early January.

We've worked so hard to reach this phase of his recovery, which was not a guarantee. Now Webber goes on to build strength back up in his body & complete his rehabilitation. Webber will still attend regular massage sessions through this latest (& hopefully last) phase of his rehabilitation, but I have now been able to take a step back as he is doing so well. This is what every canine therapist hopes & prays for.!!

Good luck Webber, & a huge 'Well Done' to his hoomum, Hayley for giving this boy every chance of a successful recovery 💖.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to know more on how I can help your dog pre & post surgery, & how I can support them in their recovery.

06/01/2025

🐕 ✅️ Routine Nail Maintenance is an essential part in keeping your dogs musculoskeletal system healthy (joints & muscles), & avoiding unnecessary pain.
It is also a free or very low cost way of signicantly supporting your dogs health.

🔴 Long nails negatively impact joint & muscle health, so making sure your dog's nails are regularly maintained is a must for your dogs health & wellbeing. This is especially important if your dog already has mobility problems or joint diseases such as arthritis, dysplasia's, or vertebral issues.

⚠️ If you have never trimmed your dogs nails before, please see an experienced person/ groomer or vet, so you can learn from them before attempting to do it yourself. They should happily guide you in the right direction.

🩺 The bottom two photographs are of dogs with long nails. Notice how the long nails make the dog 'fall back' onto the back of their pads, causing unnatural weight carrying forces that directly impact & overload joints.

Top photos curtesy of Midlands Dog First Aid Training.

02/01/2025

✨️ This gorgeous lad was a star in his clinical massage therapy today. Morgan trains & competes in agility so has regular massage treatments, which also incorperates gentle stretch techniques & myofascial release, to support optimal muscle & joint health.

Now, it would be fair to say that Morgan approaches agility with a fair amount of gusto & enthusiasm 😅, so regular maintenance massage also helps to prevent sporting injuries, by keeping the muscles & tendons flexible.

Initially a little tentative, Morgan is now really settling into his clinical massage sessions. He blew me away today by how he communicated & pushed into my hands to relieve a couple of trigger points & areas of tightness. A nutured working relationship based on mutual respect & trust 💞. And boy, he is handsome.!!

31/12/2024

Fantastic Local Dog Walk..!!

Buzzards Flying over Whitesheet Hill, near Mere 🦅.

I love this place 💞.

Peaceful, 360° views, surrounded by nature... a bronze age hill fort linking through to Stonehenge.

🤫 And NO MUD..!!

Highly recommend for a fantastic dog walk with miles of footpaths & bridleways.

30/12/2024

💙 Border Collie Day Today.!

These two gorgeous boys came in for their 3rd clinical massage sessions today. Improvements in posture & performance have already been noticed.!!

One of these lads has spinal disc issues so keeping his back muscles and surrounding fascia supple and flexible supports the integrity, movement, & function of the vertebral column.

It really is a pleasure to work with them both, and with their amazing owner who is phenomenal at keeping them in such good health.
It is also a privilege to work alongside Win Clinic near Taunton, liasing & bringing our specialties together for the very best care of these two wonderful clients.

24/12/2024

From my home to yours...Wishing you all and your four-legged family members a very Merry Christmas ✨️.

It's been a very busy year, seeing & treating many dogs. From post op soft tissue rehabilitation, through to our beautiful senior dogs, and our wonderful performance dogs, it's been a pleasure to meet you all, and I can't thank you enough for your support. We've had a fantastic & successful year.!!

And to my paraprofessional colleagues who work in clinical canine massage & musculoskeletal rehabilitation, have a wonderful Christmas break. So much goes on behind the scenes between us to give the best for our clients. You guys are awesome 💖.

11/12/2024

🌳Relaxing break in the Forest for a few days.
Love moments like this to focus on my dogs needs. The perfect time to reset & recharge for both of us. A much needed early morning massage & stretch to release some tight muscles for my boy Zeus after some long woodland walks, and what a perfect setting to do it in ❤️.

06/12/2024

🌟 Beautiful Red came in for his first massage appointment yesterday and right away he made himself at home. The bond & trust between him and his guardian, Trudi from Maximus, was wonderful to witness and be a part of.

This was Red's first ever massage treatment, not that you would have known. He came in, led down, and even slept whilst I worked through fascial releases. This boy is so very special ❤️.

Trudi is a canine & human body conditioning coach. Working with both dog and owner, she will help tone and strengthen you both, whether that's to enhance interconnecting performance in sport between the two of you, or making the most out of your daily walks together.

02/12/2024

💚❤️ Fantastic day yesterday at Santa Paws Grotto.!
So many wonderful dogs and their guardians.

28/11/2024

💬 A question I get asked a lot is "what can I do to help my dog?". One of my absolute staples is 'weight management '. And it's free..😃.

🔑 Regardless of whether your dog has an issue or not, keeping your dog at a correct weight is one key way in improving quality of life, promoting longevity, and staving off ongoing healthcare bills.!!

✅️ In terms of musculoskeletal health, correct weight significantly reduces stress placed on joints.

🫣 Unfortunately, the heavier we are, the more weight/pressure is placed on our joints - joints work harder and are subjected more quickly to wear & tear - joint inflammation arises bringing in diseases of the joint - local muscles work harder to support the joint, leaving them open to injury - joint enters chronic cycle of inflammation, degradation, & pain - joint function is compromised thus leaving other joints/muscles to overcompensate in movement & load - the cycle continues systemically.

🐾 This one simple step can signicantly reduce the above 👆, & bring about such a positive change in the life of our dogs ❤️.