The simple answer is “yes”. So for your dog’s sake, keep reading.
You think your dog is young (or not so young) and healthy, happy, is active and has never had an injury. They’re not in pain and are eating a balanced diet. That’s great and that’s why your dog needs CMT to stay that way.
Sadly most people only contact us when their beloved dogs have already suffered from a compensational issue in their body, are in pain, had surgery, experience arthritis or dysplasia or simply have slowed down a great deal or are unable to fulfil movements they once used to do all the time. While all these and other conditions greatly benefit from CMT we would hope more people understand how important it is to a dog’s wellbeing and longevity if we can prevent these things from happening all together.
CMT is for all dogs at all stages of their lives. While the muscles and bones develop in a puppy to the age of 2 years, massage can help build stronger and healthier dogs by increasing the uptake of nutrients, vitamins, minerals etc. from the blood to all the cells in the body so that the dog’s body can grow and develop appropriately without compensations. Bones are still soft and need to grow and grow closer to each other and that’s where clinical massage can support the muscles and soft tissues such as ligaments, tendons and the fascia in the growing body to do the right thing by eliminating toxins, stimulating the circulation and producing healthy cells in all the systems.
Once the dog becomes an adult, their body faces a lot of issues having to life a live adapted to our human environment which is so far from what a dog in the wild would experience. Dogs are challenged by so called “Repeat Strain Injuries” (RSI) and there’s no exception to that. Every dog that lives with a human is at risk multiple times every day of their lives to sustain a RSI. Please read our article “Have you ever considered what RSI’s mean for your dog?”
Do you have an active or even overly active dog? Then there a multiple ways how CMT can help. Massage will not only help repair the muscles after extensive exercise or muscle injury; it will also keep the adrenaline in check and calm the nervous system. Palpation of the muscles greatly influences the nervous and hormonal systems and therefore we also often use massage to help reduce anxieties and overstimulation in a dog.
This can be beneficial when a dog has been re-homed, had a change of circumstances (e.g. death in the family / dog friend), feels too aroused at environmental influences or is always on the go. This is often mistaken as to the dog needing more exercise to tire him out but quite the contrary is the case. These dogs are full of adrenaline and don’t get time in-between outings for it to dissipate so this is where massage can help alleviate the imbalance of hormones as well.
Once your dog gets older they may develop symptoms or be diagnosed with issues such as cruciate ligament rupture, elbow or hip dysplasia or arthritis and these are conditions with long term effects on the whole body. CMT is like a bundle package of goodies that can support animals with these detrimental conditions as it will give them “passive” exercise and the body will start healing from the inside out. Healthy muscles are much more efficient of circulating blood with valuable nutrients and oxygen to the parts that need recuperation. The lymphatic system which acts as the immune and detox program cannot work without muscle movement and depends on the contraction of all muscles in the body to function. Massage will be like an exercise program for a dog that is restricted in their movement and can be used even after an operation in order to keep the body and mind going so it can heal and recover.
Canine Myofunctional Therapy provides many more benefits to dogs of all ages. Too many to list them here. We’re happy to explain them to you and encourage you to call us for an obligation free phone chat so we can work out if massage is suitable for your pooch.
The healthiest dogs are the ones that receive massage treatment as a maintenance program to keep their vitality and happiness into old age.