Pre-Event Warm Up and Post-Event Cool Down FAQ’s

My dog is very active and we compete and train on a regular basis. When would I use massage with my dog?

After this workshop you will be able to use canine massage as a tool for warming up and cooling down your dog before and after competition and training. By also including a maintenance massage during the week, you will be benefitting the overall health of your dog promoting a speedier recovery, more suppleness and flexibility and anticipating any potential problems which may cause mobility and psychological issues. Why psychological? Because if you are in pain, you become depressed, withdrawn and changes in your character occur. The same is true of your dog.

Can I use this to treat other people’s dogs?

No. This workshop is for use with your own dog only. Professional Canine Therapists from the Canine Massage Guild have trained for 2 years to work with other people’s dogs, and we have to comply with the Veterinary Act 1966 and Exemptions Order 2015 by gaining vet consent to treat other peoples’ dogs to work within the confines of the law.

This is another reason why actually you should never get your dog ‘treated’ with any modality at a show (Guild members do muscular assessments, not massage, at shows and give free warm ups to clients; they do not perform massage on dogs that are not their existing clients). The therapist who works on the dog without vet consent is unethical and willing to put your dog at risk.

You may also be placing yourself in danger if you try and massage someone else’s dog and don’t have an awareness of the specific issues of that dog along with palpation skills necessary to be able to do the job. Plus, if something goes wrong you could get the blame!

When is the best time to apply the Pre-Event Massage?

Approximately 15-20 minutes before the event and before or after your dynamic warn up / cool down routine. This is based on standard human massage guidelines.

When is the best time to apply Post-Event Massage?

Ideally at the end of the day after all exercise has been completed at home. Or wait until the body has come back to homeostasis (no panting and regular heat rhythm) and then apply. You can also give a brief cool down in between runs if your dog wants it.

Massage Technique: Tail Rotation

Type of Touch – Light

Reason – Bring movement to the lower back and coccygeal muscle (tail)

Part of hand – Support the tail (coccygeal/caudal) vertebrae by placing one hand firmly on top of the pelvis

How?

The tail must be aligned with the spine

Rotate 6 times clockwise and 6 times anticlockwise. The circles should be no bigger than the diameter of a 10 pence piece.

You may sustain a hold on the tail to help stretch the lower back

The movement must be VERY slow and deliberate

Massage Technique: Kneading

Type of Touch – Medium / Firm

Reason – Improves spinal Flexibility. This technique spreads tissue away from the spine to create space and movement for the flexible rod that is the spinal column

Part of hand – Pad of the thumb applied to the Longissimus Dorsi

How?

Imagine kneading bread with your thumbs, but go gently as your dog may be sore. Repeat each knead 3 times before moving a notch lower. Do this from behind the occiput to the crest of the pelvis

Benefits

  1. Decreases tension
  2. Increases blood circulation
  3. Increases flexibility

Important Note: Do not apply over the spine

Massage Technique: Shaking

Type of Touch – Light

Reason – Invigorating, stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, mobilises the skin over the muscle and loosens it from underlying superficial fascia.

Part of hand – Palm of the hand – This technique should be choppy with a lose wrist action

How?

Your whole hand makes contact with your dog’s body (for smaller dogs this can be done just with fingers) and the skin is shaken over the muscle. As you shake the hands will naturally glide over the length of the body so the whole body is covered. Be careful not to apply pressure over bony processes. When you have done the body, you can move on to the limbs. Take the leg and place one hand either side and shake

Benefits

  1. Stimulates circulation
  2. Stimulates nervous system
  3. Invigorating
  4. Loosens skin and fat from underlying superficial fascia

Massage Technique: Fire Starter

Cross fibre wringing for the legs

Type of Touch – Light / Medium

Reason – To warm up the front and hind legs

Part of hand – Full hand  

How?

This is similar to wringing but used solely on the fore and rear legs. The movement is as if you are trying to start a fire with a piece of wood. The ‘push me pull you’ motion of this stroke helps to mobilize not only the larger muscle groups but also the often forgotten yet incredibly important muscle groups of the lower foreleg

Benefits

  1. Mobilises lower leg groups like the Flexors & Extensors
  2. Improves the elasticity of the muscle
  3. Increases circulation
  4. Improves oxygenation of muscles

Massage Technique: Wringing

Type of Touch – Light / Medium

Reason – Stretches fibres for better ‘slide and glide’ action (Cross Bridge Theory)

Part of hand – Full hand, contoured contact

How?

Place both palms on either side of your dog, draw them up and over, almost like you are wringing a wet towel. The muscles are lightly and gently lifted and therefore made more mobile to enhance their ability to expand and contract efficiently.

Benefits

  1. Mobilises large muscle groups like Lattisimus Dorsi
  2. Aids in relieving pressure on the lower back
  3. Improves the elasticity of the muscle
  4. Increases circulation
  5. Improves oxygenation to muscles

How do Warm Up and Cool Down Massages Work

How do Pre-Event Warm Up and Post-Event Cool Down Massages work?

By positively influencing the body with massage, the techniques you are about to learn will help you to promote the following benefits with your dog. The Benefits of Pre & Post Event Massage are:

Warm Up (Pre-Event)

  • Warms tight muscle to improve its elasticity and flexibility.
  • Reduces the chance of Injury through event preparation
  • Prepares your dog for the state of readiness needed for competition
  • Improves Range Of Motion (ROM)
  • Improves Power, Speed & Focus
  • Maximises the supply of nutrients and oxygen through increased blood flow
  • Optimises athletic performance

Cool Down (Post-Event)

  • Shortens recovery time between exercise sessions e.g.: training/competition
  • Enhances the elimination of metabolic waste; by-products of exercise
  • Loosens stiff aching muscles
  • Reduces muscle spasm
  • Helps the body to reduce stress hormones e.g.: Cortisol
  • Reduces fatigue
  • Improve Joint Mobility
  • Improve proprioception by loosening fascia
  • Improve circulation i.e.: the flow of blood via veins and arteries to muscles, around the body, and back to the heart
  • Warm muscle to make it more flexible
  • Improve focus through the release of feel-good endorphins
  • Flush the muscles & vital organs with fresh blood, fresh oxygen, and fresh nutrients
  • Relieve muscular and fascia restrictions i.e.: tight muscles which may limit normal movement
  • Reduce Muscle Tension/Spasm
  • Help to reduce stress hormones such as cortisol, norepinephrine and dopamine
  • Enhance the immune system by encouraging it to flush out toxins and waste i.e.: lactic acid, via the lymphatic system
  • Improve muscular balance and skeletal alignment i.e.: a tight muscle will inhibit full natural movement dependent on bones pulling on muscle
  • Mobilise muscle

“Remember Muscle is like an elastic band when it is cold it is brittle and prone to injury, when it is warm and supple it has the flexibility to withstand force e.g. in this case a very specific type of exercise! By warming up and cooling down your dog you are taking responsibility for your dog’s health and wellbeing”

Natalie Lenton

Interactive Online Workshop Structure (WUCDM)

Welcome!

It’s a pleasure to have you and your dog on board!

The Warm Up Cool Down Massage workshop is broken down into 3 modules:

Module 1 – Home study prior to the Interactive Online Workshop

Module 2 – 2 Interactive Online Workshops with your tutor

Module 3 – Home reading to further your understanding the great benefits massage has for your dog.

Module 1

Home study prior to the workshop

Before the online sessions, we provide you with some fun, educational activities to complete with your dog, these will help you to prepare for the hands-on sessions.

Part A – Identifying sub-clinical signs of muscular pain in your dog

Let’s get thinking about the subtle ways that dogs can indicate muscular injury and pain. This unit helps to get you thinking about how your dog shows subtle signs of pain that may often be helped with canine massage therapy. It can also help you to consider things in your home that may be causing or contributing to your dog’s muscular pain. The good news is that small environmental changes can often make a big difference to your dog’s mobility and quality of life. We will be having a group discussion based around this module, so please be sure to fill in the activity sheet and bring it with you to the online session.

Anatomy Basics 

Part B  – Bony landmarks & Joints

Can you identify some your dog’s main joints and bony landmarks? Have fun working through the activity first on paper and then with your dog!

Part C – Muscles

Can you locate on a diagram some of your dog’s main muscle groups? This one requires a bit of online research but we have no doubt you will find it fascinating to take a stroll underneath your dog’s skin. During massage, you will be working on these muscles so getting to know roughly where they are can help you to provide a safe, thoughtful and compassionate massage for your dog.

Module 2

 Interactive Online Canine Massage Workshop

This is the part you’ve been preparing for! You and your dog will attend a live workshop with a tutor and other learners and their dogs! It’s a great atmosphere as like-minded people join together to experience the magic of canine massage at home! We will split the live workshop over two sessions held on separate dates.

The sessions will be presented using Microsoft Teams which is either available via the web or via a standalone App. If you are using the App (which is usually more user friendly) I would encourage you to install it before the workshop and test it as well as testing your internet connection.

Please ensure the tutor can see you and your dog by adjusting your camera to the best possible angle.  It can be useful to have a practice setting up you camera before the session as we won’t have time for this on the day once each session starts.

Module 2A – Review of your dog’s anatomy

We will review, discuss your dog’s anatomy and the indicators of pain. You must have completed the exercises provided in Module 1 and have you completed diagrams to hand.

Module 2B – Warm UP and Cool Down Massage Techniques.

We will work through the Warm Up and Cool Down Massage techniques that we can apply to your dog. You will be, with the guidance of your tutor, practicing these techniques on your own dog. These are quite energetic routines

Module 3

Post practical session reading and advice

Further your understanding and awareness of how you are benefitting your dog’s health through massage as you progress into your practice sessions at home.

Canine massage therapy is my passion and I am really excited that you and your dog can be part of this wonderful learning experience, I can’t wait to see you both at the online practical sessions.

How to access the Interactive Online Sessions (WUCDM)

We will be using a Microsoft Teams Meeting to present the Interactive Online Workshop component in Module 2.

Microsoft Teams meetings can be used via an internet web browser or directly from the Microsoft Teams application. We would recommend that you download and install the Microsoft Teams application as this provides more functionality than the web based version.

We will be using the following link to join the Meeting. The link is active so you can use this to install the app or test your video connection. The Meeting itself, however, will not become live until ten minutes before the scheduled start time. We will also provide you this link within the Module 2A and Module 2B sections and you should also have received it within the e-mail you received after registering for the Workshop.

Clicking on the Link for the Meeting will provide you with the option to either ‘Download the Windows app’, ‘Continue on this Browser’ or ‘Open your Teams app‘.

We strongly recommend that you try the meeting link well in advance of the meeting to allow you to Download the Teams application (our preferred method for accessing the course) and to test that your Video Camera and Audio Microphone are working. This will also allow you some time to find a suitable location for your camera so that you find a comfortable position to be in where it is also possible for your tutor to be able to see both yourself and your dog in your Video feed.

Please remember that you must have a Web Camera accessible for Teams to use and that this must be positioned so that the Workshop Tutor can see both yourself and your dog.

PPEM FAQ’s

My dog is very active and we compete and train on a regular basis. When would I use massage with my dog?

After today you will use canine massage as a tool for warming up and cooling down your dog before and after competition and training. By including a maintenance massage during the week you are benefitting the overall health of your dog promoting a speedier recovery, more suppleness and flexibility and anticipating any potential problems which may cause mobility and psychological issues. Why psychological? Because if you are in pain, you become depressed, withdrawn and changes in your character occur. The same is true of your dog.

Can I use this to treat other peoples dogs?

No. This workshop is for use with your own dog only. Professional Canine Therapists from the Canine Massage Guild have trained for 2 years to work with other peoples dogs and we have to comply with the Veterinary Act 1966 and Exemptions Order 2015 by gaining vet consent to treat other peoples’ dogs to work within the confines of the law.

This is another reason why actually you should never get your dog ‘treated’ with any modality at a show (Guild members do muscular assessments not massage at shows and give free warm ups to clients; they do not perform massage on dogs that are not their existing clients). The therapist who works on the dog without vet consent is unethical and willing to put your dog at risk.

You may also be placing yourself in danger if you try and massage someone else’s dog and don’t have an awareness of the specific issues of that dog along with palpation skills necessary to be able to do the job. Plus if something goes wrong you could get the blame!

When is the best time to apply the Pre Event Massage?

Approximately 15-20 minutes before the event and before or after your dynamic warn up / cool down routie. This is based on standard human massage guidelines.

When is the best time to apply Post Event Massage?

Ideally at the end of the day after all exercise has been completed at home. Or wait until the body has come back to homeostasis (no panting and regular heat rhythm) and then apply. You can also give a brief cool down in between runs if your dog wants it.