Puck ~ 21 year old Thoroughbred
Puck is a 21 years old Thoroughbred. After many years of competing, he developed a bump in his lumbar area due to the cumulative effects of work, possible saddle fit issues and /or rider imbalance. After several sessions working on many different areas of tension in his body, I was able to null out the bump. His back is now moving more freely and he’s enjoying his new tension free range of motion.
Abbie ~ 10 yr old Golden Retriever
When Abby’s owner first contacted me, she said Abby had been experiencing several seizure per month for several years. The seizures left her weak and wiped out mentally. She was having difficulty getting up, climbing stairs and relieving herself since her hind end was extremely weak. Her hind legs would tremble whenever she was standing.
One the initial evaluation, she was not using her right hind leg at all. When she walked, she would just drag it. The first massage revealed muscle atrophy in her hind end, moreso on her right side. The goal of the massage was to try to make her more comfortable between seizures and hopefully improve her quality of life overall. I offered to try red light therapy to attempt to stimulate Abby’s weak muscles. Her owner was eager to try since we had nothing to lose. Our first session was on August 8, 2023
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Week 1 ~ Abbie is very weary of strangers, so her owner stayed and pet her while we introduced her to the process. After about 10 minutes of wondering what the stranger was doing back there, she decided it felt good, flopped over and enjoyed the experience. I massaged Abby for about 20 minutes each side and then treated both hind legs with red light therapy for 5 minutes each. Her hind legs were just stringy and no muscle could be felt. I showed her owner some range of motion exercises she could do between sessions to try to stimulate her muscles.
Week 2 ~ When I showed up for her second massage, her owner reported she had been walking a little better since the initial massage. Abbie started the massage same as week one. A bit apprehensive at first and eventually flopped over and enjoyed the relaxation. I didn’t notice much of a change in how she felt, but she did seem to be walking better.
Week 3 ~ Abbie was on board with the process the third week As soon as I walked in, she went over to her dog bed and assumed the position. I noticed more tension in her pectorals which suggested she was making more of an effort to use herself only to come up short with her weaker hind end. I adjusted the massage to relax the front pectoral muscles and more invigorating strokes to stimulate her hind end muscles. We did 5 minutes of red light therapy as usual. Her walk continued to improve.
Week 4 ~ Abbie had experienced a seizure the night before the massage. When I started, she was very lethargic. I focused more on relaxation strokes to calm her system. By the end of the session, she was much more alert and relaxed. For the first time, she started pulling her hind legs back when I did the range of motion exercises, suggesting her muscles were beginning to function. At the end of the session, she walked off with the best walk I had seen from her to date. Her owner reported she’s starting to sit down without flopping down as she was doing in the past.
Week 5 ~ I’ll call this the “egg timer” massage. She stayed relaxed while I worked on her front legs and pectorals. For the first time since I had been working on her, she had some huge releases of tension when I got to her pelvic area. She popped up tail wagging and trotted off. There were some knots in her hind legs, which were good news since you can’t have knots in muscles that aren’t there. Her walk had improved more and she was able to climb the stairs a little more easily. It’s the first week that her entire body has felt connected and working as a single unit.
Week 6 ~ This session was the best she has felt to date. She was extremely relaxed the entire massage and had good range of motion in all legs. For the first time since I started working with her, her hind legs were not trembling when she stood up. Her owner reports she is squatting to relieve herself and no longer having to just flop down on the grass.
Summary ~ I am still massaging Abbie weekly. Her progress has been slow but steady. She used to sleep after her massage. Lately, I’ve been leaving a dog who’s running around like a puppy with her tail wagging. Below is a video showing her progress to date.