Hi has anyone here used massage for their older pet? I found a dog massage therapist in my area that I’d like to try. Our vet will need to sign off on it first but I think it could be a good fit for my 12 yr old rat terrier.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Our dog club household manners class includes some basic massage techniques for dogs.
That helps bond with the owner, helps the dogs train with more confidence, like for tending to injuries, nail trimming and scissoring and clipping.
The dog leans to have it’s body manipulated while relaxing and also helps the dogs physically, of course, as massage does.
Massage does more than help the body work properly.
See what your vet thinks.
Bluey thanks for your reply. My girl gets extremely tense at the vet so she has a hard time relaxing. I’d like to help her relax more and aid her joints and do more bonding.
Though she’s a terrier so she already follows me around everywhere. 
The rescue I volunteered with had a Reiki Practioner donate time, she came once or twice a week, & generally worked with 4 or 5 dogs each session, truly amazing results :yes:
(She advertises as offering animal massage, animal Reiki and animal reflexology)
Yes I’ve used it and yes I think my dog enjoys it. I’m not sure if there are long term benefits. The practitioner thinks there are, naturally. Maybe if I did it at home more often.
My dog gets a massage on a regular basis at the dog shows. He’s an agility dog so I try to get him one massage a day per show day. He used to really tense up when she would massage him - he didn’t like giving over the control to her. But I use the same person every time and now when he sees her he just goes and lays in her lap and melts right into her. I think he does wonders for him. She gets him to relax and helps gets the knots out. He certainly performs much better.
I massage my dog as part of training to calm her down. She loooooovvvvveeeeesssss to have her ears massaged!
