Jumping, navigation, obstacles, balance, control and of course speed all play a part in the performance of your Agility Athlete. The stresses and strains that agility places on your dog should never be ignored; areas of overuse, over exerted muscles, sites of injury or spasm can be dealt with by skillfully applied massage. Helping to detect areas of tension, stress points and muscular imbalances that may be restricting your dogs full capabities, Canine Massage helps to ensure that your dogs muscular system is free from tension, soreness, stiffness and encourages a faster return to health from areas of muscular stress and micro-trauma.

If you see any of the following:

• Knocking down jumps
• Unsteady on contact equipment
• Reluctant to weave
• Lack of focus
• Has slowed down
• Unable to perform certain moves eg: long jump
• Stiffness after exercise/limping
• Practice/compete on a regular basis

Canine Massage can help your Agility dog to achieve its full mobility and performance potential by:

• Loosening muscles, joints and connective tissue for better ‘reach’
• Removing ‘knots;, that is stress and trigger points which impede the muscles ability to function to its full capability
• Removing lactic acid and other metabolic waste
• Alleviate stress and tension which builds up during exercise
• Increasing the flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients to speed up recovery time
• Reducing anxiety levels
• Providing a hands on check for susceptible areas of pain, micro trauma and injury
• Preventing injury and muscular imbalances

As the ‘other half’ of an agility team with my Mini dog, I know only too well the types of injuries that can be sustained when competing and practicing and there is nothing more heart breaking than seeing your companion unable to perform how they once did. All too often I hear, “he cant do the long jumps like he used to” or “she just keeps on knocking down poles, I’m going to have to retire her” and “well he’s 9 now, he is getting old”. The best way to understand your dog is to put yourself in their shoes; if your back was aching or you had a really niggling knot in your shoulder, perhaps your neck was stiff or your thighs were tight, you wouldn’t be able to run, jump or focus at all on the task in hand would you? Same applies for your dog. Massage helps to release spasms, re-educate full range of movement in the joint capsule, eases out areas of stress and tension that may be preventing your dog from performing how they once did and most importantly acts as a preventative measure to more serious rips, tears and sprains. So before you resign yourself to the fact that your dog has got old, has irreparable injuries or just isn’t interested anymore, please feel free to give me a call and together we can see how Canine Massage can help to rejuvenate your dog.