First week over already!

A week ago I was sitting in this same place, panicking mildly about my first day….what a difference a week makes.

On Friday we practised compression using play-doh (I’d been wondering what the little beaker of doh on the desk was for) which really sent home the method we need to apply to release tight muscles.

We continued learning the various massage techniques with the emphasis on sports massage.  Had to practise on each other again which was pretty funny.  We also learnt the directional terms for describing the anatomy.

It’s interesting sports massage.  When we first started talking about pre and post event massage I assumed it would only apply to those canine athletes competing in things like agility or fly-ball.  It doesn’t. We learnt that an “event” could be a 13 year old dog taking his normal walk around the block; or a 5 year old pooch playing frizbee etc etc.  Basically the event is the exercise and the impact it has on the muscles, regardless of the type of exercise.  The massage stimulates the circulation bringing in a fresh and abundant supply of blood; transports toxins; promotes overall muscle balance thereby enabling the soft tissue to better handle the “event”, to recover, and reduce muscle soreness.  A lot of what we did on Saturday during the actual massage was talk to the Pet Parent about what they could do themselves at home.

At one time on Friday I think Emmy-Lou had 3 people practising compression on her at the same time…such a gorgeous and tolerant dog!  We also did some more observation of Happy (the 8 week old we saw earlier in the week) to see how he was developing.

I admit to being pretty nervous on Saturday when I woke up.  ForYourK9 hosted the Windy City Agility club and we were there to provide pre and post event massage.  We started taking “clients” at 1pm and finished at about 5pm.  We had an instructor in the room with us, together with the Pet Parent.

My first real client (ie not one of the class pooches) was Quinn who was a 4 year old Border Collie.  It took a good few minutes for him to accept my touch – I’m discovering the art of patience (Rob can you believe that?????) – but then he was fab.  He was a bit shy and had never had a massage before…let’s hope my inexperienced technique didn’t put him off ;) By the end of my time with him he was sitting on my lap while I released some tension in his quads!

Others included a 7 month old miniature schnauzer; a highly excited Rat Terrier; a Cocker Spaniel with hip dysplasia; a Bassett Hound; a Belgian Malinois; a Siberian Husky and a beautiful Mutt :)

When I got home last night I sank a glass of Red in about 5 minutes!  Exhausting but oh so satisfying.

Spent today at the Laundromat and supermarket getting ready for the week.  Next week I think we’ve got more anatomy work and with a bit of luck a visit / work at the local shelter…