Meet Mischa...

Mischa is a beautiful 11 and a half year old female German Shepherd.  She has an extremely gentle nature and is very friendly towards both people and dogs.  Each time I visit Mischa she runs to greet me, face smiling and normally showing off a toy.  She will sassily push her younger sister out of the way for a pat J

Sadly when Mischa was 8 and a half she was diagnosed with arthritis in her hips. Arthritis is a common ailment in general for larger dogs as they get older, and even more so unfortunately for breeds like German Shepherds.  Since her diagnosis Mischa takes a Fish Oil supplement to help keep her joints in the best condition possible.  In order to minimise the impact of exercise on her joints she has also had hydrotherapy regularly for the last few years.

Hydrotherapy is an excellent way to exercise dogs as it reduces the impact of exercise on their joints.  Mischa now goes on the underwater treadmill which encourages her to use her back legs in a stress free way.

She also still goes for normal walks…but takes her own time on these ;)

I have been providing therapeutic massage for Mischa since January to help relieve some of her arthritic pain.  At first she panted A LOT - telling me she wasn't quite sure about what I was doing.  But we took it very slowly and I spent a lot of time working her ears and neck to help calm her.  Now, whilst she normally pants at the start, she relaxes and calms more quickly.

After that first session her owners reported an increase in appetite and an improvement in spirits with her wanting to play.  Since then they report that she seems better for a good few days following her massage.

Massage is important not only to help relieve the pain in her back legs, but also to help keep the tissues around her front as healthy as possible as she front loads quite a lot when walking.  On average dogs carry 60% of their weight through their front so imagine how those front limbs are working if they have to compensate for carrying more!