Chiropractors

[Sharon]

Caro, I think that thought of no massage pre or post trial is a bit outdated. All massage techniques done with INTENT- depends on what are you trying to achieve, there are different ones. You can go for stimulation pre run, and relaxation after. My choice of work after the run is compression techniques which is an excellent move to help muscles from build up of lactic acid.
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/3_4/features/5087-1.html
Sharon, those recommendations for what time dog needs after chiro before returning to activities do vary by whatever chiro vet you are talking to, I have had same experience so it boils down in my mind what are you seeing happening with your dog and how much adjustment dog needed. If my eldest had just routine chiro done in the morning and there was nothing but wear and tear of active body, I will skip on his daily 3 mile run but might take him for evening agility class. Depends on the state of dog and since I trust my chiro vet very much I do follow her gut experience. Now if my boy was out and there is lots of going on with his back, it might be 2 days and traumeel as needed before I do full activity. So it all depends for me how my buds look and feel.
Stretching is a stuff of nightmares for me I have seen so so many posts and video clips people doing improper stretching, doing stretching while dog standing, not seeing signs of dog being uncomfortable... horrors, even the people that should know better. Stretching can be wonderful technique but done with no understanding it could be far more dangerous to dog IMHO. I shudder when people encourage it. Very often it looks like when human tries to do leg split and someone comes and ¨gently¨pushes that person down. ouch!

Sorry,but I don't agree and I have two people who do my dogs and both say the same thing as well so I listen to them.I would never take my older dog out after having an adjustment for agility.It defeats the purpose of having them adjusted.I shutter just thinking about it!!!

 

[SheltieChe]

Sharon, I have no problems with people having different opinions and making different decisions for their dogs. More, what I do with my young very athletic dog in his prime now is different from what I might be doing when we reach our seniority.
To clarify for those who interested in massage- there are varied thoughts of school on what massage is and how to use it. From complete woodoo of sending lights of sunshine rays and sharing energy to complete methodical anatomical working on each point and each muscle. Could not find any newer reviews http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/5_11/features/5499-1.html
I am a scientist in my ways but I believe in enteric nervous system i.e. second brain i.e. gut feeling
Part of my post run routine includes ischemic compression massage which is fancy name to sandwiching large group of muscles between my palms and releasing trigger points which will help release tension and restore blood flow to the area, thus helping out to flush toxins from the body
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/using-trigger-point-treatment
http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/trigger-points-treatment.html
The most important thing with doggie massage is to remember that less is more

 

[Caro]

I'm with Sharon on this. The risk of doing things like massaging during or before an activity is just too high. It doesn't matter the age of the dog. One concern would be loosening off the muscles that support the cruciate - these type of injuries are already far too common. Remember a warm up should be about reducing risk of injury, not creating it.

In human athletes, before a race or game the warm up routine is a) raising the heart rate, b) stretching all major muscles groups (dynamic rather than static stretching has been shown to give better results) and then c) exercises that activate those muscles that will be used in the activity. . This can then be followed by a functional work out - of activities used in the sport - jumping, running and so on. This sort of approach is the most up to date scientific approach.

I think the same principles used for human athletes, which has years of scientific research (and research money) pumped into it, applies quite readily to canine athletes. And as a senior health executive I am also quite good at translating this type of research.