Giving Your Dog A Massage
The Huge Benefits of Canine Massage and Dr. Joy Craft's

Healing Touch of Joy

The young, athletic and active dog creates the image every dog food and supplement wants us to embrace when using their products. The reality is that like us, dogs age and their bodies undergo wear and tear due to their daily activities and play.

As improvements in dog care emerge, many are aware of the benefits of treatments like chiropractic and other alternative care for their canines as well. The benefits are great when the care can be applied regularly, which can be a challenge since professionals are not always readily available or affordable.

By contrast, massage can deliver as many benefits for dogs as people and while a professional masseuse may deliver benefits over that of a good amateur massage, the latter is not to be discounted.

So for the dedicated dog lover, the books and CDs by Dr. Joy Craft are indeed a godsend. With the training as convenient as the CD player or bedside table, we can all learn important techniques in helping our pets heal, maintain flexibility and strength and reduce injury as well as addressing chronic aches and pains brought on by arthritis and other common maladies.

It is difficult to envision an approach that would be more thorough and after reading the books and viewing the CDs, one is also left with the impression that an exceptional education was made available for a small amount of money. Dr. Craft's devotion is completely in the effort of helping people and their pets, not to the almight dollar. Certainly, I'd encourage everyone to get copies of this valuable work and share it with their friends or even their vet. To be honest, that approach would not last long because ultimately everyone would want their own copies for regular review. While the approach is simple, there is a great deal of information available that will not be remembered after the first read.

In fact, after viewing these CDs and reading the books, I would suggest that every trainer and dog enthusiast should consider Dr. Craft's works to be a central part of their reference library. Every professional trainer should be as inclined to teach their students how to massage their dogs as they are inclined to teach their students how to properly use a collar. Certainly every member of the veterinary profession should know how to use these techniques to calm and relieve pain in an animal. This is not to suggest that this knowledge should be limited to professionals. Absolutely no reason presents itself as an excuse for every owner to apply massage whenever they are in physical contact with their pet. While the mindless stroking down the spine or the tickle under the chin might be good for a meditation like moment, minimal focus is necessary to change that contact into a therapeutic session over the neck, shoulders or legs as well.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to attend a seminar with Dr. Craft in person, I have no doubt you will gain exceptional value judging from the merit of these materials. If that doesn't fit into your immediate schedule, do not hesitate to evaluate her book on canine massage, at minimum. You can find out more at The Healing Touch of Joy.

More information is available. Our online DigitalDog Forums offer a great venue for posting your questions and experiences.