Laurie's Blogs.

By Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt (Animal Physio), CAFCI, CCRT

How many times have you examined a patient and thought, ‘Man, if only this dog had gotten to me sooner, he wouldn’t be in such a mess’?  And how many times have you thought, ‘If only owners knew this… they could prevent this problem or injury?’  And how many times have you thought to yourself, ‘This dog needs me for the rest of his life!’?  So, why aren’t we promoting rehab as being a great preventative resource for dog owners?  You go to the dentist preventatively, your doctor preventatively, your car gets oil changes preventatively.  Rehab / Physio most certainly is part of the prevention game as well!

I came across a nifty blog entitled ‘Four Ways to Promote Physical Therapy as Preventative Wellness.  https://www.betterpt.com/post/four-ways-to-promote-physical-therapy-as-preventative-wellness 

It inspired me to think about canine rehab and if any of the suggestions could be used in our canine rehab practices.

We should be advocating wellness checks.  The blog above talked about implementing a checkup every 6 months.  I actually think this is too long of a time frame.  Our canine patients can’t talk, can’t advocate for themselves with they feel minor stiffness, a small twinge, an achiness with a particular activity, a discomfort, of a subtle weakness.  On a dog, it would take an assessment to find those things!  A full body evaluation and palpation.  So, I think that quarterly is more appropriate, and for some dogs, monthly.

Let’s looks at different scenarios and areas to target and promote:

1.The Canine Athlete.  This should be a ‘no-brainer’.  These dogs are high functioning and have a high degree of stress and strain imposed on their bodies.  A monthly check up could reveal early signs of a brewing tendinopathy (double check supraspinatus and biceps), a medial shoulder hypermobility issue (these are rampant in agility dogs), multiple axial skeleton dysfunctions (neck, spine, pelvis, or ribs), motor control & timing issues (weak glutes or abdominals), or myofascial trigger points (you’ll find them is you look for them).  Issues can be addressed and/or owners shown ways to work with their dogs (stretches, exercises, etc.) to keep the issue at bay.

2.Senior Dogs.  Senior dogs can look great and be doing just fine and then turn a corner suddenly!  Your regular evaluations should be quarterly with these guys.  Monitor their function and abilities.  Check their joints for any early (or well established) signs of arthritis.  Advocate for senior friendly solutions to common problems.  For example, reduced exercise tolerance can be combatted with shorter exercise periods done more often.  Cognitive decline can be combatted with exercise and diet recommendations.  Joint pain can be improved with therapeutic modalities, mobilizations, and supplement recommendations.  Declines in strength can be combatted with specific exercises tailored to what seniors need – such as eccentric exercises and power exercises.  Check out this short little video:  https://youtu.be/VDOh6ikdMR0 .  And try running a senior’s dog class for owners to learn more, and come out with their senior dogs to do a little exercising!

3.A change of season can warrant a checkup or screening!  Is summer fast approaching and people are thinking of long hikes or swimming at the river with their dog?  Is the dog fit enough to jump into these tasks?  Your wellness evaluation could identify areas of concern and subsequently areas for the owners to work on with the goal being the dog being ABLE to participate in a long hike.  Perhaps you find a joint issue, and you need to advise the owner on the need to take the dog to a location where it’s easier for him / her to enter the water to swim (i.e. sand versus rocks).

4.A long stretch of weather that is making it difficult or impossible to get out and exercise.  Winter ice has several drawbacks for walking a dog (dangerous for both humans and pets alike).  On the flip side, a long hot stretch might also make it problematic to exercise a dog (my black dog won’t walk in direct sunlight in the summer.  She’ll only go out around 9pm or when it’s overcast during summer months!)  In these scenarios, promoting your indoor exercise options is a great solution.  Do you have a pool or underwater treadmill you can offer, or an exercise gym?  Can you create a specific indoor exercise program for the dog that the owners can do in their home?  These are all great ways to engage in preventative wellness.

5.Maybe you need to promote ‘Myofascial Happiness’ appointments, where the appointment is directed at massage and myofascial release therapies.  These can find and address postural adaptations or compensations.  Dogs with arthritis tend to compensation how they hold and use their bodies, as do 3-legged dogs, injured dogs, dogs with hind end weakness, overweight dogs, post-partum dogs… and the list goes on!  If bigger problems are identified, then the patient can come back for some more targeted localized therapies.  However, myofascial happiness feels great for everyone!

So, now that you now what to promote?  You just need to strategize on how.  You have direct mail strategies (send out a postcard).  You can promote to your referring vet clinics (send a newsletter).  You can promote on social media (Pop it up on your Facebook page and boost that post, plus engage in the discussions on your local Facebook dog communities).  You can send a direct e-mail (Sign up with an e-mail capture program – i.e. Mail Chimp, Aweber, Constant Contact, and send your fans an informative and entertaining e-blast).

The ability to move freely and without pain is something that no dog should be forced to give up. Actively sharing and marketing your skills as a rehabilitation professionals can help get your canine patient population feeling BETTER and keep them healthy and injury free!