Dog Massage? Isn't Petting Enough?
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RENEE LANE'S living room had been transformed into a spa. Candles twinkled on the coffee table; lavender oil scented the air; lilting guitar music played softly on the stereo. Grace, Ms. Lane's 2-year-old caramel-colored toy poodle, leaped onto the sofa and, in response to Ms. Lane's cooing invitation ("Want to lay down for Mama?"), got into position for her evening massage.
Ms. Lane took a deep breath and began making long stroking motions down the length of Grace's back with her palms. With her thumbs, she kneaded the tissue around the dog's delicate shoulders, and then began working her way toward the muscles in the dog's legs. By the time the 20-minute massage session was done, Grace had entered a state of canine bliss, eyelids drooping, tongue lolling.
"Grace absolutely loves it -- she just turns into a puddle," said Ms. Lane, 43, a public relations and business development consultant in Edgewater, N.J. "I want to keep her around as long as I can, and I think it's going to keep her healthy. She helps reduce my stress, so why shouldn't I reciprocate?"
That is a question that a number of dog owners -- and even some cat owners -- have been asking themselves, buoyed by a belief that pet massage confers the same benefits as human massage: increased circulation, improved digestion, strengthened immunity, stress relief, comfort at the end of life and muscle relaxation after a hard day (even if it was spent at the dog park).
Some pet owners scoff at this idea. What's wrong with regular old petting? they ask. And many veterinarians say that evidence of its benefits is flimsy. Nonetheless, pet massage workshops have flourished in recent years at pet stores, dog day-care centers, veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, massage schools and holistic institutes like the New York Open Center in Manhattan, where Ms. Lane and more than 75 other dog owners took a one-day class last summer.
"People realize more and more that what's good for me, including massage, is probably good for my animal," said Jean-Pierre Hourdebaigt, an animal massage therapist and teacher in Wellington, Fla., whose book "Canine Massage: A Complete Reference Manual" is considered the standard text.
First Published April 21, 2011 12:01 am
