CANINE CHIRO
PREVENTION IS THE BEST MEDICINE
We are contacted on a daily basis by owners with dogs beginning to show signs of lameness. Some are even completely immobile by the time we have been called out to them and unfortunately it’s most often only when owners have completely run out of options that they will finally turn to us for help.
If used as a preventative rather than a response treatment the kinds of problems most dogs will face in their later years can be completely avoided. Treating puppies from the age of 8 weeks of age will ensure they grow up in alignment to prevent movement issues many older dogs don’t need to face later in life.
It’s our vision for chiropractic treatments to become part of an animal’s regular annual pet care – just like your pet’s annual vaccination.
PERFORMANCE AND WORKING DOGS
We provide chiropractic treatment for all kinds of dogs across all disciplines. Any dog will benefit from our treatments. With good skeletal alignment and a nervous system in an optimal state owners of working dogs will be able to observe a marked improvement in their dog’s performance. Organs, muscles, immune system, alertness, well-being, virtually all aspects of canine or any animal’s health are heavily dependent on unimpeded nervous system function which in turn is dependent on optimal chiropractic alignment. Disciplines in which we are extensively experienced in include:
- Agility
- Attack/Guard
- Detector
- Domestic (Pet)
- Dancing with Dogs
- Flyball
- Hunting
- Obedience
- Show
- Sniffer
SYMPTOMS OF MISALIGNMENT
The following are symptoms to be concerned about in your dog that may be indicative of poor chiropractic health:
- Crabbing (walking on a sideways angle)
- Limping
- Not sitting square – dogs should sit straight with legs placed evenly either side of body
- Won’t hold tail up
- Walking with head down instead of holding head high
- A dip down in the back (back should be flat)
- A roached back (arched/curved upwards)
- Not extending forward fully with front legs when walking
- Not extending/driving/pushing back with rear legs when walking
- Appearing lame or sore in the feet or wrists
- Difficulty hold up tail
- Shaking or quivering legs when resting or standing
- Doesn’t like being touched (in general or in particular areas)
- Showing discomfort or sitting when being brushed
- Slow recall and poor command response
- Unhappy, listless or savage – take notice of change in temperament!
- Weight problems – inability to gain or lose weight
- Not keeping up during walks
- Excessive lying around or appears consistently unhappy
- Savageness/defensiveness
Dogs generally like to please their owners. If your dog is being unusually disobedient it may not be just because they don’t want to follow your commands and could likely be because it hurts them to do so. If your dog wont walk faster or sit quicker don’t force them to do it and consider that the real reason might actually be that your dog is in pain.
CAUSES OF SYMPTOMS
Isolating the cause of your dog’s injuries will help towards reducing their re-occurrence. Being able to remove or at the very least reduce what caused your dog’s problems in the first place will make for more effective and treatments meaning your dog will be fixed with fewer sessions and you won’t be throwing your money away.
- Unbalanced exercise – over exercising or lack of regular exercise
- Repeatedly running up and down fence lines
- Jumping up and down from height (couches, beds) and slipping/falling
- Running up and down stairs, jumping off stairs on way down – dogs are not built for stairs, especially those with longer spines!
- Rough play with other dogs (including litter mates as puppies)
- Adult dogs colliding
- Mum stepping on puppies when very young
- Bad birthing
- Slipping when walking on or getting up and down on slippery surfaces such as tiles and wooden floors
- Cold weather/winter exacerbating symptoms you didn’t notice before
- Pushing through heavy doggy doors or using doors that are too small
- Running into glass doors or headbutting tables and vehicle windscreens
- Falling from height
- Being hit on the back (eg. objects falling on them in the back of a ute)
- Landing badly after frisbee/ball jump-catch airtime
- Walking/standing (dancing) on their rear legs
- Incorrect bedding
- Poor diet or lack of proper nutrition
COMMON MISDIAGNOSIS
- Arthritis
- Dysplasia (hip and/or elbow)
- Meningitis
- Cruciate ligament tear
- Old age
WHAT NOT TO DO
- Do not use heat packs on your dog when they are sore
Heat packs promote swelling and will only increase discomfort for your dog.
- Do not massage your dog when they appear to be sore
If nerves are pinched this will only inflame the nerves causing muscle spasm which will not make your dog any more comfortable.
- Do not try yourself to manipulate your dog in any way
You could do serious damage to your dog.
- Do not allow inexperienced, inept, or dubious practitioners to manipulate your dog
Any practitioner no matter from what profession, training, or background who is unable to tell you what is wrong with your dog, how or what they believe they have to do to fix them, that they have dealt with your pets problem before and that they can fix it for you should not be manipulating your dog. If nerves are not released properly and in the correct order then depending on which nerves are pinched added pressure can be put onto joints and the brain causing excruciating pain and further damage. It will take more treatments to fix the damage caused by other people’s poor manipulations.
- Do not continue to exercise your dog before getting the all clear
If your dog is walking abnormally due to pain then continuing to do so is the worst thing your dog can do in this condition and you should not facilitate any exercise until the problem has been fixed no matter how much your dog demands to be walked. Doing so will only be toning muscles to hold your dog in misalignment. Once nerves have been released and pain subsides full movement can return and it will be safe to exercise your dog again and start toning muscle for maintaining alignment rather than misalignment.
- Do not allow a dog that is in pain or moving badly to remain in the company of other dogs
It may seem cruel to separate kennel mates who may be strongly bonded and although they may protest loudly your dog could become unusually aggressive towards the other dogs due to pain. Also what your dogs get up to together could be what has caused the problem in the first place. The work of treatments can be undone by immediate rough play, especially because your dog will feel great after a treatment and will want to play like crazy. If your dog had been out of alignment for a longer period of time and has any resulting muscle wastage it won’t take much of a bump from another dog to for it to go back out of alignment. Prevent this from happening by separating them until we can get your dog to full health again.
FACTS
- Dogs start to walk differently because it hurts them to walk normally
- Problems will not go away on their own – symptoms may subside with rest but not for long
- A dog’s pain is generally the result of pinched nerves & subsequent referral pain
- Pinched nerves are present in all dogs
- X-rays do not show nerves often resulting in misdiagnosis
- Anti-inflammatory and pain relief medications while they relieve your dog’s pain will only mask problems – you may see your dog’s symptoms diminish however this will not fix what is causing the problem – medication does not address what caused the pain in the first place hence why symptoms will often return
- The results of our treatments are instant and also sustained when owners work together with us as a team. Complete restoration of your dog’s health is dependent on you making and maintaining the necessary changes required to stop problems from reoccurring.
COMMON SCENARIOS
- Your dog is not walking properly
For example, not fully reaching forward with front legs or pushing back with rear legs because your dog’s muscles and body are not working as they should and you need to do something about it before it gets worse – do not just keep doing what you have been doing!
- Your dog cannot lose weight
If your dog is not walking properly it will not lose weight easily. Muscles burn fat. If your dogs muscles are not working fully, due to your dog not being able to stretch out and walk properly because of pain, then no matter how much exercise they do it is impossible for them to efficiently burn fat
- Your dog has limited movement
This is because your dog is experiencing pain when trying to walk/move normally. Walking incorrectly for a long period of time will lead to your dog having muscle wastage rather than muscles building up from exercise. No amount of exercise will help until nerves are released relieving pain and muscle spasm and enabling normal walking again so muscles can rebuild from being exercised properly.
- Your dog has muscle wastage
Muscles hold bones in place and maintain skeletal alignment. If your dog’s muscles waste away then bones and joints can easily slip out of alignment. This results in nerves being pinched and leads to more obvious symptoms being exhibited such as limping.
- Your dog appears to have suddenly deteriorated overnight
Dogs have a high pain tolerance and being pack animals they are reluctant to show weakness thus you will most likely not see major symptoms until the pain is too much for them and they have no choice. If you haven’t already noticed earlier the small and slowly incrementing changes in your dogs composition such as dipped or roached back, crabbing, etc then when your dog is suddenly unable to walk or move properly or is limping one morning for no apparent reason it will seem like your dog has suddenly deteriorated overnight – this is not the case and your dog has had problems for a long time.
FELINE CHIRO
We also provide chiropractic treatment for cats. Symptoms to be concerned about in your cat that could be indicative of poor chiropractic health:
- Back flinching when patting
- Unable to stretch properly
- Unsociable and/or cranky behaviour
- Moves away and doesn’t like being patted
- Doesn’t jump up on your lap freely
- Roached (arched) back
- Back dips down
- Struggles when being brushed
- Avoids other pets
GREYHOUND CHIRO
All Greyhound owners should check their dogs after each run and be able to find muscle tears and soreness but shoulders and sciatic nerve should be left to the professionals.
Problems associated with shoulders:
- Running off or easing off in the bends
- Not being able to get down in the boxes and therefore missing the start
- Greyhounds that continuously run with misaligned shoulders will eventually drop the left pin muscle
- Pull up with sore wrists
- Not extending out in front
- Most metacarpal and wrist problems come from the shoulders
Problems associated with the sciatic nerve:
- Missing the start
- Crabbing
- Cramping across the saddle or wither
- Lack of drive
- Referral pain causing muscle soreness down the stifle, hamstring and as far down as the calf muscles
Greyhounds can drop back muscles, tear hip supports and triangle muscles due to bad referral pain from a pinched sciatic nerve which causes chronic muscle spasms.
Many greyhounds are fighters and hard to handle due to soreness caused through pinched nerves. Laser and Ultrasonic work will not remove muscle soreness due to referral pains caused through nerve problems – chiropractic treatments are all that will work to solve these problems and better your racing days!
GET IN TOUCH
If your animal is showing signs of restricted movement, lameness, or any change in behaviour that has you concerned get in touch today.
