We usually think
of CranioSacral Therapy for ourselves or our children but it can be helpful for
many others as well. I have worked on dogs and cats and know others who work on
horses as well. Any animal with vertebrae can be helped with CranioSacral
Therapy. One of my clients offered to write a testimonial about how she thinks
CranioSacral helped her dog. I would like to share it with you.
Several years
ago, to relief stress and aches and pains, I began having CranioSacral therapy
with Jeannette Raskin. As a result I can’t say enough about the modality and
how it improves and opens up the energy channels in your body allowing the body
to heal itself.
About a year and
half ago, my chocolate brown lab had a cruciate ligament injury to one of his
back legs. In taking him to my family vet I quickly learnt this was normal for
his breed and also his age. The vet suggested I keep him off the leg as much as
possible; not so many walks and would examine it over time. He felt with the
age of my dog (9 years) and how active he was, surgery should be the last
resort. He also suggested glucosamine, MSM, and Chondroitin and Hyaluronic
acid, to help strengthen the knee joint and assist with any arthritis which may
appear. So over the course of the fall and winter we were very careful and paid
attention to his leg; make sure he was fed the glucosamine with his food. There
was a remarkable difference but we had to be very careful.
This winter with
the large amount of snowfall, he managed to hurt it again running through the
deep snow in the yard. I took him into my vet to ensure he had some
movement, which it did, and again my vet advised me to shorten his walks and to keep him quiet as much as possible to help the
knee heal. Very hard to do with a Lab!
One day while in
visiting Jeannette for my monthly CranioSacral appointment I happened to
mention my dog and his injury. Knowing
that CranioSacral therapy would work on animals as much as humans, she agreed
to come out and begin some therapy on his leg joint which was injured.
The first treatment was hectic as being a
Lab, he needed to know what was happening and why? Jeannette managed to do
about a half hour on his knee before he let her know that was enough.
During the
session I also sat beside him and held him, ensuring he kept out of Jeannette’s
space and allowed her to do her work. Once he settled down, you could see him
quieten down every time there was an energy release. I did mention to Jeannette
as she left that my legs were tingling from the energy flowing through him to
my hands as I held him. We both felt it helped
him and I ensured he rested and took it easy for the rest of the day. Later that afternoon when my girlfriend came
out to do a short walk she noticed a remarkable difference in his walk.
We rescheduled
several sessions with the second one being this morning. This time, Oscar came
and “nuzzled into” Jeannette allowing her to do her work. As with the first
time you could see him quieten when he was feeling releases. At one point,
during a large release I actually felt the energy come out of him, go up my arm
(as I was holding his shoulder) go through my right side, up through my head.
Quite amazing actually!
Our plans are to
continue with the sessions as the more we can remove his stress and strains
from his “dog body” the better. The longer we continue it will also allow his
body to self-correct and strengthen his resistance to disease and injury. Thank
you Jeannette and CranioSacral therapy!
Jeannette Raskin
practices at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer,
Alberta. 403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca.
