How to Massage Stiffness out of an Old Dog

Video Transcript

"One of the things that you can do for your dog as they get older, maybe a little bit more muscle sore a little bit stiff if massage. You can get the dog used to massage when they're younger, but if you've got an older dog and you haven't started, you can always start. Dogs enjoy massage just as well as a human does. You can start up at the neck and you're going to be gradual and gentle. Just using your fingers in rotating motions. Typically what happens when you're doing a massage on your dog is they start to relax, they lower their head a little bit. We're going to work the muscles a little bit. There's actually videos and books that you can get on massage. There are all different kinds of massage that you can do on your dog. One of probably the best known types is called T touch. There's certainly books videos you can get on that. You can see how this girl here, this is Hannah. She's actually a 12 year old rottweiler. You can see how she's lowered her head and she's relaxing. I'm working my hands down the back and the spine. Working over her shoulders and I'm just using soft circular motions with my fingertips to give her a nice massage. Starting gently, working both shoulders now, coming towards the front. A massage is an excellent way to help your older dog relax. Maybe you work out some of the stiffness. You can work out the tailbone here in the back. You can watch your dog and see how they move, see if there are any particular areas that are more sore for your dog and you can work on those areas. You can work down the legs. Just at the point where your dog will be comfortable and relaxed. A massage is a great thing to do for any age dog, but certainly, for the geriatric dog where they might have more aches and pains than would a younger dog."