When you stroke your pet the heart rate reduces dramatically, indicating that they are now beginning to ease up and relax. To add to this, the owner or handler of the pet is also at an advantage as people who pet their dogs are known to have lower blood pressure, fewer colds, lower stress levels, fewer backaches and are less likely to have the inability to have sufficient sleep.

Massages stimulate the body to release natural chemicals called endorphins that helps the body in experiencing a feeling of well being and relieves pain. Massages also help in stimulating the circulatory and lymphatic system, which helps in removing lactic acids from the sore areas.

Every dog’s reaction to a massage is different. As time passes, you will discover your pet’s preferred massage spots along with the appropriate pressure that you ought to apply. A massage session for most pets averages to about 10 minutes, which is sufficient.

Mentioned below are three different types of massage strokes.

Effleurage: Massage sessions normally begin and end with this. Here you use the palm of your hand and gently stroke your pet from head to tail and even down the legs. This stimulates the blood flow in the body and you know when you have acquired the right pressure when your dogs begins to feel sleepy.

Fingertips Massage: This is done by holding your fingers out and together, where you can focus on a particular area such as the back or hips. The massage is more robust and is done until the muscles relax.

Trigger points: Sometime you may actually feel the muscle spasm on your pet, which is known as the triger point. Your pet will jump with a howl as you touch it but you need to press that gently down with your thumb or forefinger for about 5 seconds, which will push the toxic blood out of that muscle and as you gently release the pressure the spot will be filled with oxygenated fresh blood and the knot should dissapear in just one of these cycles.

As you carry on with these massages your will notice that it benefits both you and your pet healthwise and will help keep the doctor and the vet away.