Yesterday morning was quite different.  This little guy came running up to us and then followed us on our walk.   He came home with us but his stay was brief.

With tears  in my eyes I drove this lost soul to the city’s Animal Care Services site.  Thankfully, the Humane Society of San Antonio volunteers took him, which means this bundle of cuteness has a very good chance of finding a home.

Bretagne searched for survivors and provided comfort to her fellow human rescuers during the mission.

You can read more about Bretagne (one of the last surviving rescue dogs of 9-11) and her story here:    http://nyp.st/pKZgTC

Bretagne and I will be seeing one another on a regular basis.  She still participates in drills, loves jumping into pools and is an otherwise very active senior.

The breed web site (http://www.boykinspaniel.org/standard.html) states that Boykins are friendly and eager to please. As a pet and companion he is exceptional with an amicable disposition. Faults: Hostility towards other dogs or people in normal situations or excessive timidity or hyperactivity is not in keeping with the Boykin’s character.

It’s Charlie’s “faults” that brought him and me together.  He was not a hostile dog but suspicious and timid.  Charlie was also guarded yet friendly and definitely excessively hyperactive, but at only at home, not at day care.  Such a large contradiction in a small dog.

Putting the pieces of this puzzle together I realized that Charlie’s personality traits existed because of his body.  Muscles and tissue had no suppleness, nor was there proper range of motion in the shoulders, hips, legs and neck.

Charlie’s personality changed immediately after our first session.  His day care attendant reported to his owner that Charlie didn’t sit and watch the other dogs at play.  He came out of his shell and tried to keep the other dogs away from her in a protective, playful way. Such a huge turnaround in one day!

It is now September.  Charlie continues to improve physically and emotionally in different settings.  His body feels good so he can participate with other dogs during play.  At home his owner reports that is less guarded, even to the point of seeking visitors out for individualized attention.

My hope for Charlie in the short and long-term is for him to exhibit the Boykins breed personality traits.  I think we’re on the right path as seen in the photograph below.

]]> http://jh-amt.com/2011/09/29/client-profiles/client-profile-charlie/feed/ 0 http://jh-amt.com/2011/08/09/learning-animal-massage/becoming-an-animal-massage-therapist-part-2/ http://jh-amt.com/2011/08/09/learning-animal-massage/becoming-an-animal-massage-therapist-part-2/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:01:22 +0000 Ghess http://jh-amt.com/?p=72 This is the rest of the article on Becoming an animal massage therapist.

Where to go for training

This depends on what modality you’re interested in, recommendations from others, where the training is held and what type of training is offered.  Then there are the costs involved:  Tuition, travel, hotel, food, car rental and fuel, and incidentals.

My advice is to start small, especially if the massage field is new to you.  Begin by selecting a weekend program that offers hands-on work as well as some required book learning.  This way you aren’t out a lot of money if the school or modality is not for you.  Heck, massage therapy may not be for you after taking a weekend course.  Do go because more than likely you will connect with others who have taken courses at other schools.  They can be a good source of information for you.

If you’re going to bite the bullet and go the extended studies route, do enroll with the person or school that will a.) Get you the hours you need so you can get your liability insurance, b.) Has tuition that reflects the amount of training you’re going to get, and c.) If national certification is your goal, get the hours needed to take the testing as the NBCAAM has minimum requirements to meet before you can earn this privilege.

Education Requirements

You’re going to be surprised to learn that you don’t need to have a strong background in biology or physiology to get you through a 250-hour course and beyond.  Strong animal handling skills and knowledge of behavior is important so that you don’t get hurt.  If you have neither skill or are short on a particular skill, do get this taken care of before enrolling in a program.  Your safety is #1 as is the safety of the animals you learn on, as well as that of your classmates.

There will be trained human massage therapists in your class.  Don’t be intimidated by their knowledge because they probably know as little as you do about animal massage.  What may make it hard for them is to learn muscle placement, body mechanics and general physiology because they could have to “unlearn” what they already know.

Distance Learning or Hands-On

Many schools offer distance learning and hands-on coursework or both.  I would personally be wary of getting all my education on-line.  Customers are savvy and can easily evaluate what you know by where you get your training.  Attending a program that has its core courses in a classroom and field setting, with some class offerings such as pathology done on-line does save you valuable time and dollars.

What massage modality to practice

There are as many modalities as there are instructional programs.  Smaller programs might offer a concentrated program of deep tissue and trigger point therapy for the equine or canine only.  Larger schools such as the Rocky Mountain School of Animal Massage offer a concentration with one species and will touch on different modalities as well as how to get your business off the ground.  The Tallgrass Institute specializes in acupressure for dogs and horses, Equinology is mainly equine but does offer training with dogs.  There is even Rolfing for horses and dogs and a host of other modalities to learn about.  Just go where the path leads you as you will probably end up practicing a little bit of everything as you get more training.

Continuing Education

This will depend on your state and if your state requires animal massage licensing.  The NBCAAM requires continuing education if you pass their national certification test, otherwise you are on your own.  In order to remain credible in the eyes of your clients and your peers, it is wise to take as much training as you can afford.  But do it the smart way.  Let your business pay for your extended education, not your personal savings or a loan.

Conclusion

If you want animal massage to be your main source of income you will reap the long-term dividends as you grow your business and your reputation.  Starting out on the right education path will help you reach your goal very quickly.

Let’s explore and dig into some of what you will encounter as you begin the search to further your ambitions and education. There is a lot to wrap one’s head around before you find the right instructor and take your first class.

State Laws

Laws will vary from state to state, with some being stricter than others when it comes to having an animal massage practice. Some states have no regulations while others have in place laws that require state certification. To get information about your state’s laws and statutes regarding animal massage, key words such as State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners will point your browser in the right direction.

When reading about your state’s laws, do find out what your scope of practice is. If you think that practicing Homeopathy or selling supplements on the side might be a good way to boost your income, do consider if a particular income stream can be ruled as “practicing medicine” without a license in a court of law.

Insurance

Insurance is insurance. Not really. There is professional liability insurance and there is premise insurance and they are usually part of the same policy. Insurance can be obtained from reputable trade associations that cover human massage therapists or animal specific therapists. An Internet search using a string similar to “equine massage liability insurance” will bring up pages for you to peruse.

Before committing to coverage make sure to read the fine print. You may think that you are purchasing a policy with $1,000,000.00 coverage but what you might be getting is a policy with a $5000.00 limit per specific incident.

Insurance companies, depending on the carrier, might also require a minimum number of program hours as well as proof of passing the program. My liability policy requires 250 hours of training, either from one school or qualified instructor, or from an aggregate of course studies, before I can even get coverage.

Certification

There are animal body workers who call themselves “certified.” When one attends a weekend class or a class of longer duration they get a “certificate of completion.” Can one really attend a weekend class; call oneself certified and put that out there for the public?

As of April 2011, Washington State is well on its way to becoming the first and only state to legislate and certify animal massage as an independent profession. All other states do not have this requirement, yet.

A national certification for animal massage and acupuncture does exist, and it is called the National Board of Certification for Animal Acupressure and massage-http://www.nbcaam.org/. The NBCAAM’s goal is to build a nationally recognized testing body for those who have completed the minimum number of hours in equine and canine studies for massage and acupressure. Passing the national test will then give you the right to advertise yourself as certified. If you have state credentialing as a human therapist, you can put L.M.T. and your license number in advertisements.

Somehow the word just isn’t getting out about the number of strays in our fair city,  or the message isn’t getting to the people that need to hear it.

Scenario:  San Antonio Pet Expo, July 2011.  Picture a large exhibit hall with one corner being the staging area for over 100 stray dogs, pups, cats and kittens being offered at a mega adoption event.   Pan your camera around the exhibit hall and see various pet rescues with booths that are not part of the adoption event.  If these booths don’t have animals to adopt they are asking for donations so that they can keep providing their services for specific breeds of dogs.

Now take a seat where you can watch the attendees mill about, many with a dog or 2 in tow.  Look closely and you will see quite a number of unaltered male dogs (with non-atrophied testes).  This made me wonder about how many non-spayed bitches are in the crowd.

The point being made is that Joe Blow citizen is at an event with their house dog on a leash at an event promoting responsible pet ownership.  There are over a hundred animals up for adoption, hundreds of pounds of unwanted animals being incinerated this  day and thousands more being created on the street.

I’m sorry but it appears to me that  the city’s message of No Kill is not getting through to those who need to hear it.  Talk About It!  Are you listening?  Pet owners.  Are YOU listening?

I step into the retail portion of this dog business and Sammy sees me, takes a deep breath and let’s out a loud bark!  I get lots of different greetings from horses and dogs but most of them are subtle.  Never have I received such excitement after one session.

This is why the field of animal massage exists.  It’s not only about making your animals and companions whole again,  it’s about creating instantaneous bonds  that words can’t describe.  Well, seeing Sammy go from laying flat to standing on all 4′s without there being a struggle to rise has it’s rewards also.  Pretty good results only 5 minutes after getting off the table.