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Pet massage therapy promotes long-lasting health
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By KEVIN KOLOIAN
Home to a massage therapy instructor/certified Reiki master who works solely with animals, Companion Animal Massage & Bodywork may be unique.Owner Marguerite Chipp-Matthews believes the practice can add quality years to the lives of cats, dogs and horses.
Trained in regular massage therapy, Chipp-Matthews adapted her skills for animal body structures years ago.
“It’s such a pleasure to work with animals,” said Chipp-Matthews, a resident of Spring. “Working with people can be difficult; you don’t know who you are going to get. You don’t have that with animals. Working with animals is so relaxing.”
Chipp-Matthews points out that it is less expensive to provide care that supports health maintenance than it is to wait for a canine companion to become ill.
She said that her treatment does more than what most people consider the traditional massage. Companion Animal Massage & Bodywork tries to achieve homeostasis, which is the tendency of a living creature’s system to be stable, maintaining a balanced healthy condition where all of its parts are working correctly and interdependently in the most appropriate way.
When homeostasis is impaired, the result is disease, she said. Bodywork and energy work along with trained communication techniques support homeostasis of both the giver and receiver, Chipp-Matthews added.
Restoration and maintenance of this natural balance supports improved physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health for all participants of any species.
A lot of sedentary animals can supplement exercise with massage therapy, Chipp-Matthews said. In the same way that humans benefit from massage, it helps animals get the blood flowing.
Companion Animal Massage & Bodywork has a couple of regular dogs and horses it works with at the owners’ homes for a more “relaxed environment.”
The average session lasts about 20 minutes but extra work is needed occasionally for more severe cases.
“I had a dog handler call me saying the dog couldn’t lift its head up,” Chipp-Matthews said. “I worked on him and he got his mobility back right away.”
She also treated a horse named Red a couple of years ago that had to lie down to rest because he had foot problems.
“I thought it was dead when I got there,” Chipp-Matthews said, “but I gave the horse a heel massage and could feel everything loosen up. A lot of times, you can feel the animal’s body come alive.”
Chipp-Matthews also massages two other horses that are owned by the same person that owns Red.
The 35-year-old horse Bruno’s feet were also was in bad shape when she first worked on it.
“The massage really works. It takes a lot of pressure off the animal,” said the horses’ owner Barbara Thurman. “People think they’re just animals, they don’t have sore feet or arthritis like humans but they do. And they need
massages. too.”
Chipp-Matthews even tamed her neighbor’s Chihuahua.
“He was a really hyper, high-strung dog and the massage made him calm,” Chipp-Matthews explained.
In business for more than a decade, Companion Animal Massage & Bodywork has also trained several hundred people in massage.
Some people take the company’s course to pursue a career in animal massage while others want to use the technique for their personal pets.
“A lot of times people take classes just to know enough to take care of their dogs at home,” Chipp-Matthews said.
Chipp-Matthews has also done seminars and conventions to train pet care professionals in animal massage. The company provides onsite and distance learning programs as well as an online store with massage therapy products.
By taking a six-hour class, a person can be on their way to a state certification, Chipp-Matthews said. Students need to put in 100 intern hours before being certified.
The classes themselves are hands-on.
“I prefer people to bring their own animals so that we have an assortment of dogs,” Chipp-Matthews said. “For horses, the three horses that I work with regularly have a pretty wide range in age. One is 11, one is in his 20s and the other is in his 30s, so it works our pretty well.”
Companion Animal Massage & Bodywork is currently taking registrations for upcoming workshops. Classes range from $150 to $225 each with private and private group workshops available.
For more information, visit www.companionanimalmassage.com.
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