Unlike humans, dogs cannot communicate their pain very easily. Dogs’ only way of communicating their discomfort or pain is to display changes in personality, character or performance.
- A general reluctance to get out of their cage or the car
- Unwillingness to cooperate
- Unprovoked aggression,
- Evading obstacles
- Inability to coordinate,
- Ignoring commands
- Difficulty in stretching out hind legs when jumping
Problems can occur in dogs for many reasons, including:
- Traumas and Accidents: falls, road traffic collisions, slipping, fighting
- Repetitive Activities: jumping on and off the sofa, in and out of the car
- Competitions: Greyhound/Whippet racing, Agility dogs
- Breed Weaknesses: Dogs with long backs and relatively short legs are prone to disc problems (e.g. Dachshunds); hip dysplasia (e.g. German Shepherds); cervical vertebral instability (e.g. Weimaraners); osteochondritis dissecans
affecting the shoulders and elbows (e.g. Labrador Retrievers) - Lameness: From arthritic pain, hip dysplasia can cause the dog to compensate his/her walking gait, which can develop into secondary back problems.
- Post surgery
Understanding the organism as a system of shared tensions where the freedom of movement of each structure is essential for its proper functioning, having a deep understanding of biomechanical anatomy and possessing the manual ability to transmit our therapeutic understanding to our dog friends: this is Canine Osteopathy.
An approach that goes beyond pharmacology and that provides a new tool and a great complement to the professional's work.