Wet Nose Canine Massage

508-241-4826

carolyn@wetnosespa.com

Peaches

"Peaches is a 13 year old Pekingese who is treated by Carolyn for arthritis.  Peaches has been suffering from arthritis for several years.  When we first started it was as simple as wearing a sweater in the house was enough to keep him comfortable.  As his arthritis progressed we went to 1/2 of a baby aspirin, to a whole baby aspirin, to every over the counter joint supplement we could find.  We were at the end; nothing worked anymore. My vet was telling me my only option was Rimadyl.  To most dogs, arthritis is a normal aging process but Peaches has Cushing's disease - Cushing's eventually effects every organ in a dogs body. I couldn't imagine putting him on Rimadyl and damaging his liver more than the disease already is.  We have seen Carolyn at many dog events so I figured it couldn't hurt but I was skeptical....doggy massage?  Well, I saw results after the first massage. My dog who wouldn't climb stairs....tried (failed but he tried the next day).  We started out weekly and the improvement continued so much that we then moved to every other week.  This schedule seems to work well for Peaches. He now runs across the yard, climbs the stairs to go to bed (even sneaks upstairs when we aren't looking)!  We are all grateful we found Carolyn except for one -  "Snowball." She doesn't understand why her brother gets rubbed and then she just gets the last 5 minutes!!"

Jenn 

Cassidy

"When our Dogue de Bordeaux, Cassidy was diagnosed with elbow dysplasia at 1 year of age, our vet explained that at times she would have discomfort and soreness, but that it would be very slow moving and there was little cause for alarm.  Three years later, we began to notice Cassidy limping just about every day and after speaking with our vet, we were encouraged to turn to Rimadyl to ease her discomfort as the dysplasia began to increase with her age.  After using the prescribed medication for a period of time with no real results, we decided to look into massage as an alternative to the Rimadyl. 

We started Cassidy’s therapy with one hour sessions once a week as she was limping almost daily.  Within one month, we were able to see REAL results as her limping decreased to once or twice a week.  By the next month, we were able to drop Carolyn’s visits to bi-weekly as Cassidy began showing signs of discomfort and limping only once or twice every two weeks!  Though we know that her dysplasia will never fully go away, we feel confident in Carolyn’s ability to ease Cassidy’s discomfort, allowing her to just enjoy being a dog again. 

In the few months that Carolyn has been working with Cassidy, we have seen major improvements in the quality of our dog’s life.  Cassidy is back to her old self, enjoying visits to doggie-daycare, swimming on weekends, playing in the yard, and taking long walks… all of which would not be possible without canine massage."

Tessa

Onyx, Jake and Mason

"We remembered Carolyn from attending a fundraising event where she was doing massage demonstrations… and called upon her when our 11 year old Staffordshire bull terrier, Onyx… aka ‘Onnie” began having lots of trouble with stiffness due to a back leg injury.  Even though the leg injury itself had healed her whole body had been affected from her efforts to compensate for the soreness herself.  Onyx has a liver disease that limits her ability to take medication, so we decided to try the therapeutic massage.  We started her off with an hour weekly and she made such wonderful progress in just a few weeks time that she is now able to share her hour with her two “brothers” Mason & Jake (also adopted bully breeds) who each get a few minutes of “heaven” to enjoy… after she says she’s all done, of course!     

We all love you Carolyn!"

Tom & Michelle Clay

Mason, Onyx, Jake & Grizzly

Ouiser                   Shelby and Ouiser

"Shelby is a 2 1/2 year old Mix rescue, she came to me as a very shy little puppy that didn't have much confidence and was petrified of strangers.  I joined a Newfoundland training group shortly after getting Shelby, and she was right at home hanging around with the giant breed.  It was then I decided that Shelby needed a sister to help her with her confidence.  Ouiser the Newfoundland joined us that November, and she and Shelby have been joined at the hip since.  Ouiser is the personal body guard to Shelby, and fends off any strangers that want to bother her "little" big sister.

Late last winter (2008) while running through the snow with her sister, Ouiser came down hard on one of her legs and came in limping.  After a visit to the vet, it was determined that she had torn her ACL.  We waited a bit for surgery, so that she wouldn't be recuperating in the snow, and Ouiser had surgery in the late winter to repair the damage.

One of the key aspects of her recovery was the need to remain active so that her muscles of her bad leg wouldn't weaken, and the muscles of her good leg weren't overstrained. It was then that Shelby and Ouiser were introduced to massage.  She responded very well to working on her injured leg that she was favoring, with each massage you could see great improvement  and she gradually began using her leg more and more, and I believe the massage made her more comfortable with using the "bad" leg.  Her good leg was equally benefited, as I noticed from hopping around she was becoming sore, and the massage brought great relief to her overworked leg.  An added unexpected bonus was that Ouiser was also cured of her cough!  All through the winter, Ouiser had a consistent bronchial cough, it would come and go, depending on how tired she was, but was pretty much a daily occurrence.  In addition to working her legs, Carolyn worked on Ouiser's chest and ribs.....and after the very first visit, the cough became less and less, and now with continued massage, it is non existent.  I also notice, if Ouiser misses one week of massage.......her cough comes right back...I am just amazed, and grateful at the improvement she has shown with massage.

Another unexpected benefit of Ouiser "Spa dates" is the progress of our big brave girl Shelby.  When Carolyn first began, Shelby would bark her head off at the stranger in her house, hiding in the hallway while Ouiser sniffed it out.  Over time, with Carolyn's patience, Shelby has grown to accept Carolyn as her friend...and even in recent weeks has allowed Carolyn to massage her.  We are still working on her progress...but by conquering her fear and letting herself relax for a massage I have great hope in the progress of bringing her out of her shy little shell.

Thank you Carolyn for the wonderful work you have done for the girls....we all look forward to the Friday night "Doggie Spa dates" !"

Colleen

Supai  

Supai is 8 years old and enjoys a massage after playing.  He tends to hold a lot of tension in his chest and really enjoys a slow deep massage around that area and the front part of his body including his neck and head.  He also gets a good stretch the night after a vigorous play session.  Supai is retired from agility but still loves to show his kid brother the moves!

  Coda (as a puppy)

Coda is 4 years old now and is not very interested in agility.  He has grown into quite a big boy at 76 pounds and loves to play ball and smile at everyone.  Massage has helped Coda relax and settle down after running in the yard all day.  He has earned a place on the floor in front of the sofa as the resident foot warmer.  

Gingee

She is 3 years old!  A Border Collie who loves to be touched and massaged is training to compete in agility and more.  She is smart as a whip and already knows her alphabet :)

Charlie and Lilypad  

Send mail to carolyn@wetnosespa.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2008 Wet Nose Canine Massage
Last modified: January 16, 2012