HISTORY OF CANINE MASSAGE
Anyone who believes that Massage Therapy is part of a "New Age", alternative, holistic practice, think again. The practice of massage therapy is documented in China as early as 3000 BC. Hippocrates, known as the father of Western medicine, was a proponent of therapeutic massage. Julius Caesar traveled with a personal massage therapist to help with his epilepsy and who also worked on his war dogs.
Early Egyptian hieroglyphics even depicted "animal healers" using massage techniques. Centuries ago in India, healers studied the vital points on human and animal bodies which are located on nerves, nerve joints, bones, muscles, ligaments and inner organs. The healers put pressure on these trigger points to cure or minimize various diseases including nerve disorders, arthritis and spinal pain, In 1970, the U.S. Equestrian Team formally utilized therapeutic massage in caring for their valuable animals and shortly thereafter canine therapeutic massage began to grow in popularity as the public began to recognize its significant benefits to their dogs.