HOW WE WORK
We come to you
It is important to us to build a trust relationship with you and your dog. Our experience has shown that dogs are more comfortable in their home environment and a trusting relationship is established much easier and quicker in the comfort of your dog’s home.
If you are within our service area, we come to you for a flat fee. Should you be located outside of our service area, send us a message through our contact form stating your address and we might be able to come out to you for an additional travel fee (depending on your location).
What a treatment involves
Before your appointment, we ask you to fill out a client intake form were we gather information about your dog such as your dog’s age, history of injuries, physical capabilities and difficulties, administered medication, exercise routine and why you would like to engage Paws4Paws.
At our first appointment we will assess your dog’s gait, stance, sit, balance, flexibility, body awareness and range of motion, as well as conduct a soft tissue analysis to detect any abnormalities that might indicate an injury or a condition such as arthritis or hip dysplasia. For the remaining appointment we will treat your dog according to our findings. An appointment lasts 50 minutes. If we suspect a condition other than a soft tissue issue/injury and you do not have a diagnosis yet, we refer you back to your vet for a diagnosis so we can design our treatment plan accordingly.
We will also give you tools to help your dog in between treatments by providing you with a customised home exercise program tailored to the needs of your dog and discuss potential home environment modifications to decrease your dog’s discomfort, slow down the progression of a degenerative joint disease or help with recovery after surgery.
We tailor our therapy sessions to your dog’s immediate and long-term needs. We take into account all different activity levels, ages, conditions, and injuries and adjust our treatment to achieve optimum rehabilitation and well-being. Treatments may include
- remedial massage
- rehabilitative strengthening exercises
- proprioceptive exercises
- myofacsial pain release
- exercise therapy
- active and passive range of motion exercises
- trigger point therapy
- acupressure
You may see subtle changes in your dog’s movement and mobility after the first treatment but it usually takes several treatments to make effective changes.
Multimodal approach to your dog’s Recovery and Wellbeing
At Paws4Paws we take a multimodal approach to ensure your dog receives the best possible care. This means we use various methods, therapies and interventions to address your dog’s condition. We use remedial massage techniques, myofascial pain release, trigger point therapy, proprioceptive exercises, accupressure and rehabilitative strengthening exercises to manage and address your dogs injury or condition.
However, our experience has shown that physical therapy is most effective in conjunction with other changes and interventions such as weight management, lifestyle changes, home environment modifications, supplements and, if necessary, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories or other pain medication.
We will discuss this with you in our consultation to ensure your dog receives the best possible care available.
