Paws in Harmony

07/05/2025

That feeling when you love your job...Just a couple clips of our Production Assistant helping out with filming a demo video for one of our canine fitness clients last night! Piccolo's two favorite things in life are food and sunshine (not necessarily in that order), but doing fitness training comes in a close third! 😍

24/04/2025

Calling all fellow canine and veterinary professionals!!! An entire four days of incredible continuing education starts TOMORROW with the Chronic Pain Symposium 2025. My amazing colleagues at Canine Arthritis Management have been working non-stop to organize this event, with industry-leading experts from around the world coming together to provide their insights into all things chronic pain.

It is FREE to attend live, with on-demand recordings available until the next day's live session begins. If you want 12 months of access to the lecture recordings (plus lots of other perks!), VIP tickets are still available for purchase. The event has been RACE approved for 30 hours of continuing education in jurisdictions that recognize RACE approval.

If you'd like to sign up, it's not too late! Head over to chronicpainsymposium.co.uk to reserve your spot!

11/04/2025

Today is National Pet Day! We're sharing a photo of our Chief Marketing Officer, Piccolo, to celebrate. Show us your pets in the comments! 😍🐾

06/04/2025

Happy Canine Fitness Month! We're celebrating all the awesome ways fitness training can enhance your dog's life - from reduced injury risk and improved performance to today's topic: enrichment.

Whether your dog is a couch potato, a hiking partner, or a canine athlete who competes in sports, they can benefit from fitness training. All dogs love doing things with their owners, and fitness training is a great form of enrichment that engages both the body and the mind. Teaching your dog new skills and having fun with them can also help to strengthen your bond with your dog.

Fitness training is great for building confidence, too! Working on different types of equipment, learning skills in a safe and positive environment, and mastering new exercises can do a world of good for pups, no matter their background. As an example, a dog who participated in a fitness program with us went from being very shy and unsure the first couple of weeks to being confident and happy during fitness lessons just a few weeks later.

What is your dog's favorite fitness exercise or activity? Let us know below in the comments, or share a photo or video of your dog to your story and tag us in it!

If you're interested in learning more about canine fitness training, get in touch or visit our website for more details on our fitness training programs!

23/02/2025

Apologies for the radio silence lately - life has been extremely busy these past few weeks! Normal service should resume soon, so please bear with us!

In the meantime, if you've ever wanted to know more about the Paws in Harmony team, this is the post for you! And if you have any requests for topics you'd like to see posts about in the future, please leave a comment below with your suggestions!🤩🐶

02/02/2025

To celebrate , I wanted to highlight Dr. Lila Miller, who is recognized as being the mother of shelter medicine.

Dr. Miller was one of the first two Black women to graduate from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. Despite being subjected to racism throughout her education, Dr. Miller persevered and graduated in 1977, after which she began working at the New York City branch of the ASPCA. Her revolutionary approach to veterinary medicine in the shelter environment quickly took shape, as she developed new protocols and standards that greatly improved the standard of care and eventually resulted in the birth of "shelter medicine." In 1999, Cornell University began a first-of-its-kind shelter medicine course, with Dr. Miller as the professor. She has also served as a veterinary advisor and vice president of shelter medicine at the ASPCA, and was a co-founder of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians.

To learn more about Dr. Miller and other trailblazing graduates of Ithaca's Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, head over to this excellent article: https://www.vet.cornell.edu/about-us/news/20230208/history-firsts-curd-miller-and-woods-forge-path.

18/01/2025

It's always a pleasure working with both the Director of Employee Health and Wellness and the Manager of Operations at Yukon's Farm LLC! Thank you so much for your very kind words! 💜

From the Director of Employee Health and Wellness at Yukon's Farm:

We believe in keeping our staff healthy here. One way we do this is through canine bodywork with Paws in Harmony. The Manager of Operations has been a long-time client there and credits much of his continued longevity and quality of life to Harmony's wonderful services. I, myself, have utilized her services numerous times over the years with great results- relieving the aches and pains that can come with tight muscles and fascia and helping speed up recovery from injury. Harmony has an excellent demeanor, touch, and pacing that helps any dog to feel more calm and comfortable with the process. On top of all that, Harmony is also just a true gem of a human being♥️ Please give her services a look and be sure to tell her Carl sent ya!

08/01/2025

There is often a lot of confusion about the differences between veterinary rehabilitation and canine fitness training. While they may seem similar on the surface, they are two very different services with different aims.

That being said, if you share your life with a canine athlete (or two or three!), it is best practice to have a support team which includes BOTH veterinary rehab professionals and a canine fitness trainer. Canine athletes should be seen regularly - ideally, every 6-12 months - by a veterinary rehab professional to ensure that any underlying issues can be caught and addressed early, rather than waiting until an injury happens. It's a whole lot easier for everyone involved - and way less expensive - to address issues BEFORE they result in an injury rather than AFTER, when weeks or months of rehab may be required in order for your dog to return to their favorite activities.

Why work with a credentialed fitness trainer?
📢 Thorough intake process and initial fitness evaluation to ensure your dog is a good candidate for fitness training and formulate a targeted program to address any structural weaknesses or muscle imbalances
📢 Professional oversight and coaching, helping to ensure you and your dog are performing exercises correctly - incorrect form can actually lead to muscle imbalances or even injury!

Remember:
💪 Targeted strengthening can help REDUCE the risk of injury
💪 If your dog does become injured at some point, recovery is often quicker if the dog is in good shape prior to the injury

If you want to start the new year off right by getting your dog fit, get in touch to work with our licensed veterinary technician and credentialed fitness trainer!

Not sure if your dog qualifies for fitness training? Send us a message and we can help you determine whether your dog is a good fit for conditioning.

01/01/2025

Happy New Year! and Happy National Train Your Dog Month! With the blustery snow and cold this time of year, it can be hard to get out and do fun things with our dogs to keep their mind and body active. That's where canine conditioning can come in, providing a safe AND fun outlet for your pup's energy, while also keeping them in shape so they'll be ready to go once spring arrives.

If you'd like to start a customized fitness program with your pup, get in touch - we'd love to help you keep those winter doldrums at bay!

28/12/2024

Hello, everyone. I hope you are all enjoying a festive holiday season with your pups! As those of you who have been using my services for a number of years know, I have been very reluctant to raise my prices at all. In fact, since opening in 2014, I have only raised my prices once, back in 2019. However, the cost of living has gone up a lot since then, and although I hate to do it, I find that I now need to increase prices slightly on my bodywork services. All new prices will go into effect as of January 1st, 2025. My canine fitness service prices remain unchanged.

Thank you so much for your continued support, and I hope to see you all in the new year! 💜

25/12/2024

Wishing you all the very happiest of holidays filled with warmth, love, and cheer. Thank you for entrusting us with your dogs' care over the past year, and we can't wait to see you in 2025! 🎄

24/12/2024

Massive congratulations to our client, Rick, and his wonderful Siberian Husky, Kymber, on their beautiful run and third place finish in the 20" class at the AKC Agility Invitational Finals earlier this month! We're super proud to be a part of their team, helping Kymber to feel her best with regular bodywork sessions. 💜🐾✨️