Pepsi's Clinical Canine Massage

21/07/2025

🌟 Happy New Week! 🌟

Wishing you and your furry companions a calm, relaxed, tail-wagging start to the week 🐶💛

Did you know? I’m 100% mobile, that means I come to you! All of our canine massage therapy sessions happen in the comfort of your own home, where your dog feels most at ease 🏡✨

Whether your pup needs help with:
🦴 Rehabilitation after injury or surgery
💤 Relaxation and stress relief
🐾 Support for aging joints or chronic conditions
💪 Or just a little extra TLC for sore muscles after an active day...

I’ve got you covered and the best part? There’s no extra cost for travel. Just stress-free, professional care right where your dog feels safest and happiest 💕

Every dog deserves to feel their best and every pet parent deserves convenient, compassionate support.

📍 Covering Mid Cornwall
🗓️ Flexible bookings to fit your schedule
🐶 All breeds, ages, and mobility levels welcome!

Ready to help your dog move, feel, and live better?

📩 Drop me a message to book or ask any questions I’m always happy to chat!

19/07/2025

🐶 Is Your Senior Dog Slowing Down? Let’s Help Them Feel Better. 💛

As our dogs age, we start to notice changes, maybe they’re slower to get up, hesitate on the stairs, or spend more time resting than playing. These signs can be heartbreaking, but there's something gentle and effective that can help: canine massage therapy.

🦴 Here’s how massage helps elderly dogs with limited movement:

✨ Increases circulation – Better blood flow helps deliver oxygen and nutrients to aging tissues, promoting healing and reducing inflammation.

✨ Eases stiffness & pain – Gentle manipulation of muscles and joints can relieve tension, reduce discomfort, and improve flexibility.

✨ Supports joint health – Regular massage encourages synovial fluid movement in joints, keeping them lubricated and more mobile.

✨ Boosts mood & reduces anxiety – Aging can be confusing and stressful for dogs. Massage helps release feel-good hormones, offering comfort and calm.

✨ Improves quality of life – Whether it’s helping them get up more easily or just wag their tail a little more often, massage supports their ability to enjoy everyday life.

💬 “But my dog is too old for that!” you might think. Truth is, massage is gentle, adaptable, and tailored to your dog’s individual needs. even if they’re mostly resting or lying down.

If your senior pup is slowing down or struggling to move comfortably, massage therapy could be a loving, low-stress way to help them feel better and ease that mobility for them.

Your dog deserves every comfort in their golden years. 🐾

17/07/2025

👐💪 Canine Massage & Strength: Do They Go Hand-in-Paw? YES and Here’s How. 🐾

As a canine massage therapist, I’m often asked: “Can massage support strength and core conditioning in my agility dog?”

The short answer? Absolutely, but not in the way strength training does.

Massage won’t build muscle like targeted exercises do, but it plays a critical supporting role in keeping your dog’s body strong, balanced, and ready to perform.

Here’s how massage helps maximise the results of your strength and core program:

🔄 Supports Recovery for Stronger Gains
Massage helps flush out waste products like lactic acid and brings fresh oxygen to the muscles, speeding recovery. When your dog recovers well, they can train more consistently and safely.

⚖️ Identifies & Relieves Muscle Imbalances
Dogs often hide discomfort, and over time this leads to compensation. Massage helps detect subtle tightness or weakness early, so you can adjust training before it becomes a setback.

🧘‍♀️ Improves Flexibility & Range of Motion
Tight muscles restrict healthy movement. Massage helps restore mobility, allowing your dog to move through a full range of motion, key for exercises like squats, pivots, and core balance drills.

🎯 Enhances Proprioception & Body Awareness
Massage stimulates nerve endings and reinforces body awareness, which is especially important for agility dogs doing quick directional changes, tight turns, and precision movement.

💨 Boosts Circulation to Support Muscle Health
Healthy circulation ensures your dog’s muscles get the nutrients they need to stay strong, resilient, and responsive to conditioning work.

💬 In short: Massage doesn’t replace strength work, it makes it more effective, safer, and sustainable. It’s a vital tool in your dog’s performance toolkit, especially for high-drive athletes like agility dogs.

Have questions about how massage fits into your dog’s fitness routine? Let’s chat, I’d love to support your canine athlete’s journey.



(Picture curtesy of Carlson Agility)

16/07/2025

🏃‍♂️🐾 Calling All Agility Dog Owners: Why Muscle Health Should Be Your #1 Priority 🐶💪

Agility dogs are elite athletes. They sprint, weave, jump, and turn on a dime, often at lightning speed. But just like human athletes, their performance and longevity depend on one key factor: muscle health.

Here's why it matters:

🔥 Performance Powerhouse: Strong, conditioned muscles give your dog explosive speed, better endurance, and precise coordination. It’s the difference between a clean run and a missed contact.

🛡️ Injury Prevention: Healthy muscles support joints, stabilise movement, and absorb shock. That means fewer strains, sprains, and long-term joint issues, especially in high-impact sports like agility.

🔁 Faster Recovery: Well-maintained muscles recover more quickly after intense training or competition, allowing your dog to bounce back without burnout or pain.

⏳ Longevity in Sport: Dogs with optimal muscle mass and flexibility tend to stay active in the ring longer, with fewer setbacks from chronic conditions like arthritis or muscle atrophy.

Tips to Support Muscle Health:
✔️ Regular strength and core conditioning
✔️ Warm-ups before, cool-downs after
✔️ Adequate protein and hydration
✔️ Massage Therapy program

Your dog gives 110% every time they enter the ring. Make sure their body can keep up with their drive. 💥

👉 Strong muscles = strong performance, safer runs, and more time doing what you both love.



(Picture curtesy of the Irish Kennel Club)

16/07/2025

🎉 My Followers — Thank You! 🎉

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to every one of you for following, sharing, and supporting Pepsi’s Clinical Canine Massage growing community! 🐾💙

This page is more than just a business, it’s a space for education, awareness, and genuine care for our four-legged friends. From puppies to seniors, working dogs to pets, clinical canine massage has the power to make a real difference.

💡 Massage therapy can help support dogs with:
🔹 Orthopaedic conditions
🔹 Anxiety and behavioural tension
🔹 Agility and sporting strain
🔹 Recovery from injury
🔹 Post-surgical support
🔹 Stiffness, lameness, and mobility issues
🔹 Age-related decline
🔹 Preventative maintenance and wellness
🔹 And so much more...

🐶 Every dog is unique  and clinical massage is tailored to each one.
💼 I’m not someone who took a quick online course. This is a professionally qualified practice, built on:
✔️ 2 years of in-depth study, practical exams, and assessments trained by Canine Massage Therapy Centre and accredited by Lantra.
✔️ Ongoing CPD and development
✔️ Full insurance and accountability
✔️ Over 20 years of hands-on experience with dogs.

If you value this kind of care and want to help more dogs feel their best, here’s how you can support (it's helps more than you think):

✅ Like this post
✅ Follow this page
✅ Share with other dog lovers, local groups, or pet owners

Let’s shout it from the rooftops, more people deserve to know that massage therapy is a powerful, gentle way to help their dogs live more comfortable, happy lives.

Thank you for being here and here’s to reaching and helping even more dogs across the UK and beyond! 🐾

12/07/2025

MID PROFESSIONAL MEET UP SCHEDULED TODAY HAS BEEN POSTPONED - KEEP EYES PEELED FOR NEW DATE. HAVE A GOOD DAY PEEPS

11/07/2025

🐾🔥 TOO HOT TO TROT? Pavement Warning for Paws! 🔥🐾

Hey lovely people, and fellow dog lovers of Cornwall and beyond!

It’s another scorcher out there, and while we’re all basking in the sunshine like happy lizards on loungers, there’s something super important to remember… that pavement you're strolling across barefoot-free could be turning into a paw-burning pancake griddle for your poor pooch.

That’s right, asphalt, pavements and tarmac can get dangerously hot, even if the air feels bearable. While your flip-flops protect you, your dog’s paws are going bare-pawed on the equivalent of lava tiles. 😬

So, how hot is too hot?

Here’s the simple 7-second rule:
👉 Place the back of your hand on the pavement.
Hold it there for 7 seconds.
If it’s too hot or painful for you – it’s too hot for your dog. No debate. No exceptions.

Top Tips to Keep Your Furry Friend’s Feet Safe:

Walk early or late, stick to early mornings or cooler evenings.
Choose grassy routes, Fields, shady trails or woodland walks are much gentler on paws.
Avoid the midday sizzle, That’s when pavements can reach blistering temps, even if the air doesn’t feel extreme.
Carry water, for both of you! Hydration is key to dodging heatstroke.
Paw balm or boots?, Yep, protective balms or doggie boots can help, but walking smart is the real MVP.

Don’t risk it. One hot walk can mean painful burns, limping, vet visits, and one very sad doggo.

They can’t tell us when their paws are hurting... but we can take steps to prevent it.

Keep your pups cool, happy, and paw-scorch free and don’t forget to give them a shady spot to nap after their adventure.

With sun-safe tail wags and common sense,
KWT Dave
🐾 Defender of Doggo Paws
☀️ Shade Spot Seeker
📡 Live from the Pooch Protection Patrol HQ

05/07/2025

👌 The image of the woman strapped with tape is a powerful visual that helps dog owners understand just how restrictive certain types of harnesses can be. When I talk to owners about how limiting some harnesses, like the Julius K9, for example are, this is exactly what I mean. These harnesses can significantly restrict your dog’s range of movement.

Y-shaped harnesses are the best type out there, when properly fitted, as they allow full range of movement.

This is a repost(ish) but well worth repeating. Many of you have heard me harp on harness fit time and again. Having spent decades evaluating harness fit in working dogs of all types with thermal imaging (as well as having years of working and active dog experience combined with a strong biomechanics knowledge base) using front-clipping or "Gentle Leader" type harnesses only guarantee more structural stress in active dogs that makes for more work for me and other chiro/sports med colleagues. PLEASE only use harnesses that fit with proper ergonomics! [NOTE: I've tweaked the English & syntax in the added-on description below so it might read a little differently.]

"All dog owners should know this fact! A harness like this is a terrible injustice to your pet!! AVOID USING THIS TYPE OF HARNESS !

In a dog's forward movement, a harness with a tape that crosses its chest from side to side hinders it in the same way humans would bother going hiking with an elastic band holding their arms. Physiological movement of the front extremity is prohibited. Just like rubber would inhibit the pendular movement of our ARMS.

Thanks to the "Study of Canine Movement at the University of Jena", we now know that in the dog, the center of rotation of the front limb is at the top of the scapula, but in the human the center of rotation in the arm is in the shoulder (head of the humerus). Jena's study demonstrates, among other things, the importance of scapular movement for dog locomotion. Now we understand the importance of taking into account the free movement of the dog's shoulder when choosing a chest harness.
That means there SHOULDN'T be bands across the scapular (orange) area, and they shouldn't cross the chest side to side either.

From the point of view of biomechanics and physiotherapy, it is recommended not to choose getting harnesses that have a strap that goes through the chest laterally, or that have straps that touch or press the scapula.

Always lean towards harness models with ERGONOMIC design, to allow maximum freedom of movement for your dog, improve his well-being and safety during his walk.
Source : REAL CEPPA"

30/06/2025

🐾 Mid Cornwall Professional Canine Meet-Up, Date and Venue arranged 🐾

Hi everyone! Just a quick update and thank you so much for your interest.
I had planned to run another poll to finalise details, but time is running away fast and I'm keen to get things progressed.

Since Truro and Saturday afternoon were the most popular choices, I’ve gone ahead and booked a table at the County Arms, Truro for 3:00 PM for Saturday 12th July.

This is a very casual meet-up, absolutely no pressure! Just a relaxed chance for like-minded dog lovers and professionals to connect, chat, and maybe swap a few business cards. 🐶💬

I booked the table just to make sure we’ve got somewhere to sit comfortably, there’s no expectation to order food or drinks.

I chose the County Arms as nearby cafés close around 4 PM, and I didn’t want anyone to feel rushed. Plus free parking was a bonus!

👶 Children are more than welcome, so feel free to bring them along.

I’ve reserved 15 places, so please let me know if you’re able to make it.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

28/06/2025

🌧️ The Cornish rain might be doing its thing… but when has that ever stopped us from having fun with our dogs?! 🐾

Join us TODAY at 12:30pm at The New Inn, Cornwall Dog Show. We’ll be there offering Muscular Health Checks for your pups, ready to chat about any concerns you might have, and how to keep those wagging tails injury-free and strong 💪🐶

✨ Expect:
🐕 Fun dog show classes
💬 Expert advice on canine muscle health
🛍️ Local businesses supporting this lovely event
🍽️ Delicious food & that well-earned drink at the pub

It’s going to be a brilliant day, rain or shine! Now… the only question is, which pooch is coming with me?! 🤔🐕

See you there!