When Cora was very young we saw someone who was some sort of PT type for dogs. Sorry that is veg but it was 5 years ago and a brief encounter. Basically, because Cora was still really adapting to her brain damage and how to socialize, we had just a few visits. And that taught me some things I could with her at home. I also have a friend who does massage on humans and watched and read up on massage for dogs.

As always Cora makes life interesting. Giving her words, helps her predict what's going to happen. Before doing stretching exercises I would say "Cora, stretch". Some days she'd cooperate and some days she says "no, no, and leave me the heck alone". She actually has always preferred the stretching to the massage. She accepts it the most when she's sleepy.

To be honest, I fell out of the habit of doing all that with her. And then when she was starting to struggle more she wouldn't tolerate it at all.

A few minutes ago I got up and she was sprawled out on the floor. It was lovely to see. She was not in a posture that suggested any pain at all and she was completely relaxed. So, I said "Cora, stretch". And Cora stretched out her legs, in a big, relaxed stretch before I could even touch her. 😀 My brain damaged baby is a smart girl. So we did some stretching and she was still mellow as could be. So I started doing some light massage and she fell asleep. 

While I'm mostly posting because I'm pleased as could be, it also is a good indicator that you can do this with almost any dog. One of the things Cora has taught me is how great a gift communication is. Even though another dog might not be brain damaged and blind, if I were doing the stretching and massage I'd still connect it to a word. And knowing how to do some simple stretches or gentle massage on a tripawd (I shouldn't leave out cats) can help smooth out some of the hard work their bodies have to do.