I finally remembered to video one of Miss Roxy's Chiro adjustments.  You will hear a couple of trigger words in the video that are very important..."flinch" and "shake".  Flinches are when you touch a spot on their spine and it looks like their skin crawls...these are bad!  This means that the vertebrae in that area are locked up.  Usually if there at flinches there is also heat...this can be the onset of inflammation.  Most times the adjustment will fix this, however, we usually ask that you check later that evening to see if the heat is still there and if it is we recommend icing the area which is a natural anti-inflammatory treatment.  To feel for heat simply run the palm of your hand along your dogs spine starting at the top of their head and continuing down to the base of their tail.  Often times the difference can be very subtle but what you are looking for is a temperature difference above and below the area that you think has heat.

At the end of the video you will see that we ask Roxy to shake it off.  One of the things we like to see after an adjustment is a full body shake which is where your dog shakes their whole body...from their head straight through to the tip of their tail (which Roxy does beautifully)...this indicates that all their vertebrae are moving smoothly.

Between adjustments you want to watch for both of these things.  If you see flinches or feel heat, you may need to get your dog in for an adjustment before their next appointment, however, if you are seeing full body shakes this usually indicates that things are still going well.