fourleg.com

Hi all,

I’m new to canine treatment this year but have been a practicing human osteopath for 15yrs. I’m loving it more than I could have ever imagined and especially working with agility dogs. Doggos just seem to respond so well to treatment, much like adolescents.

So...I’ve been finding lots of similarities between humans and dogs. Tissue texture, tone, quality of movements / accessory movements.

But...I’m really intrigued to have some input from practitioners that have transitioned / treat both.

What are some of the big differences you find between humans and dogs? Other than the obvious non verbal. What are some of the assumptions / biases that you may have changed as you’ve treated more dogs?

Cheers

Rachel

Hey Rachel,

So I find a draw heavily on my human background - for how to approach cases and thinking outside the box.
Just today (when teaching), a physio had asked if dogs get concussions and if so, what rehab is done. I said, yes, I believe that dogs can get concussions, but that assessment would be a bit more difficult (non verbal), and that as far as I knew, nobody was treating for such... or rather, nothing has been discussed in the literature or within the rehab circles that I knew. My feeling would be that a physio with a distinct knowledge of concussion rehab would have to be the one to figure out what could be applicable and/or modifiable to be used on a canine patient.

I also find my palpation skills and deductive reasoning skills take me a long way.

I no longer see human patients, and I've been doing this now for 25+ years... so I forget what it was like to make the discoveries (differences or similarities) between treating the two species.

I hope others chime in!

Cheers,

Laurie