Try The Bladder Meridian Technique With Your Dog

In Traditional Chinese Medicine there are 12 primary acupuncture meridians – or energy pathways – on each side of the body.  The Bladder Meridian is the one on which we focus with this Technique.

There are many reasons to do the Bladder Meridian Technique with your dog:

  • It is one of the major meridians in that it has a unique effect on balancing the entire meridian system.
  • It has a calming effect on both you and your dog, preparing him for the Techniques that follow.
  • It establishes a basis of communication between you and your dog, giving you a sense of how your dog is going to respond to your touch, and showing him what he can expect from this interaction with you. It His nervous system learns to respond to your touch in a way that bypasses his survival or defense response.
  • There is one more important effect of this Technique. Not only is your dog telling you what he is feeling through his Responses to your touch, but when you stop and Stay at that spot you are responding to what he is telling you. Not only do you “get” what your dog is telling you, but your dog “gets” that you get it. A new level of trust develops organically between you and your dog through this interaction.

Before you start:  Breathe and consciously relax and soften your neck, shoulders, arms and hands. It doesn’t matter on which side you start. It’s best to start at the head so that you can keep track of where your dog might be holding tension but it’s effective no matter where on the Bladder Meridian you start. With Izzy here, we’ll sit on the dog’s left side and start behind the right ear.

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Learn all of the techniques in the Beyond Dog Massage book!