Haven Holistic Therapy Human & Canine

22/04/2026

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks, lots of relaxed snd happy humans and hounds.

I won’t go through everyone, but I was really happy to see Jasper our senior Whippet x Saluki feeling more comfortable after a medication review and Beau the senior Lurcher being able to reduce his medication as he’s doing so well now.

Our Frenchies are looking and feeling well at the moment, thankyou Duke for bringing ‘Clive the Crab’ to see me, last time it was a squeaky blueberry 🥰

A lovely welcome to Nala the senior Staffie too who had her 3rd treatnent Thismorning, I will write more about her another time, she has done beautifully and her owner and I are very proud of how brave she has been in a new environment as she can be a little shy, I’m
So pleased she is feeling more comfortable now.

Humans appear happy too! A number of MLD treatments, deep tissue to nasty neck and back issues and some remedial work to address some injuries and wear and tear. Finally, a few reflexology treatments to rebalance, helping stress, rest and anxiety.

Thankyou for trusting me 🥰

14/04/2026

A good start to the week with human and canine treatments. Some early starts and late finishes to fit every one in after having some time off over Easter.

10/04/2026

I do hope you have had a lovely Easter x
Ours have been spent visiting family in France and up country, we have certainly covered some miles.
Cant wait to see you all again from Monday.

29/03/2026

I have just come across this beautifully written post, created by East Midlands Clinical Canine Massage Therapy and had to share. Why treat pain xx

🟢 Why Treat Pain? Because Doing Nothing Is Still a Decision

This is something I feel incredibly passionate about—especially this past week.

My own dog experienced a sudden collapse and hind limb paralysis, leaving her immobile and in a lot of pain.
It was heartbreaking to witness.

With the right adjustments to her pain management plan and treatment approach, she is now moving again.

Without addressing her pain… this simply would not have been possible. Please read ⬇️⬇️⬇️

“I don’t want to medicate my dog.”

This is something I hear often—and I genuinely understand that concern.

But I ask you to reflect:

We take medication ourselves.
We treat our own pain.
Yet we hesitate when it comes to our dogs.

If you would take pain relief to improve your comfort, mobility, and quality of life, why wouldn’t your dog deserve the same?

🟢 Untreated Pain Is Not Harmless

Chronic pain drives:

• Compensation
• Altered gait patterns
• Muscle overload
• Myofascial restriction
• Reduced mobility
• Behavioural changes

Over time, localised pain doesn’t stay local.

It spreads, as the body adapts… but not in a good way.

Persistent pain input can lead to:

• Hyperalgesia – an exaggerated pain response
• Allodynia – pain from normally non-painful stimuli
• Central sensitisation – amplification of pain within the nervous system

These processes are well documented in veterinary pain science (Epstein et al., 2015; Woolf, 2011).

🟢 Why Treating Pain Matters

Pain left untreated:

• Reduces quality of life
• Worsens compensation patterns
• Delays rehabilitation
• Increases risk of recurrence
• Impacts emotional wellbeing

🟢 What Does Good Pain Management Look Like?

The gold standard is a multimodal approach, which may include:

✔ Veterinary-led analgesia where appropriate
✔ Weight and load management
✔ Structured, appropriate exercise
✔ Environmental modification
✔ Supportive therapies such as:
– Clinical canine massage
– Physiotherapy
– Myofascial therapy
– Ostropathy
– Acupuncture
– McTimoney
– Hydrotherapy

Working collaboratively with your vet allows pain to be addressed both medically and mechanically—and that’s where meaningful, lasting progress happens.

🟢 Final Thought

Pain management is not about over-medicating.

It’s about welfare.
It’s about compassion.
It’s about preventing long-term deterioration.

Dogs cannot tell us they are in pain.
But they show us—if we’re willing to see it.

📩 If you’re concerned about your dog’s comfort, mobility, or behaviour, speak to your vet. They can help guide you toward the most appropriate pain management plan. I would alongside your veterinary team and offer musculoskeletal pain clinics

🟢 Why Treat Pain? Because Doing Nothing Is Still a Decision

This is something I feel incredibly passionate about—especially this past week.

My own dog experienced a sudden collapse and hind limb paralysis, leaving her immobile and in a lot of pain.
It was heartbreaking to witness.

With the right adjustments to her pain management plan and treatment approach, she is now moving again.

Without addressing her pain… this simply would not have been possible. Please read ⬇️⬇️⬇️

“I don’t want to medicate my dog.”

This is something I hear often—and I genuinely understand that concern.

But I ask you to reflect:

We take medication ourselves.
We treat our own pain.
Yet we hesitate when it comes to our dogs.

If you would take pain relief to improve your comfort, mobility, and quality of life, why wouldn’t your dog deserve the same?

🟢 Untreated Pain Is Not Harmless

Chronic pain drives:

• Compensation
• Altered gait patterns
• Muscle overload
• Myofascial restriction
• Reduced mobility
• Behavioural changes

Over time, localised pain doesn’t stay local.

It spreads, as the body adapts… but not in a good way.

Persistent pain input can lead to:

• Hyperalgesia – an exaggerated pain response
• Allodynia – pain from normally non-painful stimuli
• Central sensitisation – amplification of pain within the nervous system

These processes are well documented in veterinary pain science (Epstein et al., 2015; Woolf, 2011).

🟢 Why Treating Pain Matters

Pain left untreated:

• Reduces quality of life
• Worsens compensation patterns
• Delays rehabilitation
• Increases risk of recurrence
• Impacts emotional wellbeing

🟢 What Does Good Pain Management Look Like?

The gold standard is a multimodal approach, which may include:

✔ Veterinary-led analgesia where appropriate
✔ Weight and load management
✔ Structured, appropriate exercise
✔ Environmental modification
✔ Supportive therapies such as:
– Clinical canine massage
– Physiotherapy
– Myofascial therapy
– Ostropathy
– Acupuncture
– McTimoney
– Hydrotherapy

Working collaboratively with your vet allows pain to be addressed both medically and mechanically—and that’s where meaningful, lasting progress happens.

🟢 Final Thought

Pain management is not about over-medicating.

It’s about welfare.
It’s about compassion.
It’s about preventing long-term deterioration.

Dogs cannot tell us they are in pain.
But they show us—if we’re willing to see it.

📩 If you’re concerned about your dog’s comfort, mobility, or behaviour, speak to your vet. They can help guide you toward the most appropriate pain management plan. I would alongside your veterinary team and offer musculoskeletal pain clinics

27/03/2026

Thank you Claire & Andrew for your much appreciated feedback from Teasels first 3 Clinical Canine Massage sessions.

I was recommended by Teasels trainer and subsequently Teasel came to me with Veterinary consent to treat a condition called ‘Swimmers tail’ or Limber Tail Syndrome where the muscles of and around the tail were injured during a swimming session. However, his owners also wanted to see if massage would help with lowering anxiety and cortisol levels. To be fair to Teasel after a small
Period of rest whilst awaiting treatnent his tail carriage improved but upon muscular palpation he was presenting with continued soreness in his coccygeal muscles which have improved significantly during the sessions. Teasel is a very excitable boy but settled very well for massage. His lovely owners have reported that following treatnent he is indeed more relaxed at home and in his garden and sleeping better. We have also successfully treated myofascial pain through his epaxial muscles. I am delighted that he will be continuing on a maintenance basis.
Teasel is a lovely boy but also a very lucky boy to have such a caring and proactive family to support and love him.

26/03/2026

Seeing a number of human clients this year presenting with referred pain—especially chronic neck pain and persistent headaches.

In two recent human cases, the issue wasn’t actually the neck. The pain was being triggered lower down around the scapula, then radiating upward into the scalp and causing severe headaches. Despite ongoing treatment elsewhere, the true root cause had been missed—it was simply a stubborn trigger point.

👉 So, what are trigger points?

They’re tight, irritable bands within muscle that restrict blood flow, reduce oxygen, and lead to pain, stiffness, and limited movement—often referred to as “knots” or nodules.

While treating the trigger point is key, the secondary effects—like neck pain and headaches—also need attention. These often sit at the base of the skull (occipital region), and importantly, they’re part of the same muscle chain being affected.

Several major muscles originate at the base of the skull, so targeted work into the scalp—not just the back and neck—can be crucial for fully releasing tension and resolving symptoms. If the whole muscle isn’t treated, the problem is also not fully treated.

✨ Remember: where you feel the pain isn’t always where the problem starts—and this applies just as much to our canine friends too.

25/03/2026

A lovely post from the Canine Massage Guild x

Muscles repair during rest, not during the work itself.

The nervous system needs downtime to process and reset. Constant activity can slow progress, not speed it up. Recovery supports mobility, comfort, and long term soundness.
Rest is not doing nothing. It is active, intentional care.

Build it in, protect it, value it

25/03/2026

I have been run off my feet this week, but have been meaning to tell you all about my weekend which included a rather different Saturday. For a lovely change, I worked with Annette of Hamble Hounds Dog Training & Problem Solving who invited me to collaborate with her and take part in a Free Work session where we combined Clinical Gait and posture Analysis with behaviour within a carefully designed free work session.

3 owners and their dogs and number of observers who had a particular interest in gait and behaviour were invited to come and learn about the muscular and emotional health of their dogs. We achieved this by combining a free work session with a clinical gait analysis, posture and muscular assessment. The outcome created a holistic view of the dogs well-being and created not only opportunity for the owner to learn how to move forward with aspects of their dogs behaviour but what is also going on from a muscular perspective. This created enormous discussion and learning outcomes from the observers and enabled them to leave with a new appreciation of what good muscular health should look like, how this also contributes to behaviour/ anxiety and how to identify discomfort. All dogs were already being supported by Annette with behaviour and training and the exercise highlighted how hard the lovely owners had worked and what they still needed to do.

So after a wonderful day with brilliant feedback, we are very excited about developing this as a regular ‘Canine Motion & Behaviour Workshop’ facilitated by myself and Annette! We can’t wait to invite you to join us.

13/03/2026

Availability update.
I have got a couple of slots free next week should anyone need anything urgently before Easter. After then I’m pretty full until week commencing 20th April.

Do give me a shout sooner rather than later if you need to change anything!!

Happy Friday 🥰

12/03/2026

A few more faces enjoying their treatments this week. Duke, Jasper and Darcey…. Yes Duke has a Blueberry which has now formed part of his very being which he bought to show me (too cute).

I’ve had some lovely human clients this week too. Lots of reflexology, back massage, deep
Tissue and MLD, it’s been a pleasure to see you all xx

11/03/2026

After being utterly useless with technology for too long I have finally got my online diary working! This means that after a few weeks of transition your appointments will be confirmed via an automated message and you will get a reminder automatically generated. This will really help my already busy mornings when I send reminders when I’m also a mum of 2.5 kids, marketing, finance and personal secretary to my husband 😉 taxi and chef to family, chicken, dog, horse and bunny mother 😂

Please message me on my usual number should you wish to change or cancel or wish to discuss anything. The automated number is purely for reminders going out.

In terms of booking this will remain same as usual, message me directly in the usual Number or give me a call. I can’t release my diary for clients to book directly as consideration needs to be given on what treatments follow each other, whether I’m working at home or at clients homes etc which can be complex.

Any issues do give me a call!! (Hopefully it will work) 🤞