Leaps and Bounds Canine Massage Therapy

14/04/2026

🥹 thank you 🥰 I love my job 🤍🐾

14/04/2026

This gorgeous boy is Henry the cockapoo who is 13 years old and had been struggling with his cruciate ligaments in both stifles (knees).

Henry’s mum ( who is a wonderful dog walker and boarder the little dog walker ) had been outstanding with conservative management for Henry to improve his mobility and avoid any further injury but was sad that the old Henry hadn’t reappeared since his injury.

Henry knows what is good for him as he has always settled beautifully for his massages since his first ever treatment, which has helped me to secure some amazing results in a short space of time for this total sweetheart….

🐾 Henry has been doing zoomies again and running around like a puppy for the first time since he injured his knees (over a year).
🐾 Henry is now confident and strong enough through his hind legs to jump onto the sofa for cuddles and manage the stairs again, which he had previously asked for help with since his injury.
🐾 He is no longer bunny hopping and can enjoy longer walks off lead, and often needs reining in now (well done mum!).
🐾 He no longer showing signs of pain such as stiffness, issues with his gait or nibbling at his knees.
🐾 The whole family have noticed such a difference in him and are thrilled that he is like his old self again.

I could not be more happy for you Henry and your mum, it is the worst thing when we see our dogs in pain, with their usual daily life and things they enjoy taken away from them, so I feel truly privileged to have been able to restore some for you Henry.

Thank you so much to mum for trusting me with your special boy, he has made my job very easy! 🤍🐾

Emily Leightley

08/04/2026

May I introduce the most gorgeous Heidi who is 9 years old and takes her recovery very seriously - last photo 🥰

Heidi is now retired from her work as a Guide Dog for the Blind, but her and her mum help to train new puppy fosters and raise awareness and funds for the important work Guide Dogs for the Blind do in the North East.

After her amazing mum contacted me to support Heidi, I was able to work through any soft tissue injuries that had accrued, in particular one of her hind legs was abducting (coming out to the side) rather than tracking correctly due to restriction. But I’m thrilled to say that after two treatments this had resolved and hasn’t returned 🙌🏼

Heidi likes to take her post massage recovery very seriously and has been known to sleep for the rest of the afternoon following treatment. This is such an important part of the healing process as it continues long after your hands have finished their work. So well done Heidi, you know what is good for you 🥰

What a gorgeous girl you are and thank you to your wonderful mum for trusting me and recognising the benefits of massage therapy 🤍🐾

Linden Cartwright

01/04/2026

These two absolute cuties are Rocket and Quill, the Jack Russell Terriers, who always have me laughing and smiling at their cuteness and characters everytime I see them! 🥰

Their wonderful mum, who is a vet nurse and knows all about providing the best animal care, was keen to try massage therapy to help keep Rocket and Quill’s soft tissues in a healthy state so they can continue to get up to mischief(!) but also enjoy their sport of Flyball.

For both boys, any soft tissue injuries and imbalances that had accrued across their bodies were resolved in just two treatments and now I get the pleasure of seeing them for their maintenance treatments to ensure their soft tissues stay in the best of health.

They are such a gorgeous little pair and settle wonderfully for their treatments. Well done to their mum for recognising the benefits that massage therapy could provide for them and thank you for trusting me with your gorgeous boys 🤍🐾

Eclipse Flyball Club Christine Head

13/02/2026

This little sweetie is Maya, a 9 y/o border collie and her awesome mum got in touch as she had noticed some signs of pain in Maya. Don’t mind Maya lying on my notes, she loves a big flop onto me or my notes! 🥰

🐾 Maya’s vet had reported stiffness down her back
Maya’s mum had noticed her:
🐾 struggling to jump into the boot of the car, which had previously not been a problem for her
🐾 waking up panting
🐾 being very stiff when trying to get up after rest
🐾 skipping/hopping through her hind legs
🐾 big fasciculations (twitching) down her back.
I had noticed:
🐾 big coat changes
🐾 clicking in her lumbar spine when she got up from sitting/lying

Maya did incredibly well to trust me and let me work through her soft tissues to resolve the injuries that I had found, especially as she had been showing signs of pain and discomfort. What was lovely was that she did zoomies whilst out on a walk the week after her first treatment, so was clearly feeling that bit better straight away.

After 3 massage treatments, Maya:
🐾 is no longer struggling to jump into the car boot
🐾 is no longer waking up panting
🐾 is showing signs of less stiffness upon waking
🐾 is no longer skipping/hopping through her hind legs
🐾 no longer has huge fasciculations down her back
🐾 ‘s coat has returned to normal in places where there were changes before
🐾 is no longer clicking in her lumbar spine.

Big kudos to Maya’s wonderful mum who always does the absolute best for her fur babies and noticed that Maya could be in pain. Thank you for trusting me to try to make a difference for her 🤍🐾

Becs Heap

13/02/2026

This is the gorgeous Sally who is an 11 y/o border collie and just look how she settled into her first ever massage treatment! 🥰 the last photo shows Sally’s tongue doesn’t just come out for massage 😂

🐾Sally’s vet had recognised pain and tension through her lower back
🐾 Sally’s wonderful mum had noticed her nibbling at her side and hind legs
🐾 I had noticed a reduced range of motion through her hind legs during gait analysis and a number of soft tissue injuries

With a girl who can settle like this during their massage treatments, I was able to dramatically reduce the muscular injuries through her thoracolumbar spine and hind legs very quickly.

🐾 Sally is no longer nibbling at her side and hind legs
🐾 Her vet had reported a big reduction in pain and tension through her back
🐾 I have also noticed an improved range of motion through her lumbar spine and hind legs.

Thank you to her amazing mum for trusting me and recognising the difference massage could make for Sally. It is just wonderful to see Sally so content during and after her massages and much more comfortable and mobile day to day 🤍🐾

Becs Heap

07/02/2026

This little cutie is Tonks, a 5 y/o labradoodle, who has been described as a mystery wrapped up in an enigma!

Tonks has had all the tests under the sun for undiagnosed pain, so I was desperate to get my hands on her to see how her soft tissues were feeling and wow did they have a lot going on… muscle strains, trigger points, adhered fascia and nearly every muscle in her body had resting tension (hypertonicity).

After being able to remodel scar tissue, resolve trigger points and reset muscular and fascial tension we saw huge improvements for Tonks:

🐾 so much more settled at night, actually waking her mum up snoring, which she hasn’t done in a long time
🐾 she is no longer hopping or skipping on a walk
🐾 she now has a ‘bounce’ when she’s walking
🐾 her coat changes are resolved and she is no longer nibbling at areas of discomfort in her body
🐾 massive reduction in myofascial pain (previous fasciculations/twitching all down her back), so a greatly improved tolerance to touch
🐾 much more freedom of movement and massively reduced stiffness in her body
🐾 she can now shake fully all the way down her back, previously she could only shake the front half of her body
🐾 she no longer walks on her tip toes through her hind legs
🐾 she had ceased having to lift her right leg when urinating
🐾 she was back to playing with her toys again.

Thank you to Tonks for trusting me as she has been in a lot of pain and for me it was wonderful to see her be able to relax with me and build a relationship of trust.

Thanks also to her mums for trusting me and the process and for understanding the potential benefits that massage therapy could bring. They truly are those wonderful pawrents who always put their pups first 🤍 🐾

06/02/2026

07/01/2026

Another little success story from the end of last year is the gorgeous Tasha, who is a 10 year old, red border collie. Look at her little face in the second photo 🥰

Tasha suffered a spinal embolism a little while back and her brilliant mum wanted to see if massage therapy could make any difference for her as she was struggling with weakness and instability in her hind legs.

Tasha was amazing for her treatments and…the best result!!-
🐾 before massage when we completed the ‘knuckling over test’, to test her hind limb proprioception and she wasn’t able to correct her right hind. After 3 treatments she was successfully and consistently able to correct that leg instantly 🙌🏼
This is huge as it shows restored feeling (proprioception) in that right hind leg for Tasha.

She also saw benefits like:
🐾 returning to agility and was faster and running clear rounds.
🐾 not suffering any stiffness or lameness after activities like agility.
🐾 being able to enjoy longer walks again.
🐾 walking at a faster pace and showing much more strength through her hind legs.
🐾 her tail is sitting in a higher and happier position now.

I couldn’t be more happy for Tasha and her mum and thanks to her for being open to trying massage to see what benefits it could bring 🤍🐾

20/12/2025

I had a wonderful couple of weekends working with these gorgeous flyball dogs at their training sessions.

As these dogs are athletes and competitive at what they do I did muscular health checks for them to identify if there were any areas of potential concern and their wonderful owners listened to me talk about the benefits of canine massage therapy, activities of daily living and the 5 principles of pain (links at the bottom).

All dogs and owners were such a pleasure to work with and it was fascinating for me to watch them at work. Thank you for having me 😊🤍🐾

Activities of Daily Living (bottom of page):
https://www.leapsandboundscaninemassage.com/faqs

5 Principles of Pain:
https://www.k9-massageguild.co.uk/the-5-principles-of-pain/

Eclipse Flyball Club

20/12/2025

This is the very handsome Ranger, a 7 y/o German Shepherd. Rangers brilliant mum got in touch as a former vet nurse and current hydrotherapist, as she was certain he was suffering with a condition called gracilis myopathy (find out more about this at the bottom).

Ranger is a total star, and settled straight into his first massage treatment and was snoring away 🥰

What’s even better is Ranger’s soft tissues have responded amazingly well to massage with the majority of the tension in his Gracilis muscles clearing in just one treatment!

Ranger is noticing improvements like….
🐾 better quality sleep and being able to enter deep sleep now and even dreaming 😴
🐾 he can now get onto the sofa and up and down the stairs with greater ease 🛋️
🐾 he is much better in himself after his massage treatments “is bouncing around like tigger” 🐯

I couldn’t be more happy for Ranger and his wonderful mum who always does the best for him, even thermotherapy between treatments (last photo 🥰) 🤍🐾

What is Gracilis Myopathy?

https://www.k9-massageguild.co.uk/gracilis-myopathy/

09/12/2025

Next up is this little fire cracker, Spike the 3 year old working cocker spaniel 🤍

Spike has suspected luxating patella, had gone completely lame and was limping during his gait assessments with me. The soft tissues in his lower back and hind legs were incredibly unhappy and I seriously had my work cut out in returning them to a healthy state!

But after just 3 treatments all his injuries have been resolved, Spike is moving so much better and with more ease, his posture is vastly improved and he hasn’t suffered anymore bouts of limping or lameness since🤞🏼

I will see him again in 2 months to check how everything has faired for him with a break in treatment and a slow reintroduction to his dog sports. Well done to Spike and to mum for managing him so well 👏🏼🤍🐾