# Chiropractors



## Cassandra Lane (Jul 2, 2010)

Hey,

I was wondering if anyone here brings their dogs to the chiropractor. What about dogs who do bite work? Is it advisable? I have a doberman bitch I'll be starting soon. Is there anything I should watch out for?


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## Amy Swaby (Jul 16, 2008)

I have a dog i do bitework with that goes, she loves it. Mine is only 45 a visit so i take her once a month to once every other month. I however know that my dog is fine with that sort of handling as she has never had to be muzzled by a vet. Even with an ear infection the vet can clean it with no issues, so the chiropractor doesn't even factor on the 'will she bite' scale. She absolutely love the interaction and after some hard work she moves better after an adjustment.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

http://www.workingdogforum.com/vBulletin/f25/k-9-chiropractic-uses-7961/

http://www.workingdogforum.com/vBulletin/f25/chiropractor-23163/

http://www.workingdogforum.com/vBulletin/f25/successful-canine-chiropractor-experiences-19539/

http://www.workingdogforum.com/vBulletin/f30/my-dogs-tail-stopped-working-12254/#post140624

http://www.workingdogforum.com/vBulletin/f25/chiropractor-23163/

http://www.WorkingDogForum.com/vBulletin/f25/old-dog-limping-19955/
Start w/ post 5


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## Cassandra Lane (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanks Connie, I realized after I posted this must be an overdone topic...


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I would do massage, acupuncture, laser, hydrotherapy, and other modalities before I would recommend chiropractic in dogs.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Hi Cassandra: I have had my adult male GSD treated by a chiropractor with great results, as well as many friends of mine who's dogs compete in grip sports have their dogs seen by chiropractors either regularly or as needed. My suggestion would be to find a sports specialist, through word of mouth within dog sports, the grip sport community, agility community, fly ball community, etc... Also talk to your vet because many veterinarians will recommend a chiropractor and some larger hospitals now have resident chiropractors.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Cassandra Lane said:


> Thanks Connie, I realized after I posted this must be an overdone topic...


Oh, no, I didn't mean to say that.

I had collected those thread links for someone else and still had the list in my "sent" emails. Seemed like a good 
re-use.


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## jim stevens (Jan 30, 2012)

Several years ago, it was all the rage in performance horses, as was accupuncture. I think it has pretty much faded away in horses, I'd predict the same with dogs.


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## Jackie Lockard (Oct 20, 2009)

In addition to my thread that Connie linked to, here is Ab's full story on my blog.

http://www.abnerspress.com/1/post/2011/09/canine-chiropratic-from-a-new-believer.html

I just went to a different (human) chiropractor today -- long story -- insurance/lawyer bs type issues -- and I'll admit that if this was my first intro to chiropractics I'd have never gone back a second time. They're not all the same.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Jackie Lockard said:


> In addition to my thread that Connie linked to, here is Ab's full story on my blog.
> 
> http://www.abnerspress.com/1/post/2011/09/canine-chiropratic-from-a-new-believer.html
> 
> I just went to a different (human) chiropractor today -- long story -- insurance/lawyer bs type issues -- and I'll admit that if this was my first intro to chiropractics I'd have never gone back a second time. They're not all the same.


I've gone to a number of good ones but your right about "not all the same". There are no standards of what they have to do for a given situation. I never went back to the one that did nothing but play with my feet........and that only lasted to the point where I asked why he was doing that for a bad neck. :-o


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Bob Scott said:


> I've gone to a number of good ones but your right about "not all the same". There are no standards of what they have to do for a given situation. I never went back to the one that did nothing but play with my feet........and that only lasted to the point where I asked why he was doing that for a bad neck. :-o


AHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Oh Bob, that paints quite a picture!!!

:lol::lol::lol:


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## Jackie Lockard (Oct 20, 2009)

Bob Scott said:


> I've gone to a number of good ones but your right about "not all the same". There are no standards of what they have to do for a given situation. I never went back to the one that did nothing but play with my feet........and that only lasted to the point where I asked why he was doing that for a bad neck. :-o


I didn't think you were serious, but then I thought back to the forty-five minutes of paperwork they wanted me to fill out (being psychoanalyzed for a case of whiplash and what does my car's transmission have to do with my back pain??) and now I'm not so sure. :-o:-k


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## Eric Read (Aug 14, 2006)

I am a chiro so I guess I'm qualified to chime in. No I don't work on animals, I don't think it's a fad. This years Kentucky Derby winner like many before him was and still is under the care of an animal chiro, just like many performance dogs are and have been for years. I hear and see more people doing it today than 10 years ago, so if its a fad, it's growing.

But anyway, we do have standards Bob, it's just different than what you're accustomed to. It's the strength and the weakness of the profession. If you have a bad back, and yes some bad backs are most certainly rooted in foot problems, a simple biomechanics class will teach you that. I'd say half the SI and Knee problems I see on any given day have very little to do with knees or SI joints at their root and lasting relief only happens after the foot problems are addressed.

I usually work from the area of concern and work my way out to the rest if need be. But that's how I work and as much as I like to think I'm always right, life has taught me differently. Now I know i'm just almost always correct.

There are as many causes of back pain as there are solutions that can be thought of to try and alleviate or fix them. When you go to an MD it's pain pills and anti-inflamatories. Their procedure is pretty much dictated by the group they belong too The odd duck will tell you ice and rest. With a chiro, they have the freedom, good or bad, to look everywhere and try a lot of things.

Some use instruments to adjust, some use more PT modalities, some use their hands, some are more focused on pelvic imbalances, some on only cervical, some on extremities. Some are pretty proficient in all of them. Some focus on stuff I think is pretty out there, but the people I think are pretty out there seem to like them. Good for them.

WHy did one ask you about your transmission? I don't know? If it was whiplash and you were talking about your car, I assume there was some MVA. WIth MVA's sometimes there are lawsuits involved and details matter when things go wrong. 

I ask about transmissions, not because it adds a lot for me clinically, but because it's a standard question on a lot of intake forms for PI work involving MVA's. I also ask about baseball caps, if they were wearing eye glasses or contacts that day if they had passengers and who they were talking to at the time of the accident. People may wonder what that has to do with back or neck pain too, but it tells me a lot.

I also ask if people have ever fallen off a silo before. I used to just ask if they've ever had any previous trauma's. I'd usually get a "no" and move on. Till one day, I got a no, moved on and after the exam and xrays saw some pretty horrible stuff. after revisiting the history, he then remembered he had fallen off a silo 2 years back. So now I often ask that question just to make patients stop and think for a minute. you'd be surprised what is said or omitted during a history if you haven't taken a few thousand of them.

So anyway, I took my dog to a vet with severe rear limb pain and non weight bearing. Said it was dysplasia and gave deramaxx. I never liked those answers or "standards" that seem to be so standard in human and animal health are these days.

I asked for another opinion from a vet/animal chiro and thought possible cruciate tear and did a long period of inactivity and then exercises and she's good as ever today. I'm very happy to be able to have access to health providers that will think with their brain and not follow some script.

I don't even remember where i was going with all this, oh well. If things they are saying, asking or doing, don't seem to add up, maybe you need to think more about what's being said, asked or done, or maybe ask a few more questions. If you like and trust your provider, stick with them. If not don't go, that seems simple enough.


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## Cassandra Lane (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanks everyone! Definitely given me things to think about. I guess its not as cut and dry as I thought.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Jackie Lockard said:


> I didn't think you were serious, but then I thought back to the forty-five minutes of paperwork they wanted me to fill out (being psychoanalyzed for a case of whiplash and what does my car's transmission have to do with my back pain??) and now I'm not so sure. :-o:-k


Jackie I was very serious!

Eric, Yes, there are some great Chiros out there. I've had a bad back most of my life and they kept me from back surgery on two different occasions. I just didn't want this guy to work his way up to my neck from my feet.  His....."aura" was all wrong for me. ;-)


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Bob Scott said:


> Jackie I was very serious!
> 
> Eric, Yes, there are some great Chiros out there. I've had a bad back most of my life and they kept me from back surgery on two different occasions. I just didn't want this guy to work his way up to my neck from my feet.  His....."aura" was all wrong for me. ;-)


Bob, Eric offered a pretty informative post that resonated rather well with me. It took 15 years, two chiros, two MDs, surgery, a Rheumatologist, numerous specialists, physical therapy, massages, Rolfing, accupuncture, an initial diagnosis of MS to a final of Fibromyalgia, thousands of dollars worth of additional tests, treatments, etc. to reveal that there is a fairly significant leg length difference in me, a rotated pelvis from a fall resulting in a twisted lower part of my spine that created the issues I had.

From the sound of things you are following your gut, just as I did. Had I not done so I would have found no help or drugged for a diagnosis didn't exist but totally engulfed and compromised my quality of life. All this came about by a Chiropractor with resources and a willingness to listen to the possibility that there might be another reason for what I was experiencing.

Life changing is the best way I could sum that experience up. Not too many people can identify the exact moment in time their lives were changed for the better, but this was certainly one of them and I am grateful for it.


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## Louise Jollyman (Jun 2, 2009)

I have been using a chiropractor with my dogs for 10 years. Bodeus had a neck injury which was greatly helped. 

Our female Gana has a long back and I noticed that she was chewing on her flank, leaving a large baseball sized pink area. I took her to the same guy and she stopped licking and the pink area was gone within the week. 

Currently our chiropractor visits once a month. We have also been using acupuncture on Gana who has a pinched nerve in her tail. She is now able to lift her tail above her back again.


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