Dr. Michael W. Fox - Healing Touch for Dogs: the Proven Massage Program

Table of Contents

The long list of benefitsenhancing health, accelerating healing, increasing love and trustmust be experienced to be believed. Massage is something every pet owner should offer their pets, and this book has everything you need to get started.

Susan Wynn, author of Emerging Therapies: Using Herbs and Nutraceuticals

The world-renowned veterinarian Michael W. Fox shares his years of wisdom and insights regarding the world of hands-on healing and holistic medicine for our Kindred Spirits. Read it and help heal your animal friends!

Allen Schoen, MS, DVM, author of Kindred Spirits: How the Remarkable Bond between Humans and Animals Can Change the Way We Live

Dr. Michael Fox generously shares his twenty years of experience, and we learn several precise and therapeutic methods of healing.Our pets pain dissipates as the world of energetic vibrational healing comes alive on the pages of this easy-to-use book.

Donna Kelleher, author of The Last Chance Dog and Other True Stories of Holistic Animal Healing

The instructions for massage are clear and complete, and there is adequate (but not overwhelming) background on anatomy and physiology. A unique feature of these books is Dr. Foxs holistic viewpoint, which addresses not only the physical but also the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of pets well-being and our relationships with them.

Jean Hofve, DVM

In The Healing Touch for Dogs, Michael Fox provides his readers with an alternative to drugs and conventional veterinary medicine. Both psychological and medical problems are dealt with through non-invasive therapy. This excellent books is a must read for all dog owners.

Ann N. Martin, author of Food Pets Die For: The Shocking Facts About Pet Food

To all my four-legged friends, patients, teachers, and healers.

Since the first edition of this book was published more than twenty years ago, I have seen its ripple effect on the human-animal bond and on the quality of care and consideration people give to their animal companions.

We generally make physical contact with our animal companions quite unconsciously, and our enjoyment mirrors theirs while they are being petted, which they will often solicit themselves. But when we touch them knowingly and make contact with specific parts of their bodies and at the same time consciously direct our energy, the Healing Touch is awakened. While petting helps affirm the human-animal bond, the Healing Touch is far more profound. Many readers have written to me confirming this observation. Shy animals have become more trusting; hyperactive and neurotic ones more calm. Aged and chronically ill animals have been given a new lease on life, or at least been made to feel more secure and comforted; and others have benefitted from their owners recognizing early signs of disease, since massage therapy is both diagnostic and therapeutic.

But as I emphasize in the book, massage is not a panacea. It is an adjunctive form of therapy and is one aspect of holistic healing that often entails a change in diet and other treatments rather than relying exclusively upon antibiotics, steroids, and other potentially harmful drugs. Many veterinarians who now practice holistic healing have found this book useful in their treatment programs; its something they can give to their clients with very beneficial results. Several human massage therapists and massage therapy schools have also used The Healing Touch to help their clients and students apply the basic techniques to their animal companions.

Those who have discovered their own healing powers through touch, some after following the instructions in this book, should share their discovery with others. Certainly there is a lingering cultural taboo against touching otherseven animalsthat has to be overcome. Also the prejudice against the ancient healing arts will be encountered in those who are still enchanted by modern hi-tech mechanistic medicine and who are suspicious of any reference to the spiritual realm and to the higher power. Fear is the final barrier to be overcome before we can experience the essential unity of all sentient life. As a culture we have become as disconnected from the natural world as we have from our own natural senses and latent powers. Rediscovering the Healing Touch and applying it in the form of massage therapy to our friendshuman and nonhuman alikewill do much to reconnect us all, for in wholeness is health. The Healing Touch, like the power of prayer in the laying on of hands, is a low-cost (often free) and very safe complementary and alternative medicine that we can all discover, practice, and enjoy giving and receiving.

Michael W. Fox Washington, D.C. August 2003