A visit to the Muscleman
Poor Dizzy has been a bit under the weather since we’ve had her. Her back legs seem stiff and sore, and she looks a bit uncomfy when she’s walking. J suggested a trip to M, a well-known ‘muscleman’. This is greyhound terminology for, well, a dog-physiotherapist I guess. So I made the appointment and off we went. The first surprise was that M is also a (very successful) owner, breeder and trainer of greyhounds. The place was huge and his kennel chap told me that there were over 60 greyhounds there. There were certainly dogs everywhere. The land was split up into fenced enclosures of different shapes and sizes and there were dogs rushing around in several fields. There were also more dogs in kennels and others being exercised.
After we’d made our introductions, I was surprised to find that M had Dizzy’s brother, a successful racer, kennelled with him, although I was more emotional at this touching family reunion than Dizz, who took no notice. Then, it was on to the treatment and it was rather a surprise. He found her problem instantly. Showing me her hip bones (easy on a lanky greyhound), he pointed out that the two should be level, but one was definitely slightly behind the other. I suppose much like a Chiropractor, M manipulated Dizzy’s muscles and joints, often creating some rather bizarre cracking and clonking, whilst talking to her in a soft voice. Dizzy, for her part, seemed generally not to mind, although a couple of times she squeaked, more out of surprise I would think. At one stage, M was working on her hips by holding her two back legs up in the air like a wheelbarrow (don’t try this at home, folks). He also stood behind her, put his arms under her front legs and round so he linked his fingers behind her neck and gently lifted her off to ground to re-align her back after manipulating it. I had to suppress a snigger as she dangled there with a ridiculous spaced-out expression. M also worked on her shoulders. Pressing a finger gently between her shoulder blade obviously caused her pain and M likened this to Sciatica – a trapped nerve sending pain all down her front legs. A bit of weird, dog bending later and the same touch caused not so much as a flinch. Clever stuff.
M also took out her stitches, which was difficult as they were rather tight. He wasn’t impressed with the sewing style either. After that, we put a rather spaced-out Dizzy back in the car and M showed me round. M pointed to one particular greyhound being exercised who had a big cheery smile and waggy tail: ‘he won yesterday, very pleased with himself’. I also got to see some absolutely adorable greyhound puppies and got a cuddle with a ravishing brindle pup. He felt like he didn’t have any bones at all and was just a big bundle of squishy warm fur…heaven!
When I got back in the car, Dizzy was blowing very unladylike raspberries in her sleep. Think I might book myself in…
