About Me

I’m Jen and I run Edinburgh Clinical Canine Massage. I specialise in canine massage therapy and canine conditioning training.

My story

I live with my two greyhounds, Star and Mimi. In the past, I have adopted a number of elderly rescue dogs with age related health conditions and mobility issues. It was while searching for complimentary therapies to help my own dogs that I came across clinical canine massage, and found that it made a big difference to my dogs’ comfort, happiness and quality of life.

More recently I have trained as a canine conditioning coach – think fitness instructor for dogs! I came across canine conditioning while looking for ways to provide further support for my massage clients, many of which have sore, tight lower backs – just like humans! My research led me to understand that, like a lot of people, many dogs have weak core muscles, leading to bad posture, resulting in the compensatory issues and injuries that I was seeing in dogs attending my massage clinic.

As a runner, I go for regular massages and undertake strength and conditioning training and know first-hand the positive impact that both of these elements can have. It makes perfect sense to me that if it works for me, it could also work for my dogs; and it does!

My training

I have spent two years studying with the Canine Massage Therapy Centre where I completed the Clinical Canine Massage Practitioner Programme, accredited by LANTRA. I studied under the inspirational Natalie Lenton and am trained in the Lenton Method®, which has been clinically proven to provide benefit, with an efficacy rate of over 95%. This means that over 95% of dogs that took part in the study showed reduced levels of pain and improved mobility. You can find out more about the clinical trials here.

I have furthered my training with the Canine Conditioning Academy (CCA), where I completed the year long course to become a Licenced CCA Canine Conditioning Coach. Also accredited by LANTRA.

My training has provided me with an advanced knowledge of canine anatomy and physiology, which allows me to provide your dog with the most effective treatment, whether that be massage therapy, or canine conditioning, or a mixture of both. Specifically, I am trained in the following:

Swedish, deep tissue and sports massage
Direct Myofascial Release
Advanced Indirect Myofascial Release
The Lenton Method® of massage
Facilitated Stretch
Postural and gait analysis (how your dog stands, sits and moves)
The development of tailored treatment plans

Keeping up to date

I am a proud member of the Canine Massage Guild and licenced conditioning coach with the Canine Conditioning Academy. Both bodies hold their members to high standards of best practice and require all of their members to keep up to date with the latest industry developments through the completion of at least 25 hours of CPD each year. As a Canine Massage Guild member, I seek to ‘provide results you can see and your dog can feel!’

I am qualified in Canine First Aid, and hold an up to date certificate.

I am fully insured.

My approach

My goal, as a clinical canine massage therapist and conditioning coach, is to help your dog to live a happy healthy life. Massage helps to achieve this by reducing chronic pain and improving mobility. Conditioning training takes into account all elements of fitness, helping to build strength for the inside out, supporting dogs to feel better equipped to meet the challenges of daily life, improving performance, and reducing the risk of injury.

I believe that, just like us, each dog is different. This means that each dog needs and deserves to receive treatment that is tailored to them.

My own experience of receiving body work and fitness training, has shown me the importance of treating the body as one. This is why I take a holistic approach to each treatment, combining massage and myofascial release techniques with gait analysis and advanced palpation skills, to assess and treat the whole body. So, whether I am providing massage or conditioning coaching, you can be assured that I will build the treatment plan around your dog’s individual requirements.

Importantly, I also go for regular massage and myofascial release treatments and enjoy keeping fit. I will never perform a technique on your dog, that I don’t have first hand experience of myself.

What my clients say

Prior to the sessions Ruby had an intermittent limp, worse after longish walks and was very stiff when getting up after sleeping. After the first session I noticed an improvement. After the second session she was moving much more freely and could see no evidence of a limp, even after a long walk, and there is no more sign of stiffness either.