I came to Galen myotherapy through a lifelong love and ownership of animals, including dogs and horses, and changes in my personal circumstances resulting in a career change. I suffered ongoing chronic ankle pain for many years, which l ignored, took painkillers and strapped my ankle up to carry on working and playing! Ignoring these warning signs resulted in permanent damage in the ankle leading
to arthritis, impaired use and not being able to carrying on with my current career as I would have wished. Having been through operations, physio and hydro made me think and realise that if l had listened to the pain and had taken care of my whole muscular skeletal system then l would not be in the situation l am in now. This is turn lead to thinking about how l had the capability to act upon the chronic pain l was experiencing, but so many of our dogs just stoically put with chronic pain, going out for their walks, doing their jobs and even competing in dog sports such as agility. Through personal experience l know how demoralising chronic pain can be and decided to train to become a Galen Canine myotherapist to be able to help dogs from all walks of life, pet dogs, sporting dogs and working dogs, dogs that may otherwise carry on their entire lives with chronic pain wagging their tails, doing their jobs and making us smile. After deciding upon the course l want my career change to take, l spent a long time looking at the different training offered by various therapy establishments. What made Galen stand out initially was they did not exclude anyone who was not coming from a background/education of working with animals (which was me!). I looked further into the courses and Galen was one of the few that offered the training to bring a student up to the level of being able to enrol in the Canine Myotheraphy Diploma.(Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology) I attended a day owners course and along with that and all other interaction l had with Galen, it strengthen my impression of a professional, highly trained organsation that at the heart had a fundamental desire to improve the lives of dogs, and do so by welcoming people from all backgrounds and providing them with nationally accredited training covering theoretical and practical aspects of massage. I will not lie, it took me another year to pluck up the courage and apply as the course looked so in depth with students having to display a high level of knowledge both theoreticaly and practical aspects, l was more than a little daunted. But after speaking to Julia who reassured me that with time and dedication l was capable of completing the course, l enrolled and with the help and support of Julia, course mentors and other therapists l never looked back! I am now building my business by working with all types of dogs from all walks of lives. These have included a working drugs detection dog to a young Labrador with bi-lateral hip dysplasia. One of the most rewarding aspects of being a Galen Myotherapistis is when an owner reports back how well their dog is doing (although in the case of the young Labrador, now being able to stand on his back legs and counter surf was not what the owner had in mind!) I like to build a strong relationship with my owners as their involvement is crucial. I show owners basic techniques that they can use at home on their dogs enabling them to feel the difference in their dogs as the treatments progress as well as picking up on subtle changes (both positive and negative). I believe that this is a fundamental part of being a Galen myotherapist, to show and educate people what can be achieved through soft tissue manipulation and how every owner can enhance the quality of life of their dog. I can honestly say l am very proud to be a part of Galen, not only in what they are endeavouring to bring to the welfare and improvement to the everyday lives of dogs, but to be part of such a motivated, highly trained and genuinely great team of therapists.