[bright birdsong] (female teacher) So I generally start most massages with some type of effleurage.

Let them show me where there's areas of tension, areas of heat.

[gentle burble] Just nice, moving, flowing...

When I find an area that needs to be worked, whether it's tight or stiff, kind of do a little bit of shaking just to invigorate the tissue.

Wake it up.

Support her body, as much as she'll let me.

This is her showing me where she wants me to do it.

So now I'm going to apply some trigger point right along in the sartorius section of her thigh here.

Remembering to breathe.

And let the patient tell me if I'm working too much.

[sharp bark] [chiming, meditative music] (male voice on video) When done correctly, massage will help promote human-canine bonding, physiological and structural balance, and is a useful tool to help prevent injury.

[slow, resonating music] (video continues) Our thumbs form a plow, and our fingers are like a little spider walking down the wall.

[bell chime] We take that little fold of skin, we slow down if it's tight, and we use our thumbs to plow.

[quick tones like raindrops] And it is soft.

Tapotement consists of cupping, packing, slapping, beating, and tapping.

Make a cup with your hands and keep your wrists loose while applying gentle, focused percussion.

Do not cup directly on the ridge of the spine.

Packing is done gently with a loose... [percussive tones swell] [music and video fade] (redheaded student) So we're right here?

(teacher) Psoas muscles are in the lower sacrum and the lower lumbar.

This is all psoas right here.

- But I gotta be careful, right?

That's pelvis, all the way over here.

Psoas muscles are here.

You feel this muscle bundle?

- Yeah.

- That's what you're gonna gently compress.

- Okay.

- They absolutely love it, especially Olivia.

(teacher continues) You can massage right here on the base.

And you can take your finger and go inside and go in a circular motion... - Oh my gosh.

- ...rubbing the bottom.

Her eyes are officially in the back of her head.

(teacher) You can take the ear and gently pull as you pull down.

[smooth, percussive music] This is good, huh, lady?

This is one of her favorites.

(blonde student voiceover) Where I'm from in southeastern North Carolina, there are not any real animal massage therapists.

People are taken aback by the thought of it, but once they wrap their minds around it, it just blows their mind, you know?

I got really involved in animal rescue at a very young age.

I didn't become a veterinarian, but I can be certified in animal massage therapy and still make a difference in the healing of animals.

- So once you hit past that top layer and sink all the way through, you'll be able to feel the other muscles underneath that you can continue to sink into and manipulate.

[bell chime] [silence] (teacher) See if you can focus that energy and move it.

Pull it towards you, push it away.

You'll be able to feel where an animal needs your help.

[panting] [teacher whispers] Olivia.

Olivia.

[finger snap] O.P.

[beckoning] Tcka, tcka, tcka.

[whispers] Come on.

No.

Come on.

Come on.

You're being rude.

You're being rude.

No, you're being rude.

You're being rude, O.P.

Come on.

Come on.

Come with me.

No, not right now.

Not right now, not right now.

Come on.

[reverberating warm tone] (redheaded student) I wanted to show you some pictures of Benj.

- Oh, look at him.

- It was his birthday.

- Uh-huh.

- He had a little birthday hat on.

If he woulda got started with massaging, he might've lived a lot longer.

[emotional] This was the last day.

- Ohhh... Aw, that was the last day?

Mm-hmm.

How long did you have him?

15 years and two months.

[trancelike tone] (redheaded student voiceover) I was so depleted of energy, and I couldn't wait to get here.

But, you know, now I'm filling my love tank up.

[laughs airily] [hum of strings] [music fades away] [nails on tile] [silence] [faint tap of paws] More pee?

Mmm.

A never-ending flow of pee... [sharp latch clicks] Goodbye, pees.

[silence] [trance note swells] (brunette woman voiceover) Couple months before the onsite class started, I received... a diagnosis after getting a mammogram, that I had... breast cancer.

That has been kind of in the background of my mind.

And, in a way, the class saves me, you know?

[sustained trance tone] You're forming a trust.

You're... becoming kind of one with them.

It's comforting.

[tone swells] [bright burst of synths] [swirl of quick notes] [swirl slows] [music fades] (teacher) I can feel a lot of stringy muscle in here.

Right here.

Yeah... Yeah, that's right.

Good boy.

Good boy.

That's right.

Good boy.

Super tight above the tail.

Nordic breed dogs with curled-back tails have a lot of tension, so it creates a lot of adhesions along the very base.

[gentle, hollow thumping] He's like, wait a second... What're you doing?

What're you doing?

What're you doing?

What're you doing?

[hollow thumping continues] Just reconnecting everything.

And his tail is limp... which just means really good relaxation.

It's dead.

All right.

So, acupressure.

How many of you watched the videos on acupressure?

[light piano pings] [bright birdsong] [faint bark] [sharp barks] [single note as music fades] [birds chirp] [dogs pant] [a dog snorts] [distant barks] [close dog panting] [deep yap, then panting] [small dog barks] [deep bark] [panting continues]