Small Animal Massage Program

This is the 200 hour Holistic Small Animal Massage Program (Massage for Dogs and Cats)

Course Instructor

Nick Scott CMT

Curriculum:

100 hours onsite includes the following subjects:

Massage 76 hours: Covers Swedish Massage, Myofascial Release, Trigger Point Therapy, Acupressure, TTouch, Passive Stretching. Proper charting techniques and how to work with DVM’s will also be covered in this class.

Hydrotherapy 4 hours: Covers indications and contraindications for hydrotherapy, application of hot and cold packs, cryotherapy and commercially available therapy packs.

Gait Analysis 4 hours: Covers canine locomotion, structural analysis, video taping of gait and charting.

First Aid 2 hours: Covers common first aid procedures for animals.

Safety, Hygiene and Handling 4 hours: Covers the basics of safe handling, simple training techniques, identification of animal behavior patterns and communication signals. Zoonoses and communicable diseases will also be covered.

Palpation 10 hours: Students will learn to palpate the major boney landmarks and trace the major muscles of the body. Students will also learn acupressure meridian and basic treatment point location.

100 hours combination of 50 hours home study and 50 hours live online lecture includes:

Anatomy 40 hours: Covers skeletal anatomy. Students will be required to learn the names of all of the bones in the animals body, major boney landmarks and the major muscles of the body with their origins, insertions and actions.

Physiology 30 hours: Students will learn the functions of the eleven systems of the body and the basics of animal nutrition.

Pathology 10 hours: Students will learn about the top ten canine and feline pathologies and how identify the signs and symptoms of these pathologies.

Business Development 10 hours: Students will develop a business plan and learn how to market their services.

Case Studies 10 hours: Students will complete 10 hours of fully charted independent case studies before graduation from the class.

Required texts:

The Well Connected Dog: A Guide to Canine Acupressure; Zidonis and Snow ISBN 0-9645982-4-8

The Tellington TTouch; Linda Tellington-Jones ISBN 0140117288

Clinical Anatomy & Physiology for Veterinary Technicians; Colville ISBN 9780323046855

Dog Anatomy A Coloring Atlas; Robert A. Kaniner DVM and Thomas O. McCracken, MS

American Red Cross Dog First Aid, ISBN# 978-158480401-7

American Red Cross Cat First Aid, ISBN# 978-158480402-4

Canine Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy; Mills, Levine and Taylor ISBN 0721695558

Total Cost of Books and Materials is approximately $300

Cost of Tuition: $1,800

Financing is available for this course for as little as $200 per month. A 10% finance charge will be added to cost of tuition for financing.

Graduation

Students completing all program requirements will receive a certificate of completion for 200 hours from the Ojai School of Massage.

Ojai School of Massage is approved by the International Association of Animal Massage & Bodywork/Association of Canine Water Therapy as an Approved Preferred Educational Provider.