Why Even Well-Fitting Gear Can Limit Your Animal's Movement

Learn why even well-fitting dog harnesses and horse saddles can exacerbate movement restrictions. Discover a practical two-phase approach to help your animal move comfortably with their gear on, reducing stiffness and improving mobility.

Resources:

Grab your FREE video training to help your dog. 🐕 https://www.marydebono.com/lovedog 💥

💥Learn how the Feldenkrais Method can help improve your seat, position, and balance on your horse! Free rider videos masterclass: https://www.marydebono.com/rider 💥

Get Mary’s bestselling, award-winning book, “Grow Young with Your Dog,” for a super low price at: https://tinyurl.com/growyoungwithyourdog. Demonstration videos are included at no extra cost. ⬅️⬅️⬅️

All information is for general educational purposes ONLY and doesn't constitute medical or veterinary advice or professional training advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider if you, your horse, or your dog are unwell or injured.  Always use extreme caution when interacting with horses and dogs.

About the Host:

Mary Debono is a pioneer in animal and human wellness, blending her expertise as an international clinician, best-selling author, and certified Feldenkrais Method® practitioner. With over three decades of experience, Mary developed Debono Moves, a groundbreaking approach that enhances the performance, well-being, and partnership of animals and their humans.

Mary's innovative approach draws from the Feldenkrais Method®, tailored specifically for horse and dog enthusiasts.  Her methods have helped animals and humans:

• Improve athletic ability and performance
• Enhance confidence and reduce anxiety
• Reduce physical limitations and discomfort
• Deepen the human-animal bond

Mary's flagship online programs, "Move with Your Horse" and "Easier Movement, Happier Dogs," provide animal enthusiasts with an innovative approach that combines the concepts of Feldenkrais® with her signature hands-on work for horses and dogs (Debono Moves). Through this transformative approach, both people and their animal companions discover greater harmony, ease, and connection.

#Feldenkrais #DebonoMoves #horses #dogs #girthynomore #doggear #horsetack

Transcript

Hi. I wanted to talk to you today about a dog. Now, if you're a horse person and don't have a dog, please still listen this. I will explain how this also pertains to horses, but I'd like to tell you first about a dog I worked with who was a guide dog for the blind. And he was just a wonderful lab. Just, you know, one of those easygoing kind of guys and lovely, lovely dogs.

And like a lot of guide dogs for the blind, he wore a very stiff harness when he was working. So he had a stiff harness that, you know, went around his rib cage and then it had the metal handle for his person. And, you know, over time, this dog started to get some back issues. And, you know, of course, he was treated by the veterinarian all the time and all kinds of good things.

But what they discovered is he could really use some help in learning how to move more freely. So I worked with him, and I worked with him first without the harness on. And by the way, I did everything in accordance with, you know, his. His people were right there. So. Because I know there's certain associations with the harness with. They have to be kind of like on the job and all that kind of stuff.

But this was all okayed. And so I worked with him first without anything, and helped him rediscover how to use his rib cage more effectively. So reduced strain on his back and helped, you know, just helped him coordinate all his parts. You know, his front legs, his hind legs, his pelvis again, his spine, his ribs, his sternum, all those good things. Then we put the harness back on him.

And I kind of reviewed that with him. In other words, I used my hands now with him while the harness was on him. And the reason for that is because when we put on gear, like in this case, the dog's harness, he had certain habits associated with that harness. And I don't just mean, like, certain behaviors that he was trained to do to help his person. I'm talking about different ways of moving.

And we do the same thing. And this is something that. And the horses, by the way, do the same thing with their gear, right? Saddles, bridles, et cetera. But we even do this with our own clothes. So, for example, Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, the man who created the Feldenkrais Method for humans, and I'm trained in that, and it's an inspiration for a lot of my animal work, he discovered that in people a long time ago that he would work with them first.

Just back in the day they people that did like any kind of rehab type stuff often just worked with people in their undergarments. So he would do that and he discovered that when people put their street clothes back on, they in effect put on their habits. Put their habits back on. And he realized, well, that's not going to work. Right. We need something that's going to carry over into their everyday life.

So his solution, which was a very good one, was to work with the people with their street clothes on. Like obviously comfortable clothes, not like a three, you know, not a tailored suit or something. Right? More like like nowadays what you would wear to yoga class, something you can move in, but you know, it's there, you have the sensation of clothes. And so with this guide dog, it was the same kind of thing.

He had learned that, oh, it was a little bit difficult for him to feel really free as far as his mobility in that harness, but could I restore that for him? And that's what we did. And I've worked with a lot of different service animals over the years and I find that it's very important to do that. Now this applies whether you have a service animal or not.

So for example, your dog probably wears a harness or if they don't wear a harness, that means you're walking them off their collar, which some people do do that. But in any event there is gear on the dock. And so it's really nice to do the movements, the hands on work that I teach. And by the way, I'm going to have free resources for you. So you can look in the description for the free resour, but to do it without the gear on and then with the gear on, okay.

To help really integrate it into their everyday life. And I'll make another mention about horses here. As I mentioned earlier, horses also have habits around how they move when they wear a saddle and bridle. And so I do the same thing with the horses. We start out, generally speaking with just a halter and lead on the horse. And I work with them with my hands or I teach people how to do this.

By the way, right now as we're recording this, I have just recently started an eight week program, a move with your horse foundations program. And I have a fabulous group of people. I'm so excited. And we're also just in right now we're in week three of the dog program. I have a new dog program, eight weeks and, and we're week three and again, incredible group of people and their animals.

So super, super excited about that. And if you're interested in stuff like that. I'll have the wait list for either the for both the dog programs and the horse programs in the description. So, you know, you can sign up. They're not open right now because I just started these other cohorts, but they will be in the future. So for your horse, same idea. You want to first work with them without their gear on, without the bridle on, without the saddle on, and then start adding back pieces of tack.

And with horses, they have so many, you know, habits around the feel of a saddle, even just tacking up. I have a whole protocol that I teach about how to help a horse actually enjoy being tacked up, not just tolerate it. A lot of them don't even want to tolerate it because they've learned that it can be very uncomfortable, but to actually enjoy the process and improve their movement as you tack them up.

So I just wanted to make today's episode short and sweet. Again. It applies to you dog lovers as well as you horse lovers. So thank you so much for listening and check out the links I have in the description. And I look forward to talking to you again soon. Bye for now.