Seven-year-old Zack behaved like a model patient, sitting calmly while acupuncture needles were inserted into his back to treat his bad knee.
And while he can’t tell you he is feeling better, the results speak louder than words (or barks), according to Zack’s owner, Katherine McAuliffe.
“This is the only thing that seems to work,” she said.
For nearly two years, Zack — a bearded collie and chocolate Lab mix who goes by the nickname “Wookie” — has received traditional Chinese medicine treatments including acupuncture.
His practitioner, Jeanie Marie Kraft, has been treating dogs around the North Shore for years, and she recently co-authored a book — “The Woof and Warp of Canine Pain” — about treating dog pain with traditional Chinese medicine.
“Most dogs are very receptive,” said Kraft, who lives in Salem and runs Four Paws Acupuncture. “I’ve only had one or two that will stand up and shake the needles out.”
On a recent morning, Kraft drove her blue Volkswagen Beetle detailed with paw prints over to Zach’s house, near Collins Cove in Salem.
She began his treatment by giving him a cookie sprayed with calming flower essences, followed by a massage. Most dogs don’t like to be needled in their paws or into an area with pain, she said, so she uses a laser on some of the acupuncture points.
“You just don’t walk in with a box of needles,” Kraft said. “I sit down with them first. I might give them a cookie or a ball and do a massage. I only do house calls so that I’m in their territory. To them, I’m just the cookie lady.”
To McAuliffe, Kraft is much more than the cookie lady. Several years ago, Zach was diagnosed with arthritis and a possible torn ligament in his rear right knee. The pain was so severe that Zach wasn’t able to stand up after a swim in the ocean or after a round of fetch, McAuliffe said.
“He used to get very expensive injections, but that didn’t do anything — he was still limping,” McAuliffe said. “I tried the vet stuff for a while and dragged him in and he’d hide, but he loves to see Jeanie.”
Since the acupuncture, Zach’s pain seems to have subsided and he is active.
“A dog needs to retrieve — that’s his life,” McAuliffe said.
Following Zach’s acupuncture session, Kraft rubbed him with a strong-smelling Chinese liniment that helps with arthritis and circulation.
She also advises clients on pet nutrition, herbal therapy, Tui Na (a form of massage) and more. She said larger dogs are generally easier to work on, and hyper breeds can be difficult.
“I also changed Zach’s diet because wheat and gluten make any kind of pain worse,” said Kraft, whose husband, Norman, has an acupuncture practice for humans on Front Street in Salem.
Going to the dogs
Kraft didn’t set out to be a dog practitioner, but when she attended acupuncture college in San Diego, she had a change of heart. She said her German shepherd was suffering from hip dysplasia.
Read more of this article at http://www.gloucestertimes.com/lifestyle/x1743688528/Needling-the-dog
