Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/135515
Most bodywork clients appreciate the serenity of a darkened room, with soothing music playing quietly in the background and a touch of scented oil in the air. Then, there are Kathi Soukup's clients. Like a growing number of massage therapists and bodyworkers, Soukup has become a family practitioner in the broadest sense of the term. An avid endurance rider, she began her career working on horses and later learned to work on humans. Now, she's just as comfortable providing massage and acupressure to four-legged family members as two-legged ones. "I've been in a veterinarian's office with a massage table set up in the middle and a dozen dogs barking in the background," says Soukup, a massage therapist in Freeport, Illinois, who also plies her trade in barns, tack rooms, and anywhere else her clients call home. "I just try to find a level spot to work." As a result, her clientele are as diverse as the venues in which she practices. "I have the trifecta," she says. "I work on people, their horses, and their dogs. Typically, I work on the horse every month, the human two to three times a year, and the dog whenever an issue comes up." Denise Theobald, who has a massage practice in suburban Chicago, went the opposite route. Ten years into her (human) massage career, she thought she was approaching burnout. About the same time, one of her three dogs began limping, and a light bulb went on. "I'm surprised it took me that long to think of it," Theobald says. "I always wanted to work with animals, but bodywork was my life. It just made sense that I would take everything that I learned in the human world and apply it to cats and dogs." For the next 14 years, Theobald's human clientele filled the bulk of her time, but she made more and more house calls to see animal clients. "While I was at the house for the animal, Kathi Soukup is a Tallgrass Animal Acupressure Institute graduate and instructor for both equine and canine bodywork. the owner would ask, 'While you're here, could you work on my wife?'" Three years ago, Theobald closed her human practice and opened Canine Massage Chicago, an office where people can bring their pets. "I'd say 70–80 percent of the dogs I work on are on a mat on the floor," Theobald says. "But if a smaller dog is comfortable up on the table, I use sheets and change them, just like with humans." Plus, if a human wants a massage, she'll oblige. "People typically don't come here looking to get a massage for themselves, but they know I'm licensed and qualified to give human massages. There's just some dog hair in the room." Learning the Right Techniques Such blended animal-human practices are familiar to animal acupressure pioneer Amy Snow. Snow and her partner Nancy Zidonis are cofounders of Tallgrass Animal www.abmp.com. See what benefits await you. 97