rogue classicism

Classical Doggy Massage?

An item about dog grooming in something called Medill Reports mentions, inter alia:

Canine myotherapy, or muscle therapy for dogs, has been around since for “as long as people have been petting their dogs,” said Sue Olmos, a certified myotherapist at Midstates Myotherapy and Sanchez’s former teacher. While massaging athlete dogs can date back to ancient Roman times, being certified in the discipline is fairly new.

Searching for a source for this, I find a related claim on another site:

Ancient Greek and Egyptian literature includes illustrations of massage being carried out on horses, dogs and cats.

I wonder what an ‘athlete dog’ dog would be in Roman times … whatever the case, don’t eat that Elmer …

David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist
,

2 responses to “Classical Doggy Massage?”

  1. Adrienne Mayor Avatar
    Adrienne Mayor

    “Athlete dogs”–maybe they mean hunting dogs? Dogs were also used in warfare: eg the great guerrilla general Aratos 50 dogs guarded Acrocorinth, an inscription at Teos records 3 dogs for guard duty; war dogs depicted on Assyrian relief of 600 BC, Alyttes drove out the Cimmerians with war dogs, ancient writers describe war dogs of Colophon, Hyrcania, Castabal, Magnesia, and Aelian tells of the Athenian dog that recieved honors for fighting at the Battle of Marathon (Mayor, Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs, 2009, pp 190-93).

    Ancient Greek dogs were well treated; puppies ate bread soaked in milk and whey, adult dogs were fed bread, meat broth and scraps and a special treat was a roasted lump of ox liver rolled in barley. If you wanted to cure a dog from barking excessively, you could hide a live frog in his food. Xenophon gives dozens of popular names for dogs and describes their care, even prescribing cures for worms.

    He never mentions massage.

    Reply
  2. Adrienne Mayor Avatar
    Adrienne Mayor

    “Athlete dogs”–maybe they mean hunting dogs? Dogs were also used in warfare: eg the great guerrilla general Aratos 50 dogs guarded Acrocorinth, an inscription at Teos records 3 dogs for guard duty; war dogs depicted on Assyrian relief of 600 BC, Alyttes drove out the Cimmerians with war dogs, ancient writers describe war dogs of Colophon, Hyrcania, Castabal, Magnesia, and Aelian tells of the Athenian dog that recieved honors for fighting at the Battle of Marathon (Mayor, Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs, 2009, pp 190-93).

    Ancient Greek dogs were well treated; puppies ate bread soaked in milk and whey, adult dogs were fed bread, meat broth and scraps and a special treat was a roasted lump of ox liver rolled in barley. If you wanted to cure a dog from barking excessively, you could hide a live frog in his food. Xenophon gives dozens of popular names for dogs and describes their care, even prescribing cures for worms.

    He never mentions massage.
    Ooops, should have mentioned good post! Waiting for the next one!

    Reply

Leave a comment

Instagram / TikTok / X

Designed with WordPress