• Acupressure for animals is a supportive form of health care, whereby acupoints located just underneath the surface of the skin are stimulated by finger pressure.
• Animal acupressure/acupuncture has been practiced consistently since 2000-3000 BC to enhance the health of dogs for military protection and for livestock, critical to the survival of a rural- based economy.

What is Chi?
The Chinese believe that everything in the universe, inorganic and organic, is composed of and defined by its Chi.

• Chi is the life force found in all living things.
• Chi is also found in non-living things.
• Chi is between matter and energy - it is matter on the verge of becoming energy, or energy at the point of materializing.
• Chi is the thread connecting all beings.

The above descriptions of Chi come from The Web That Has No Weaver, by Ted J. Kaptchuk, pgs. 41-44

Chi specifically related to health...

• Chi plays a very important role in the body of living beings. It is considered as the vital energy that flows in a certain predetermined direction, from one meridian to another meridian, circulating continuously through the entire body.
• Any abnormality of the ?ow of Chi is considered to produce diseases or poor health.
• Chi protects the body, resisting the entry of pathological agents.

What are meridians?

• Imagine your pet!s body as a river system. Blood and Chi are like the water, and meridians are the channels that Chi and blood flow through.
• As in a river system, the meridians are interconnected.
• Stagnation, blockages, or imbalance can develop in the meridians, affecting the bodily function and leading to poor health and disorders.
• If a blockage develops in one of the streams, the flow will be affected in the other connected streams (creating symptoms of disharmony).
• The meridian system as a whole provides a relatively superficial set of barriers to prevent the bodily invasion of pathological environmental agents.

What does acupressure do?

• Acupressure serves to aid in restoring health and maintaining free flow of Chi, blood, and other bodily fluids.
• Stimulation of acupoints is believed to be effective in correcting abnormalities of the flow of Chi.
• It can also be a preventative form of assistance, promoting the smooth flow of Chi, blood, and bodily fluids; and protecting the body against external pathological invaders (strengthening the immune system).
• Acupressure breaks up blockages within the meridians that may affect the internal organs and various bodily functions.