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04-21-2005, 06:49 PM | #1 |
YT 6000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 6,238
| [News] 'The Chihuahua Whisperer': Local doc taps into four-legged chiropractics The dogs in Dr. Crystal Mark's office are so quiet that patients barely even notice them at first. Four tiny Chihuahuas share a basket that would normally fit just one dog, patiently waiting until their owner gives the signal that it's OK to greet their visitors. On this particular day, the visitors are Paul Cooke, a Precinct 3 deputy, and his family dog, Murphy, a 3-year-old mixed-breed rescue. The dogs in Dr. Crystal Mark's office are so quiet that patients barely even notice them at first. Four tiny Chihuahuas share a basket that would normally fit just one dog, patiently waiting until their owner gives the signal that it's OK to greet their visitors. On this particular day, the visitors are Paul Cooke, a Precinct 3 deputy, and his family dog, Murphy, a 3-year-old mixed-breed rescue. Thanks to the curiosity of a couple of her human patients, word has spread that Dr. Mark, a chiropractor, also does adjustments for dogs. And horses. And many other types of animals. "A dog's spine is exactly like a human's spine," Mark says, grabbing a 3-dimensional model of a human spine to illustrate. "Caring for your back is really like caring for your body." Cooke decided to treat Murphy to an adjustment after going to Mark for his own back. Many large breeds of dogs, such as shepherds and Danes, suffer from back ailments. "I've been coming to her for my back, and she (Murphy) was a little crooked," he says as Mark works her hands up and down Murphy's back. The noise of the popping causes the dog to startle a bit, but other than that, she seems calm and happy. She licks Mark's hand and wags her tail. "They're a lot like people - they really like the adjustments," Mark said. "They get up right away and walk off." Mark said she's always been a dog lover. In her spare time, she operates a Chihuahua rescue out of her home. She refers to the four dogs in her office as "foster failures," with a smile. "They're all very special for a reason," she says, pointing to each dog and describing its circumstance or personality. "This is Belle," she said by way of first introduction. "Somebody actually mailed her to me -- to my house." Mark has been practicing on animals for a while, but is now seeking a certification in veterinary chiropractics at Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas. The certification program is brand new, she said, and is open to veterinarians and chiropractors who are already practicing in their respective fields. "I'm going to be one of the first few to sit through the exam," she said. On the same day Dr. Mark sees Murphy, she also gets a bouquet of flowers from Anthony Connolly, patient and parent of Sugar, also a Chihuahua. Earlier in the week, Connolly brought Sugar in for her first adjustment after the dog started to have episodes similar to panic attacks. She was walking in a doubled-over gait. "A lot of small dogs -- their spines are really susceptible to compression of the spinal discs," Connolly said. That's exactly what happened in Sugar's case. A disc in her lower back, just above the base of the tail, was being squeezed, causing pressure to all the nerves that pass through it. Sugar's vet prescribed the dog pain killers, and suggested surgery as an option if the condition failed to improve. Then, Connolly found an article online about veterinary chiropractors. Since he was a regular customer of Mark's, he asked her about it at his next appointment, not knowing that she was seeking her certification. "I believed so profoundly in Dr. Mark, she's done so well with me," he said. "I knew she was a dog lover, and that she had Chihuahuas. It was just like serendipity." Several animal owners are turning to Mark, and she has started carrying nutritional supplements for animals at her office. She swears they work, and gives her two previous dogs as examples: One, a Yorkshire terrier, lived 17 years. The other, a doberman, lived to be 21. She also said the dogs have helped her human business. "Kids are never afraid to get adjusted here," she said. "They see the dog and think, 'If the dog can do it, I can do it.'" Sugar is going to Mark several times a week for the next month or so. Connolly, half serious, half jokingly calls her "The Chihuahua Whisperer." He said he now uses code words around his dog because she gets so excited about going to Mark's office. "When I ask her if she wants to see 'Aunt Crystal,' she gets really excited," he said. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?B...&PAG=461&rfi=9 Last edited by fasteddie; 04-22-2005 at 06:19 PM. |
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04-22-2005, 04:39 PM | #2 |
Donating YT Addict Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: IOWA
Posts: 345
| Another Great Article, Thanks! |
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