Acupuncture is a great treatment option for many dogs (and cats). Several years ago, I had a dog with a disk herniation who was treated with acupuncture whenever he had a flare-up, and he would respond almost immediately to the treatment. More recently, I had my dog treated for her allergies by Dr. Meagan Duffy, a veterinary acupuncturist who makes house calls (which is so much less stressful than having to take a dog or cat into the vet). Dr. Duffy is great, and my dog's allergy symptoms have been so much better since starting acupuncture with her. Her website is: www.5elementsvetcare.com

There's a woman who works out of Crossings in Silver Spring who works with pets, I have heard really great things about her. I think her name is Greta.

The place we went to in Vienna played soft music and I laid on the ground with my dog. Once the needles were in, my dog just chilled and looked extremely sleepy. The first time I almost cracked up out loud since I didn't expect the music and dim lighting. But it worked.

Not ridiculous! We used Leann Lipton of meridian veterinary services. She makes house calls and was a source of comfort for my dearly departed love dog in his last months.

How do you get them to stay still and not try to get the needles out?

(I'm just wondering about this but for the record, if the dog does cooperate, i don't see a reason not to try it)
Accupuncture has not worked for me but I do think it has helped others and is worth a try.

We did it and it did not help our old Lab. My sister did it for her Newfie and it helped a ton. In short, it works for some dogs and not others, although it seems like I hear more success stories than times where it did not work. Our dog always had to be such an individual!

Yes, we take our dog to Buckeystown Animal Hospital (http://www.buckeystownvet.com/index.html) for acupuncture. It's a little bit of a schlep out there for us, but it came highly recommended to us by several friends and so far we have been quite impressed with the staff, facilities, and results. Hope this helps, OP!

Yes, our dog had acupuncture when she had bone cancer - I really think it helped w/ the pain and also her mood. I say try it out and see!

My prior dog had acupuncture when the vet couldn't determine the cause of his neck pain. I felt the acupuncture helped with the pain. I definitely saw my dog's body relax during the treatment. Before the treatment, he would randomly yelp from pain and during the treatment, he didn't. This was about 9 yrs ago so I do not remember how often we went.

My mom got acupuncture for her Border Collie during the dog's final year or so. According to my mom, it helped a lot, but I don't remember the frequency of the treatments. However, I think she noticed a difference after just one treatment. If money is not the issue, then it may be worth a try (if not time prohibitive). When my own dog suffered from geriatric pain (before I had even heard of acupuncture for dogs), we could tell a big difference when we got pain treatments for him (although we had to travel to the vet's office for those as well). I would think if the acupuncture treatment offered relief, you would expect to see a noticable difference pretty quickly. Good luck.

Well, her pain would go away and you would see that, correct?

In humans, acupuncture works better for some complaints than others. In particular, serious illnesses are not generally alleviated much by acupuncture. For example, my mildly depressed and hypochondriac FIL felt much better after months of acupuncture. It did nothing, however, for his arthritis pain. I did not know there were acupuncture points for dogs, but assume that the same would hold true.

OK, Ok, I know, its ridiculous isn't it?

But our dog is old and in pain. Right now we are starting pain meds, but the vet suggested doggie acupuncture. I didn't know whether to laugh or look into it, so I figured I should do both. Wanted to see if any DCUMers had tried it for their dogs and could tell it worked. My main concern is that the vet visit would be so stressful, that it isn't worth the relief.

The vet made it sound like it would actually be more affordable than the crazy expensive pain meds. So cost isn't as much of an issue. But time (how often does the dog have to go) and ability to tell if she actually is better is important.