A woman has made it her mission to help soothe the aches and pains of Scotland's dogs - by giving them massages.

But rather than offering a luxury pooch spa for pampered pets, Catriona Dickson carries out canine massage therapy, helping ease the pain of soft tissue injuries and conditions such as hip dysplasia and arthritis. 

Five years ago graphic designer Catriona decided she needed a career change, but was also keen to help her mum's dog, which sat at awkwardly. 

She said: "My mother's dog sat unsteadily and she had said it looks like she is going to have a sore back when she's older. 

"I had a strong feeling I would love to help her. So I went off to try and find a suitable course." 

Since finishing her two year canine therapy course Catriona has set up K9 Massage Clinic in Stirling, along with other clinics across the country, treating dogs both at her centre and on house calls. 

Many of her patients are dogs taking part in competitive sports, such as agility, flyball and canicross - where owners and dogs do cross country running together. 

She said: "Business is definitely growing. People are wanting a more holistic approach to their own health and really looking for that for their dogs as well rather than going down the medication route. 

"It's becoming very popular. 

"These sports are hard on dogs. It's about keeping muscles fit and supple and reducing risk of injury. 

"Some dogs are in just in for a maintenance fitness massage. It's the same way as sports people get a massage." 

Like with human massage, Catriona uses a blend of four styles of massage: Swedish, sports, deep tissue and myofascial release while working on her patients. 

She added: "We are rehabilitating soft tissue injuries commonly seen as lameness and supporting orthopaedic conditions like arthritis. It's non-invasive support for many conditions. 

"I'm finding more and more vets are getting very interested in this as an option. It's another thing in their toolbox when medication or surgery is not possible. 

"One vet referred an old dog to me. The owner was wondering if it was reaching the end and time to put her to sleep. It couldn't take medication due to medical issues and had arthritis throughout her body. 

"The vet suggested she see me and after one session the dog was out trotting again with her head held up." 

Catriona insists that her practice is not for dog owners who are looking to give their pet a special treat, but that has not stopped some people from trying to book a luxury massage for their pooch. 

She said: "It's mainly people who have heard about it in a clinical sense who call me. But I have had somebody contact me with an old boxer with liver disease which had a massage on its bucket list. I had to say to her it's not a soft, gentle thing. 

"It can be uncomfortable and sometimes stressful for a dog and given the condition that the bulldog was suffering from the discomfort would outweigh the benefits. 

"It would be a more uncomfortable for a dog than the benefits he is going to get from it. We are not working in a sense as a massage spa whatsoever. It's a proper clinical massage." 

Vets must give consent before Catriona can work on them, as it is to make sure she is aware of any conditions that a massage could make worse. 

For best results dogs have three sessions and if there is no improvement in that time they are sent back to the vet for further investigation. 

Catriona hopes to grow her client base amongst dogs involved in gun sports, as well as working dogs such as sheepdogs. 

One of her clients is Jura, a nine-year-old border collie who competes in agility and canicross. 

Jura suffers from trigger points, mysofascial pain and muscle strain, slowing her down and causing her to knock poles in agility or refuse jumps. 

Since getting regular massages, along with sister Tiree, Jura gets on much better when she competes. 

Jura's owner, Karen Connal, said: "Jura sees Catriona for soreness and trigger points in her back and is now a much happier cuddlier dog - all that time and she wasn't antisocial just sore. 

"All my dogs work so hard at agility and canicross and can't tell me when they're in pain so I get them checked out regularly. I'm delighted to find a good clinic." 

Kirsty Hall is another happy dog owner after taking Cairn terrier Biff to K9 Massage Clinic. 

The eight-year-old dog had torn both cruciate ligaments two years earlier and had tibial plateau levelling osteotomy surgery on both stifle joints - involving sawing through the tibia, rotating the angle and plating the bone into a new position. 

Following surgery Biff was showing signs of stiffness and holding out one of her hind legs. 

But after receiving massage therapy Biff's mobility has improved - jumping off steps she had to be carried up before.

Kirsty said: "Biff, our Cairn Terrier, is a nervous little dog who has had two knee replacements. She enjoyed her massage and afterwards she moved and sat better; and it was as if she was back to her old self, with a bounce in her step. It is lovely to see."