back in 2000 I received the most wonderful surprise. Young Living Australia contacted me, and asked if I had a passport. Why? Because they wanted to sponsor me to attend Gary Young’s Dallas Raindrop Technique training. 

I had no idea what I was in for….but working as a practitioner with many tools under my belt, I was definitely up for the adventure. 

When I first learned Raindrop Technique, I had no idea what a big and positive impact it would have on my life. To this day, it remains one of my favourite modalities to receive. 

I returned to Australia excited to try this new modality. And to be honest, I underestimated it. Because Raindrop Technique focuses on the feet and the back, I thought its benefits would primarily be felt in those parts of the body….but I was wrong. My clients were having results in parts of their body that I wasn’t even directly touching with oils or bodywork. This is how I explain it to people now:

Yes, Raindrop Technique focusses on your back and spine. By specifically targeting these parts of your body with massage and Tibetan reflexology, it helps to loosen up your spine so it can be re-invigorated and move the way it was meant to, ie. with ease. 

Because our spine is the central core of our body, by helping it to become nimble and supple again, this in turn helps our entire nervous system along the spine, which then impacts all our organs and body systems. 

That’s why Raindrop Technique truly is a “Master Technique”, able to positively impact virtually every part of our body. And it’s not just our physical body that benefits. Because we are using Young Living’s therapeutic-grade essential oils as part of this modality, it also helps us emotionally, mentally and spiritually. 

But did you know that Raindrop Technique is not only for humans? It is also a wonderful modality to give to dogs and any hoofed animals….and in a modified form to cats, birds and other small mammals. That’s the topic of this post. Enjoy!!! 

It’s a Dog’s Life

My first journey into using Raindrop Technique on animals was thanks to a beautiful Rottweiler called “Bear” (pictured left). Bear had been unwell, and her owner Sharon had already experienced Raindrop Technique for humans. She reached out to me to ask if it could benefit Bear.

My work on Bear ended up reaching the ears of Dog’s Life Magazine in Australia, and they did an article about my work on Bear in their Nov/Dec 2003 magazine.

In this article, Sharon said, “I had been using the Young Living Essential Oils for my own wellbeing so I was very keen to use them on

her. I had spoken to Artemis many times about the essential oils…I could tell Bear loved the treatment because when Artemis was doing the VitaFlex on her feet [an ancient Tibetan form of reflexology combined with essential oils], Bear became so relaxed that all she wanted to do was lie down.

“The day after the Raindrop Technique, Bear was unusually quiet and preferred to lie down rather than go out for a walk….Two days after the Raindrop Technique I had a strong urge to take her to the beach. Bear doesn’t normally like going into the water, but as soon as she saw the ocean she ran and played in it until I called her out.

“Since this time Bear has been a bundle of energy….Her blood counts also show that her immune system has greatly improved [as a result of the stimulating and targeted massage that forms part of Raindrop Technique]. I can only put it down to the Raindrop Technique.”

After working on Bear and since being promoted in Dog’s Life Magazine, I’ve had many other people reach out for assistance with their dogs and horses. Just as I see in humans, I’ve seen life-changing results when Raindrop Technique is used on our favourite companions.

How to perform Raindrop Technique on a dog or horse 

If you’re new to Raindrop Technique, I wrote a great set of blogs about each step (and their use on humans). You can access those blogs here. Although there are various adaptations of Raindrop Technique for animals, I’m a bit of a purist. So I use the exact same version we use on humans, and adapted it to animals. When I say “adapted”, there are a few things to note.

Valor Balance

When performing a Valor Balance, we do that on the soles of the feet for a person.

For a dog, we can hold the Valor oil under their rear paws, or have them lie on their side so we can access the pads of their feet.  For a horse, we apply the Valor oil to the coronet band, where the fur joins the hoofs. Then just as we do with humans, we as the giver hold our left hand to wherever we’ve applied the Valor on their left pad/hoof, and our right hand to wherever we’ve applied it on their right pad/hoof. Susan is demonstrating it here in this pic. 

Naturally, your safety is paramount, so if a horse is agitated or highly strung, adapt this step as needed. 

Sometimes we just put the Valor oil on the sacral and wither area, and hold with one hand on each area. Depending on the horse, that can be safer than crouching beside their legs.

You’ll be amazed at how relaxing this is for a horse or dog. I hold for a minimum of 5 minutes if I can, waiting for the relaxation to really take effect. 

VitaFlex Technique

When you understand the anatomy of a dog or horse, it becomes easy to see where the heel is. In a horse, we perform VitaFlex Technique from the hock to the coronet band. In a dog, it’s from the hock down to just above the pad of the foot.

Back Moves

I like to perform the back moves on a dog or horse the same that I would on a person. I drip the oils, I feather them in, then I do all the same massage steps that I would perform on a person.

How many drops of essential oil should we use on animals?

In a standard Raindrop Technique on a healthy adult human, we’d use 115 drops of essential oil.

When someone’s health is compromised, it’s a good rule of thumb to use fewer drops in the first session, eg. a third to two thirds of this amount, to see how their body responds. 

When we want to be even more cautious, we dilute each of the essential oils (1 drop essential oil to 4 drops V6) rather than using them neat.

When working with a healthy adult horse, I use the same number of drops that I do on a human. In a practitioner setting, this can be increased a little more (eg. 5-7 drops on the back).

When working with a healthy adult dog, it makes sense to reduce the number of drops according to their body weight. For example, in a healthy adult human, we’d use 5 drops of Oregano on the back. For a small dog we’d use 2-3 drops, in a mid-sized dog 3-4 drops, and in a larger dog 4-5 drops.

Should I dilute the oils?

When I first began giving Raindrop Technique to dogs and horses, I never diluted my essential oils. That was back in 2003.

But the past 20+ years have seen a lot more chemicals being used on our planet, which ultimately end up in animal food and drink. As a result, we’re seeing a higher proportion of animals that need a gentler approach

with Raindrop Technique, at least to start with (in order to see how they respond).

The oils that are the most heating to the skin are Oregano, Thyme and Basil. So for the first few sessions, I like to dilute these 3 oils before applying them. I start with a 1:4 dilution, ie. 1 drop essential oil to 4 drops V6, then move to a 1:2 dilution in the next session, then to a 1:1 dilution in the third session. If the animal is showing no signs of skin prickling, I may then apply these oils neat in subsequent sessions, ensuring that I have V6 on hand to liberally apply to the back if there is any indication of skin irritation. 

Is there a simple version of Raindrop Technique? 

There sure is! Raindrop Technique is an amazing modality. Not only is it very powerful, it’s also got many different steps to it, each one designed to help in a different way. It’s not something I recommend learning from an online tutorial or video – it’s much better to learn it from someone experienced with the technique, who can show you how to perform all the various movements to get the ultimate benefit from them.

If you’ve never learned it but still want to help your animals, there’s a simple version that we call “Kitty Raindrop” or “Doggy Raindrop.

It involves taking 1 tablespoon of V6 oil, and adding to it:

• 2 drops of each of the Raindrop oils (for a cat)
• 4 drops of each of the Raindrop oils (for a small to medium dog)
• 6 drops of each of the Raindrop oils (for a large dog)
• 8 drops of each of the Raindrop oils (for a human or a horse)

This mixture can then be massaged up the spine every 1-2 days…..and it feels fantastic!

The oils we use in Raindrop Technique are Young Living’s Valor and Aroma Siez oil blends, and the single oils of Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Cypress, Wintergreen, Marjoram and Peppermint (9 oils in total). They are also available in Young Living’s Raindrop Technique Essential OIl Collection (a kit containing everything you need for Raindrop Technique – these 9 oils plus a bottle of V6 vegetable oil, and a bottle of Orthoease Massage oil if you’d like to end the session with an intuitive massage.)

But if you really want to get the absolute best from Raindrop Technique, make sure you do a course to learn all the steps and the best safety protocols. This is going to ensure that you see the ultimate results from the session, and that the session is tailored to each person or animal’s needs (based on their health history).

The Benefits of Raindrop Technique

I’m not the only one who has seen such wonderful benefits from Raindrop Technique and the simplified Kitty and Doggy Raindrop. Here are what some of our tribe of Young Living oilers have to say:

Ellen D. says:

I love Raindrop Technique for dogs! So do my own dogs. When I take out my Raindrop Kit for them, they are pushing me to go first. My dogs are 8 and 9 years old, so from time to time they are a bit stiff in the joints after a cold winter walk. They absolutely love the effects of the massage steps, and so do I.

Eva-Lotta P. says:

My furry tribe loves coming in to the office and massage room for a massage and a Valor Balance. The youngest, Teddy (the border collie) can get a bit anxious, and Valor blend really helps him settle.

Pippi the little papillon doesn’t like being handled by others but since using oils, she recently let our vet do a full health check on her (everything except her teeth). The oils have really helped on our cooperative care journey.

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