Hydrotherapy

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poiuytrewq

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Does anyone take their dogs for hydrotherapy?
I’m thinking about it for the little disabled lab. For years I only let him paddle in shallow safe water as his conformation really doesn’t look like he should be able to swim, but the summer before last he followec his brother into a deeper pool and off he went! (Followed by me incase ?)
Any how, turns out he can swim quite well. He can’t do long walks on land but when it’s warm I take a pair of shorts and we can walk a good distance up in a stream, the deep parts we swim and the shallower parts obviously support his weight a bit and we just keep going!
Every year I forget how happy this makes him. I wondered about hydrotherapy.
How much does it cost and how often to get any benefit would we need to go?
I’m not totally sure he’d be happy indoors with people he doesn’t know but might be worth a try.
 
I have a friend who was taking her Golden Retriever who has an arthritis diagnosis before lockdown. She was bemoaning thae fact that she is missing it now, as it made a real difference to the dog.

ETA, sorry I forgot the most important bit, she takes her dog to a veterinary physio and my own vet has a tank, so probably the best thing is to ask your vet. No idea about cost, sorry.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I have a friend who was taking her Golden Retriever who has an arthritis diagnosis before lockdown. She was bemoaning thae fact that she is missing it now, as it made a real difference to the dog.

ETA, sorry I forgot the most important bit, she takes her dog to a veterinary physio and my own vet has a tank, so probably the best thing is to ask your vet. No idea about cost, sorry.
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That sounds hopeful. Any idea how often they went?
My vet doesn’t have anything like that unfortunately but I will run it past them when they reopen
 
Yes, I go with Willow and she absolutely adores it. She also adores Bev, who manages the sessions, so that’s part of the reason why we go as well.

We were going (before lockdown) every two weeks and it’s £20 for 30 minutes. As you can see from the video, it’s a proper pool. There are some that are more like water treadmills. I wouldn’t take her to something like that as I can’t see there’s any fun in that at all.

I take Willow because she has luxating patellas in both back legs so it’s an activity that is less stressful on her joints. It’s also about freedom for her too as she’s not allowed off her lead due to her medical issues. I highly rate swimming for dogs and would take the other two in as well, if they could swim!!

Hope the video link works

https://imgur.com/a/LFQjrqi
 
Both Spot and Jake (Labradors) have had hydrotherapy. Spot swam once a week, every week for in excess of five years and I credit her being fit into her old age, due to hydrotherapy. She went to a pool that did not allow fun swims, everything was supervised and registered with the canine hydrotherapy association. Jake also swam each week, both adored the swimming, and the hydrotherapist and I would not hesitate in using their services again. The cost was £34 per session, per dog. Spot attended until she was 16 years old, Jake until he was 12. We stopped only when Spot began to suffer with dementia, and found the pool a bit overwhelming, and when Jake stopped swimming and just wanted to float. They both wore float coats and were very safe and happy whilst swimming. Spot initially took around 3 sessions to be entirely comfortable, Jake, being Jake, just walked straight into the pool and began to swim ???
 
We took Suzie after her cruciate surgery, she loved it and it really helped with her recovery and fitness. I think it was c£20/session with the physio, but once you knew what you were doing you could book it and take your dog in yourself which was cheaper, you could also buy blocks of 10.
 
I took one of mine to hydrotherapy for hip problems. Started off in the treadmill, she didn't like it and wouldn't stride out properly so we tried the pool, didn't like that either. She had a float coat on and a helper in the pool with her but she just kept panicking and refusing to try to swim properly so eventually we gave up. That was over £30 a session about 9yrs ago. She did however like paddling so we used to go to a local stream where there were some good long stretches and that helped a lot.
 
poiuytrewq said:
That sounds hopeful. Any idea how often they went?
My vet doesn’t have anything like that unfortunately but I will run it past them when they reopen
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Once a week, I think. I know she was hoping the insurance would cover it but I'm not sure what happened about that, she hadn't been many times before everything stopped for lockdown.
 
Clodagh said:
Can anyone tell me what they use in the water to prevent disease transmission?
I assume it’s it chlorinated but it is heated?
Sorry if this bring back sad memories poiuytrewq
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Not at all, interesting question. I never went as we didn’t appear to have a local one.
I have found one now though so it’s something I’d consider again.
The one at the place I take Bertie for training say the main difference to that and lake or river swimming is the temp, that swimming in cold water can be counter productive as it reduces circulation
So yes heated to a decent temperature.
 
My Jack russell had the treadmill one and the water was heated.

It was drained after every session and went through a treatment plant that was next to the machine then filled to the correct height for the dog.

I think it was Chlorinated as she had to be showered off before/after!
 
Elliedog goes two or three times a month. She used to do the treadmill, which was the same as BallyJ says but has now graduated to the big girls pool. It's heated, chlorinated and goes through a magic treatment plant.
 
Fair enough. So it shouldn’t cause conjunctivitis or ear infections then. 🤔 . This isn’t my dogs, I use the Torridge!
 
Clodagh said:
Can anyone tell me what they use in the water to prevent disease transmission?
I assume it’s it chlorinated but it is heated?
Sorry if this bring back sad memories poiuytrewq
Click to expand...
Not sure but friend has been asked not to take her elderly GR, as she has soiled the tank at least twice and that necessitates emptying the tank completely, cleaning it out and refilling.
 
My late whippet broke her leg.

She went on the water treadmill every week for about 6 weeks during her recovery.

She was lame walking outside of water but would appear sound on the water treadmill.
 
My friend takes his terrier who has had a back operation ( not recently) as it’s supposed to be good to build up her muscles, he pays £40 per session , I don’t know how long the session is . This is in Suffolk
 
I take my malamute every 3 weeks initially weekly for a strengthening 10 week course. £35 a time. She loves it, shes coming up to 11 years old and no signs of slowing down yet!

I originally started taking her as she started showing stiffness behind and slight ataxia, completely gone after the 10wk course
 
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