Joyce’s first Blog: Whose swimming with us these days
Woo-Hoo!!! I’m blogging. This is fun.
We have a great variety of dogs coming this week.
Bulldog, Pit Bull, Sheltie, Labs in a variety of colors, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Pugs, Aussies, Border Collies, All Americans, and the list goes on.
Some come because their owners don’t know if they can swim or not. Many of those keep coming because the conditioning is so good for them, the owners love seeing their dogs have such a great time. The dogs can also build such confidence.
A big lab who had TPLO walked in on three legs a few months ago. His owner and I were thrilled when he walked back to the car after his swim, using all 4 legs. He is still coming so that he can continue to build strength and endurance.
One little dog that came last fall is back again. She has a significant neurological problem that left her back legs pretty useless. She was terrified last fall because someone in a pool in another state had been pretty rough with her in the water. Although she benefited from the relaxation the water afforded her muscles, she didn’t paddle much. This year, watch out! She is growing in confidence every time she comes, proud as punch that she can paddle herself across the pool. Her cores strength is improving, and the hope is that over time, the anti gravity environment of the water will let her show us that she does have more muscle function in those back legs than she can currently use on dry land.
In many dogs [and people as well] it’s hard to see that muscles are working when the muscle isn’t strong enough to fight the power of gravity. It’s one of the wonderful things about water. It provides support, allows movement and than as the muscles get stronger, moving faster in the water provides resistance.
Other dogs in the pool this week are those recovering from orthopedic surgeries, dogs with arthritis, hip displasia, spinal injuries, peripheral nerve injuries, obesity, and for just plain fun.
Our youngest ever dog in our pool was about 16 weeks. So far the oldest I think has been 17. One thing I hope will happen as the idea of indoor warm water swimming for dogs take hold in the greater Portland/Vancouver area is that people will bring their older dogs BEFORE they are showing difficulties getting up from the floor, up to the bed, onto the couch, etc. Just like in humans, non weight bearing exercise can be used as much for prevention as for cure.
TAFN
Keep yourselves and your K9 friends cool.
6 Responses Leave a comment
Joyce,
I’ve learned so much about what you do with K9 warm water swimming.
I’ll keep reading and learning!
My dog’s had so much fun! we will definitely come back again.
Thanks for your kind words
Joyce, your patiences is something, Im surprised you havent required us to bring ear plugs to each session.
Good Morning! I saw you on TV this morning! What an awesome job! We have 2 Goldens who LOVE to swim anywhere, but it so cold this time of year. I was just wondering if they would be allowed to play together or need to be separate and how much it costs for how long. Thanks and keep on doing this! What a wonderful, fun job! Patti
Hi Patti,
Thanks so much for your inquiry. Generally we don’t swim dogs together, but two in the same family can be an exception if all goes well. I’m certainly willing to give it a try. We would swim each dog alone first, [but in the same session] and assuming they did not have any issues with regard to being inside in a warm pool with steps to enter as opposed to what they are likely used to [lakes and rivers outside] it will probably be fine. Safety is a big concern for us, so we would want them able to enter and exit safely on their own. We charge by the time so your cost would just reflect the time they are in the pool room. We do have clients that bring multiple dogs that swim one at a time. If there are more than two in a time slot, than we tack on an extra $5. for filter cleaning, pool maintenance etc.