What is Canine Hydrotherapy?
All dogs are likely to need hydrotherapy within their lifetime, young or old! Canine hydrotherapy can have significant benefits by aiding your dog’s healing if they are recovering from injury or surgery. It’s also an excellent natural method of helping improve many conditions, including arthritis, spinal injuries, and obesity.
Benefits include:
Non weight bearing exercise for joint health and mobility
Increased exercise tolerance, stamina, and muscle stimulation
Pain relief, improved function, and reduced inflammation
Slows degenerative diseases and enhances quality of life
Therapeutic and safe environment.
Intensive, low-impact exercise for faster recovery
Provides mental stimulation and FUN for dogs of all ages!
Hydrotherapy Treatment
Just like us humans, following injury and during recovery, our dogs exercise level and ability decreases which causes their muscles to lose strength and tone due to the amount of inactivity. Once the rest period is over it is vital to rebuild muscle very carefully to ensure a complete recovery and avoid jeopardising their previous veterinary treatment. We have the knowledge and training to provide a bespoke recovery programme.
Hydrotherapy is ideal for dogs with joint conditions such as arthritis, hip and elbow dysplasia. The buoyancy of water reduces pressure on joints, allowing for low-impact exercise that can alleviate pain, improve mobility, and strengthen muscles surrounding affected areas, making it a great treatment option for dogs suffering from joint pain due to arthritis.
We have a heated pool to provide a relaxing and therapeutic environment. Warm water acts to relax muscles by increasing skin temperature which reduces pain and muscle spasm. Hydrostatic pressure property of water also works to alleviate swelling by encouraging bodily fluid movement away from the affected area.
Our pool provides:
Ample space for large breeds to have an effective swim.
Heated to 28 – 30c for optimal muscle & joint performance
Thorough water sanitation and quality
The pool has a ground-level walk-in ramp that has been specifically designed to allow for easy exit and entry.
Complementary drying facilities & wet room
Our sessions can take up to 45mins which includes:
Update with owner and check up
Hydrotherapy session in pool (varies from 15-30 mins depending on dog and condition)
Complementary dry down and shampoo if requested
Write up of detailed session & veterinary notes
Hydrotherapy Assessments
Assessments are essential for all of our new pooches planning to undergo a treatment/recovery programme. These typically include:
A physical assessment of your dog: gait analysis, lameness & light-touch palpation. We then agree short and long term goals together.
Discussion regarding lifestyle, health and fitness - so we can assess any small wins you can make at home to support your dogs recovery/weight-loss journey.
An introductory swim in a safe and controlled environment with a skill hydrotherapist. It can be daunting for some dogs so we treat them with patience and kindness.
You (the owner) staying in the pool room during sessions to provide encouragement & motivation to your pooch - plus providing high value treats in between sets.
Typically totals max 1hr for the full assessment, but the time spent in the pool (up to 10 mins) will be dependant on your dog's physical fitness and wellbeing.
After an agreed number of sessions, we then do another assessment to check how we’re doing against our short and long terms goals.