Allow for warm water and non-weight bearing exercise to ease and comfort that of degenerative

As arthritis progresses, you may see your dog start to slow down when they move. They may even be unwilling to walk or run, play fetch or jump. During each hydrotherapy session we use a variety of exercises to help ease stiffness and pain. Massage soothes any areas of tension and encourages better blood flow to muscles, and we also use gentle stretching throughout the swim to relieve stiffness and improve range of movement.

Benefits of Hydrotherapy:

• Reduces tissue swelling
• Pain relief in joints and muscles
• Increase cardiovascular stamina
• General fitness
• Muscle tone
• Range of Movement
• Relieve Stiffness
• Massage to soothe tension and encourage blood flow

The other great thing that hydrotherapy provides is a safe environment that removes most of their body weight from the equation. Once we’ve built up some stamina, trust and good movement with them in the pool, if your dog is so inclined, we may introduce toys to the pool. Allowing them to have some play time with a ball or toy during their hydrotherapy session is wonderful for us and owners to see, as well as being super exciting for the dogs too!

Unfortunately, hydrotherapy can’t reverse the effects of arthritis, but what it can do is slow down its progress, provide pain relief, maintain muscle mass, increase fitness, provide physical and mental stimulation and improve their overall quality of life. What’s not to love about something that can do all that?!