During a water therapy session, even if your dog has only signed up for a swim conditioning program, there will need to be resting times as water is up to 20 times the resistance of air. It is during these resting times when bodywork and massage are ideal. An experienced therapist should be noticing the movement and strength used during a swim. Limitations to the gait and movement are detectable in the 3 dimensionality of water – and then during …
Question: My dog doesn’t use his back legs when swimming. Answer: Good question! I was horrified when I first started back in 1996 and noticed that probably 50% of dogs don’t use their back legs in water…. And then I remembered the dog paddle – – – remember when you were a little kid and you learned how to dog paddle? That’s strictly a front arm paddle… Since nearly 80% of the dogs who come to see me in spa are coming …
My Dog does not like to be in water. Can he still benefit? Question: My Dog does not like to be in water. Can he still benefit from therapy at La Paw Spa? Answer: Cindy at La Paw Spa excels in the department of emotional safety in water. She has built her practice and school on the importance of this. The first session is always about emotions and Cindy takes great care in helping the dogs onto the steps where …
Question: Can I get in the water with my dog? Answer: Absolutely !!! However, on our first session – you will be better support for your dog by being at pool side. Cindy does most of her first session at the steps, talking with you and getting to know your dog and your dog getting to know and trust her and the pool… there is a lot going on with that first session and we like to keep things safe …
Question: I see that all of your appointments are an hour long. I don’t think that my dog can handle that much activity. Do you have any shorter appointments available? Answer: Spa time is a lot more than just the time spent swimming! Along with swimming, we also spend time doing gentle range of motion and massage. We understand that swimming takes a great deal of effort (twenty times more than moving in air!), so we are very careful not to …
Question: Do you use Life Jackets at La Paw Spa? Answer: If you are coming to Cindy for a therapy session, she will be in the water for the entire session with your pup. She will choose not to use a life jacket in a session so that she can see the full range of motion used in the water and to be able to do bodywork accordingly. Cindy will support as needed so that your dog will never feel …
Question: When can I do self swimming? Answer: Well, that depends on your skill and what your dog requires. Many people who want to self swim require only one instructional session from Cindy and then they are well on their way. Some people prefer to spend a bit more time with Cindy before they feel capable of “taking the oars”, so to speak. This is highly individual, and something to be decided between you, Cindy, and your canine partner. The most important …
Question: How many sessions will my dog require at La Paw Spa? Answer: Well.. this is a loaded question… the answer to this one depends on about 20 different variables – maybe more. We first will want to discuss your situation with your veterinarian and come up with what our goals are for the work. Here are some examples of programs that have worked well with other dogs – and what we usually do is start slow, take notes and the answer …
Question: Is my dog too big to swim in your pool? And how are we going to get him in? Answer: When my buddy, Cardiff, arrived at the pool, he resembled a small horse weighing in at 240 pounds. This was the largest dog that had ever visited La Paw Spa. Well okay, he was actually the biggest dog I had ever seen! I almost snuck out the back door!!! To get this big fella in the pool, his ‘Mom’ …
Question: My Dog does not know HOW to swim. Is water therapy really the right thing for him? Answer: First of all, it’s really important to understand that swimming is only a portion of the benefit of warm water therapy. With some dogs, swimming isn’t even a part of the program at all. We always begin with bodywork and ROM work at the steps of the pool and slowly get deeper in the water as your dog’s trust and comfort …