Our state of the art canine underwater treadmill will support your dogs journey in rehabilitation, management or treatment of their condition / disease.

What is hydrotherapy?

Canine hydrotherapy is a form of non-weight bearing exercise, this can be seen in either a swimming pool or the use of an underwater treadmill ( UWTM). Controlled exercise in water, (reduced or controlled weight bearing), which is low impact, and has therapeutic benefits, here at Imogen’s Canine Theracare we have an underwater treadmill. Hydrotherapy involves the use of key water properties which are important in facilitating rehabilitation. The key water properties help to reduce pressure from the joints and encourage a greater range of movement. Diseases and conditions referred for treatment / management include: arthritis, forelimb lameness, hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, shoulder OCD, luxation of the patella, neurological conditions such as IVDD (Intervertebral disc disease) wobblers disease. Hydrotherapy for dogs is a type of physical therapy where dogs perform certain exercises in water at a rehabilitation center under the supervision and direction of a certified hydrotherapist. It’s used to achieve functional goals in rehabilitation. Hydrotherapy helps modify soft tissues, ligaments, tendons, and muscles to improve a dog’s ambulatory mechanisms and make them as comfortable as possible.

The main aim of Hydrotherapy is to decrease pain, ease discomfort and improve the overall physical and mental wellbeing of the dog, that is the main target of any treatment plan that we aim to achieve through hydrotherapy.

Physiological effects

We aim to improve Cardiovascular fitness as we know that swimming is very cardio active and good at training the cardiovascular system. One minute on the treadmill belt is equivalent to one mile of walking. In doing so we are also going to target the muscle strength and endurance and this improves muscle tone. This also works for neurological patients who lack tone, it is beneficial as it help bring tone back to those muscles. Increase circulation by upping the cardiovascular fitness and improving blood circulation to muscles who need more circulation to the area. By being in the warm water, targeting muscle groups and encouraging movement .

Range of motion is increased in water which can be enhanced by using certain hand positions and techniques to encourage that. This is very useful for conditions such as hip dysplasia when they don’t want to extend through the hip, this will actually encourage them to do so in a minimal non weighted environment. Increases proception by the use of hydro static pressure of the water in addition to the canine therapist using tac tile stimulation throughout the process.