Reposted from another thread----as I was walking around the IMLP Expo late in the day on Saturday, the Endless Pool people were just finishing up and asked one of the guys watching if he wanted to put his dog in. Everyone was laughing as the dog was dropped into the pool (along with the owner), but the dog loved it. He swam for a minute, then paddled to the side. When they took him out, he twice tried to jump back in again! Very funny. Hey, it might be expensive, but it’s a good dog exerciser as well !
One of my Labs had surgery on his elbow about 1.5 years ago. He went to a rehab place for about four months after the surgery which included submerged treadmills as well as current pools for swimming. Here’s a link to their facilities page: http://www.vethab.com/RehabilitationFacilities.html#
The techs who worked with him said that he wanted to just surf with the current, not swim against it! Now there’s a smart dog!
My dog just had surgery on his elbow last week. He had to have a bone chip removed (actually took out three pieces). I was amazed at how fast he is recovering but I had no idea a facility like this existed. What types of exercises did they have your dog doing?
The place was really cool and the vet was great. He opened up his own rehab clinic when his own dog got hurt and he found that there were no rehab places around.
My dog had bone chips taken out of his elbow, too. They spent a lot of time flexing the arm trying to regain full range of motion. They also tried to “retrain” him how to walk normally. He had beem limping for a year or so and just had an unevent gait. So, that’s what the water treadmill was for. I’m not really sure what else they did…I just dropped him off in the morning and picked him up in the afternoon.
They had me build a little “obstacle course” to have him practice walking at home. It consisted of traffic cones and PVC pipes set up in a grid pattern that he had to weave his way in and out of. The vet said this made him really concentrate on how he was walking and strengthened the injured leg.
He’s still not 100%, but he’s much, much better than he was before the surgery/rehab.
And yes, everybody made fun of me for sending my dog to rehab three times per week!
The things we do for our pets! I have to take him in to have his stitches removed tonight so I’ll ask about exercises for him. He’s only a year old so I’m hoping he’ll get most of his range of motion back. Either way like you said it will be better than what it was.