If you’ve heard about how hydrotherapy can help humans, don’t overlook it as a therapeutic intervention for your pooch. Below, you can learn about some advantages associated with the practice to determine whether it might help your faithful friend feel better.
It Reduces Joint Strain
Hydrotherapy for dogs is frequently depended upon for rehabilitation after surgery. That’s because being in the water takes strain off of a dog’s joints and can allow them to move without unnecessary discomfort. By keeping an injured body part submerged in water during activity, a canine could begin to rebuild muscle in a way that’s more comfortable than just moving around on dry land.
Human athletes often exercise in therapy pools when they’re trying to recover from injuries more quickly. If your dog is a competitive greyhound racer or other type of show dog and its career has been adversely affected by an injury, that’s an especially compelling reason to look into hydrotherapy.
It Can Soothe Symptoms of Arthritis
Just like people, older dogs or ones who were injured when they were younger can suffer from arthritis. Whether you own a breed of dog that’s characteristically prone to developing arthritis or you’re just searching for ways to help your canine companion feel more comfortable in the later years of life, hydrotherapy could help ease the natural aging process.
Dogs Enjoy Water
Pet owners often find themselves in troubling and heartbreaking situations when a pet isn’t feeling like him or herself. Because there are natural communication barriers that exist between humans and dogs, it can be hard for us to explain what’s going on, and that any attempted therapies are actually meant to help, rather than cause mental anguish.
One great thing about hydrotherapy is most dogs naturally like water. Even if yours hasn’t gone swimming in a community pond or similar body of water before, natural instincts will likely kick in. Try hydrotherapy if you’re eager to do something helpful for your dog, but don’t want to cause intensive fear and uncertainty.
A Good Way to Maintain Cardiovascular Fitness
If a dog is recovering from an extensive injury or illness, you’ll likely be given orders from a veterinarian that your pet needs to stay active enough to keep up a level of fitness, but not become overly taxed. Hydrotherapy can help you easily meet that requirement because it can be tailored to match the capabilities of your dog and gradually altered to become more challenging as the recovery process continues.
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When your dog walks on an underwater treadmill, a canine hydrotherapy practitioner can increase the speed of the belt and length of time your dog participates in the activity. Because it’s so easy to change those variables as needed, you can rest assured your dog will be staying fit without risking a relapse.
Now that you know some of the reasons why hydrotherapy for dogs is gaining popularity, it should be easier to gauge whether to pursue it for your pet. If you’re looking for a practical way to help your dog stay fit, recover from a setback or ease pain, research the possibility of taking this therapeutic approach.
Caution!
Just remember, when the therapy session is over, you might want to cover yourself or stay out of the way!
