The Watering Hole Blog

Fish Tank Bound Hound

My Fish Tank Bound Hound – Canine Hydrotherapy 

 

“Everyone thinks they have the best dog and none of them are wrong.”

– Anon

Okay, now you’ve seen everything!

Yes, that’s Sadie in a rather large fish tank. She’s having hydrotherapy to help give her exercise that is not so painful on her arthritic joints. Her days of chasing the ball on land are over 🙁

Sadie was a very good sport about being put in the tank (treats helped). I’m not sure I would have been so tolerant of the water level quickly rising up around me…then the ground starting to move beneath my feet!

Sadie on the treadmill

Along with the hydrotherapy, she is also continuing to receive laser therapy as well as massage. She doesn’t seem to feel a thing with the laser therapy but she certainly reacts when the therapist hits a trigger point while massaging her back. Yikes! But then the next day, she is considerably more mobile.

These alternative therapies (plus the fact that she isn’t allowed to chase the ball on the ground anymore) really seem to be helping Sadie’s mobility. And (other than the massage) she certainly enjoys all the extra attention 🙂

The clinic we are going to for these treatments is Hillside Veterinary Clinic in Victoria. They have an entire rehabilitation department. Interestingly, the treatments are not particularly expensive either.

Of course, Sadie also continues to do hydrotherapy au naturelle…nothing beats the great outdoors for a swim!

Sadie at Spectacle Lake, Vancouver Island, BC

Happy Summer from me & my fish tank bound hound!

Maryanne Pope is the author of A Widow’s Awakening, the playwright of Saviour and the screenwriter of God’s Country. She is the executive producer of the documentary, Whatever Floats Your Boat…Perspectives on Motherhood. Maryanne is the CEO of Pink Gazelle Productions and Chair of the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund. If you would like to receive her weekly blog, please sign up here. Maryanne lives on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

 

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2 thoughts on “Fish Tank Bound Hound”

  1. I wish I was your dog! Maybe in my next life we can arrange that!?
    I have many aches and pains and I don’t get any treatments like that!?

  2. ahahahahahaha! I don’t think you are alone in wishing you were my dog…there is a waiting list for putting your name in to come back in your next life as one of my dogs. It is a VERY good gig! Oh man…I wonder if I would have taken such good care of human children, if I’d had them? Probably not 🙂

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