My gsd has had a lot of hip problems recently ( I had mentioned this on a previous thread as she was nearly pts because of it ) but now she has recovered enough for me to consider taking her for hydrotherapy to help her strengthen the muscles again. We have a hydro pool 3 minutes down the road yet my vet wants me to go somewhere over an hours drive away. I have spoken to my local pool and they seem very qualified, they go in the pool with the dogs, are covered by pet plan etc and only treat 1 dog at a time starting with 10 mins and working up depending on how the dog responds. Is there likely to be a difference between the local pool and the one my vet wants me to use or could my vet have financial gain by using one over the other.
I want what is best for my dog but if I can get that just down the road then that would obviously be better than a long drive. I have spoken to the other pool people and cannot see any difference, but I'm not sure of the right questions to ask.
Any advice would be great

Sue. So pleased to hear your gsd is doing so well. Have you had any feedback from others using the pool closest to you? Are you covered by insurance and would that make a difference if your vet is suggesting the further one, have you asked him why it is his choice. Have used two hydrotherapy pools and although very different, pleased with both.  The less expensive of the two I prefered as they got in the pool with the dog and he 'had ' to swim, in the other he was positioned by tethers, wearing a buoyancy jacket to the centre of the pool where he was 'meant' to swim against the current. Little bugger soon realised that with the jacket (even with his short legs) that with the odd paddle of a paw he could happily bob up and down with little effort! He started off by doing only a couple of mins,  as I'm told that a min of swimming is equal to a mile on foot! He was rested in both, in one they checked his gums and his pulse and in the other where they were in the pool it was done visually.

My vets always recommends the hydrotherapy pool which is about a 30 min drive from where I live.  They prefer this one not only because the staff are fully qualified but also because it is joined to a vets incase of any emergencies.

I would be slightly concerned by a hydrotherapy pool that suggests starting with a 10 minute swim...it doesn't sound alot but this is very hard work for a dog new to swimming and especially one with hip problems.  All my dogs started on a 3 min swim and built up from there.  Also I would be looking for a pool that also has a qualified physiotherapist that can examine your dog and give you other exercises to help.

I have just started hydrotherapy with my dog on Saturday. I have decided to use a pool about 30 minutes away rather than go to Fitzpatricks (where he had surgery) over an hour away! I am very happy with the local pool, it was all very professional and I couldn't have asked for a better service! My lurcher wasn't too happy with the water treadmill (as expected) but due to the careful introduction and the large number of treats along the way, he was much less stressed than I expected. They explained everything very carefully and gave my dog that time he needed to get used to things. I am very happy to go back there.

So I would say to perhaps go and watch a session or two with other dogs and then decide whether your dog would be happy there.

Also, did your vet give you a reason why he doesn't want you to use that local pool?

Vera

Could you maybe ask to visit both pools and then make a decision on what you see. Maybe your vet doesn't have any experience of the closer one and therefore cannot recommend them. I take two of my dogs to hyrdo and travel just over 20 mins to them. I found them through recommendation from a friend and they are very good in comparison to one I used to use before we moved house (and they were vet recommended).

Good Luck

Your vet may have knowledge of the pool further away but personally I wouldn't want an old dog of mine sitting wet or damp in the car for an hour after a swim. It would be counter productive. This happened to me when I went to a great chiropractor but would then be on the motorway for an hour and I really didn't feel any benefit.

When one of my dogs had a spine op I couldn't use the hydrotherapy pool at my vets a) because she wasn't mobile enough to walk down a ramp and the pool didn't have a hoist and b) her vax had expired whilst she was ill and they wouldn't accept her (rules etc). So, although I had experience of another hydrotherapy pool they weren't really geared up for incapacitated dogs, luckily I found another pool nearby who would take her on, they had 2/3 assistants on hand to help and for a while she went in a hoist and was lowered down under control which I was happy with. Nowadays she goes in via the ramp. They take her pulse regularly and it is an organised swim, where she goes round both ways, back and forth and has time in front of the jets. They rinse her down afterwards and blast her off not totally dry but it's only 10 mins away so I can finish the job when we get home.

You might find a local boarding kennel near you with hydro facilities.

We have a couple of hydrotherapy pools nearby,however my vet advised to go to one further a field as she said the staff are very experienced and are fantastic with the dogs,went yesterday and they said that my dog will only be ready for the big pool in a couple of months,she is having treatment on  treadmill which is in a very large glass chamber it is filled with water from the pool,my dog can see me all of the time,

Sheila

Many thanks, it is beginning to make sense.
The local pool has a hoist to lower her into the water and they said that usually a dog will start with 10 mins, however the dog will be assessed and the time will be altered according to the dogs ability, so she won't be pushed into doing more than she can cope with. When I asked my vet why his choice was so far away he pulled a face and said they have experienced staff, however if the local pool is accepted by petplan ( where my gsd in insured ) then I am sure they must be experienced as well as I can't imagine petplan paying out for a pool that is staffed by inexperienced people. My friend went to the local pool with her GR and said they were fantastic and did a lot of good. I think it makes sense to go and watch each place as they work however I too don't fancy a damp dog in the car for a longish journey especially with the winter coming on, I'm not sure it would do much good for her joints to get a chill. They said that they like the owner to be at the side of the pool so the dog can see you, but they go into the water with her ( thank goodness for that ! )
Thanks once again for the very helpful advice

Right,

We've been to many hydro pools and they all work differently. What I have found that the ones that are part of the CHA(Canine Hydrotherapy Association)  http://www.canine-hydrotherapy.org/ seemed to actually care more about the dog. Its nice for the hydrotherapist to get into the pool with the dog, but its not critical.
Any pool set up under the CHA umbrella will have to meet their requirements which normally are a lot higher than those who aren't. Also most insurance companies now will say that you need to use a pool which is CHA registered otherwise they won't pay and PetPlan are one of these companies and was with them last year when claiming for hydro.

I know my vet recommends a pool an hour away from us, when there is one closer(not by much), but they know the results which are coming back from there.
I personally would go and check out the pool first and any decent business will allow you to do so and will be welcoming of you asking questions.
Most of the pools will have a blaster and should offer this to you with a long or thick coated dog.

I would be asking your vet why they are not recommending the pool closer to you. Maybe they haven't seen good results, maybe the therapist isn't very good, maybe they aren't CHA.
http://www.canine-hydrotherapy.org/
To be part of the CHA you need to of completed a particular set training course, anyone can set up a hydro business or even just a pool and not have any qualifications.

The best pool i've been to start off with the dog swimming for about 10 mins, they do this when they aren't regular swimmers and build up the time in the pool, 1 min swimming equates to 10 mins normal exercise. If you went out for a jog after not going for a while it would be silly to do too much as you'll end up injuring yourself, same is applied here.
They also checked his temp before and after the swim, rinsed him off before and after swim and blowed dried him. It was about 20-30min drive from mine, small pool, but its the quality of service and the right programme that I was looking for and I got it.
The pools not under the CHA really didn't care about the dog too much, weren't doing much for the actual problem and almost left me to deal with the dogs...

ETA: A hoist should be a requirement of the CHA!! Well it was the last time I looked :-)

The one we use is CHA,and the hydrotherapist does go in the pool with the dogs,saw a lab swimming freely yesterday with the staff,was told that the dog had been going there for a couple of years.

Sheila.

> don't fancy a damp dog in the car for a longish journey especially with the winter coming on,

We dried him as much as posible and used to take hot water bottles and towels with us for the return home on cold days.

Many many thanks Suejaw, I have looked at the 'find a member' and both pools are listed, the distant one and the one down the road, so this means that I am leaning towards the local one although I will watch them both work before making up my mind. It just seems silly to have a long drive when it will take me 3 minutes to reach the nearest pool especially as they are both members of the CHA.
Also many thanks to all advice offered here, yesterday I was really confused and today things are a lot clearer, CD does it again !!!

One last question, my gsd moults non stop and since being ill this seems worse. I brush her daily but can get a tesco's bag full of hair every time I brush and yet still have clumps of hair where she has been laying. I t concerns me that there could be a layer of hair on the top of the pool after she has been there, how do they handle this

Can I suggest that anyone worried about a dog chilling after hydrotherapy might like to consider a BACK ON TRACK Mesh sheet.  My one dog chills quickly and has had cramp to the point that the vets thought she'd broken or dislocated something.  Since having a mesh sheet, I've put it on to help the circulation.  I also use it generally when travelling to shows as it gets the blood flow and aids better mobility and movement when we arrive, especially on a chilly morning after an hour and more drive to a show.

A lot of the agility people use these coats but I haven't seen them much in the show circles.  They also do a lovely waterproof one.

They work by Far infrared - a technologically advanced material has ceramic woven into the fibres which when worn reflects body heat back as an infra red wave.

They are not the cheapest dog coat in the world but I've noticed an improvement since I've had them.

From what I remember they skimmed the pool with a net rather like a swimming pool and also had filters. Good luck & take plently of towels.

Yes they skim the pool with a net,I could see them doing that last Sunday,a load of black hair was collected,hope all goes well for your boy.

Sheila

Oh sorry,your girl,must of been having a blonde moment.

Your vet may have knowledge of the pool further away but personally I wouldn't want an old dog of mine sitting wet or damp in the car for an hour after a swim.

The hydrotherapy pool nearest to me dry the dogs when they come out of the pool and no dogs are left wet or damp - if you have a long-coated breed they charge a small fee for this on top of the other fees but all dogs are dried whether they are short coated or long coated.

The pool nearest to me has a good reputation and if you follow this link to their site a lot of the answers to your questions can be found

http://www.petlodge.co.uk/hydrotherapy.asp

Don't worry if your girl leaves copious amounts of hair in the pool. It's part n parcel of their job to remove hair, comes with the territory! What they don't like however is to deal with pee or poo in the pool so make sure your girl performs beforehand.

At Belmont k9  they offered to dry our girl with  dryers but we thought it may of stressed her so we refused,however they towel dried her for us.

Sheila