Well Claude had his first hyrotherapy session today and he was a little (well not so little)star bless him. Took to it like the proverbial duck lol. He will have two sessions a week for the next 2-3 weeks then weekly after that. I could kick myself for not thinking of it sooner. It was a delight watching him move freely in the water.

Good luck to Claude and hope it all goes well. Otto went for many months, but then gave up. With lots of inbuilt buoyancy but not much of a keel, had to wear a lifejacket but soon realised he didn't have to do anything to stay afloat.  Alone in a large warm tank, tethered to the sides and a slight current to swim against he worked out very early on that he was going no where and the occasional flip of a paw would stop him getting his ears wet. Lots of encouragement from the sides including the mention of food and toys just got a look, 'I'm not falling for that'.

> Lots of encouragement from the sides including the mention of food and toys just got a look, 'I'm not falling for that'

LOL Oh bless him!! Claude was in a harness and on a pole with a couple of buoyancy aids around his hips. The current was quite strong as well. He thoroughly enjoyed his time in the pool and the staff were amazed at how quickly he took to it. They had warned me he would probably panic and go a bit manic but he really did take to it like the proverbial duck. I'm taking my camera with me next time,I meant to take it today but as I was a bit nervous it went right out of my head. I swear he was swimming and grinning at the same time lol

Its great for them isn't it.  My staffy used to go and her legs would go like the clappers.  The people who owned the pool said she did in 5 minutes what other dogs did in 20 she put so much effort in.  It was so funny to watch and was fantastic for her recovery.  That's great that Claude loved it.

My 3 go fortnightly, we book an hour, and the beastie has an half hour play session (his temperament means we can't let him free run), so his is purely for exercise, my girls go because of their hips. We originally went with Dolly after her cruciate repair surgery, and then started taking the rest of the brood.

The beastie just jumps, fetches his toy and swims back, but the owner of the pool gets in with the girls to make sure they're working their legs properly. The girls don't enjoy it really, and expend most of their energy trying to swim to the ramp and get out!

I love taking them, especially seeing the beastie having fun, he gets stressed out with change, but he loves it there, it's almost become an extension of our home, so his puppy side comes out.

The other really good thing, is they breed Wolfhounds, so I sometimes get to cuddle a puppy!!!! Sooo cute.

Otto went for many months, but then gave up. With lots of inbuilt buoyancy but not much of a keel, had to wear a lifejacket but soon realised he didn't have to do anything to stay afloat.  Alone in a large warm tank, tethered to the sides and a slight current to swim against he worked out very early on that he was going no where and the occasional flip of a paw would stop him getting his ears wet. Lots of encouragement from the sides including the mention of food and toys just got a look, 'I'm not falling for that'.

Perhaps the water treadmill would be more useful for him then. He's be forced to move then. :-)

> Perhaps the water treadmill would be more useful for him then. He's be forced to move then

Yes he did that too, now in warmer weather walk him through 'shallow' water at the beach.