We’re halfway through Baylor’s boot camp, and he’s looking good. He’s lost 7 pounds and his endurance and muscle tone is really improving. And you can now see his waistline! He still doesn’t care for swimming (imagine that for a lab) but he tolerates it. He’s now running on the treadmill instead of walking, swimming more with less rest, and he doesn’t get as winded when he plays with the other dogs.

My dog Yankee has walked all of his life in what’s called a “pace” gait. Unlike a standard gait where a dog’s diagonal legs move at the same time, a pace gate is where both limbs on the same side move forward and backward at the same time.

Thanks to DogTread, here’s a short video to show what I mean by a pace gait.

Prior to 2005, I didn’t know there was such a thing as canine massage! But after a vivid dream, I researched it, and changed careers. As ridiculous as it may sound to some people, aqua therapy, massage, aromatherapy, acupressure, and other modalities are viable, proven, non-invasive, holistic options for maintaining health and treating a wide range of conditions both in humans and animals.

Did you know that hydrotherapy, or water exercise was first used with horses and racing greyhounds? These animals were constantly exposed to the jarring effects of gravity and hard surfaces, putting extra stress on their bones and joints often causing injury. Because of its effectiveness, hydrotherapy in a warm water pool (with a temperature between 88 and 92 degrees) has become popular in most dog and cat rehabilitation centers.

You may or may not know this, but we spent a year researching what type of sanitation system we wanted to use in our aqua therapy center. We instinctively knew chlorine was very bad, and never considered it. We briefly considered bromine, a chlorine substitute, but again, it has many of the same harmful effects as chlorine. Then we looked at salt, but felt it would be too drying to both our skin and to the dog’s skin.

After surgical clearance from your veterinarian, one of the best ways to rehabilitate your dog is by warm water swimming with a trained hydrotherapist. Rehabilitation from broken legs, hip and knee surgeries and some spinal surgeries can be sped up by getting the dog moving appropriately in the water. After surgery, most dogs won’t put any weight…

My dog Beau, a seven and a half year old 70 pound mix breed was just diagnosed with elbow dysplasia. Most people are familiar with hip dysplasia in dogs, but what about elbow dysplasia (ED)?  Elbow dysplasia is a very real problem in many breeds. Medium and large breed dogs are most vulnerable but it…

There was an article in the Orlando Sentinel the other day that spoke about swimming and how it was never too late to start. The same thing is true with most dogs. A full body workout, swimming is about as perfect as an exercise can get. It’s non-weight bearing, making it easy on joints, and the…

Did you know that Rocky’s Retreat offers fitness swims for dogs who love to swim? What is a fitness swim? It’s a session where your dog is swimming freely in the water, without one of the Rocky’s Retreat aqua therapists in the water assisting and guiding the session (to provide maximum benefit for those dogs that need it).

Swimming has been a prescribed exercise by doctors for a variety of issues such as arthritis, joint and muscle stiffness, chronic back pain, and post-surgical rehabilitation for a long time.  It’s been known to be particularly helpful for seniors who are less flexible and who may be suffering from a variety of age related conditions. …

We are the only Orlando dog boarding and Orlando doggie day care center that has an indoor heated pool for dogs. See it for yourself by scheduling a tour!

Rocky's Retreat | 2826 Shader Rd. Orlando FL 32808 | info@rockysretreat.com | (407) 295-3888