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Rocky’s Viewpoint

Rockys Viewpoint

A blog for people who treat their dogs better than family

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.

Category: Hydrotherapy

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…

Category: Exercise, Hydrotherapy

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. …

Category: Exercise, Hydrotherapy

Contrary to popular belief, many dogs don’t know how to swim. And as adult dogs, many also are terrified of the water. Since there are so many backyard pools especially in states like Florida, it’s important to teach your puppy how to swim. Why? Because they can potentially drown if they fall in. At Rocky’s…

Category: Hydrotherapy, Puppies