Rio had her first swim therapy this morning. It went great. The therapists were really amazed at how well Rio took to the hydrotherapy pool. They kept saying how impressed they were that she did this well on her first session. I wasn’t surprised, because she is a very smart and adaptive dog. I think she was just relieved that nobody was trying to stick her with needles, so she just went with it. They had an orange and blue Chuck-it ball — her favorite — and she swam to get it and played with it for about 20 minutes of the half hour session. The ladies massaged her and stretched her and guided her around as she swam, and aside from being a bit nervous and resistant when they were backing her into the pool, she seemed to enjoy it. So we signed her up for another session next week.
Rio's an excellent patient!
And now she’s completely shot and snoozing on the couch with her sisters.
Nice job Rio!!! I wish I had a place like that around here. Mom keeps talking about a pool, but that is not very practical for us. I will have fun in the river as soon as the ice leaves and warms up a bit.
Yeah, it’s really great to have a place like that so near us, especially because we live in a pretty rural area. And it’s way too cold to swim in Puget Sound most of the year! Plus the salt water doesn’t always agree with our digestive system. 🙂
Hydrotherpay is great for tripawds, but do they not use life jackets at that facility!?
Yes, they do have life jackets, and Rio wore it during the swim portion of her therapy. This was during the massage. She’s standing on an elevated platform in the pool.