treadmill, underwater

[debbiej]

while rott.net was down, I went to the book store. (several things needing research.) I found an interesting book about arthritis in dogs. one thing it said was that the best exercise for hip degeneration was walking in at leat 6" grass and in at least 6" of water. then this book stated that an underwater treadmill was better than hydrotherapy because the dog's range of motion was better on a treadmill than when swimming. so I am on a quest. gonna build Hilda an underwater treadmill. my budding design is a watering trough, a flat base, pvc rollers with a treadmil of some kind. any ideas are welcome, but I have a pretty good idea how I'm going to build it.

[BostonRott]

Banja and I used one during her rehab. It was motorized and the speed could be controlled so that the dog was not being over-worked. Personally, this is not something I'd mess around with myself. It takes some getting used to on the dog's part (Ban settled right in, apparently not all dogs do), you need to be able to see their walking motion and know when they're getting tired via a view out the side of the tank (often with a mirror).

[debbiej]

Thanks for pointing that out. When she was taking hydrotherapy, the woman would take her pulse to determine when she was working too hard, and she would also make sure her legs were moving correctly. When she swam in our pool, her hind legs were a bit "lazy". thats what got me thinking about a treadmill. what I was thinking was non motorized. I wondered if I could even buy one of the non motorized kind for humans, and see how she does on it out of water. If it could be copied with pvc rollers and parts instead of metal. but it probably is unrealistic.

[BostonRott]

Are there any ponds near you? You could take her in so that the water does not come up over her elbows and then just walk.

[SonnyRott]

I also think with the non-motorized version you may need to get creative to get her moving. I don't think she'll do this on her own.

A pond or pool is a GREAT idea, and if she needs help initially, a doggy life vest works great!

[debbiej]

I know it is hard to imagine, but bodies of water are not common here. I've looked. the Rio Grande is very fast and dangerous in the summer and almost dried up in the winter. although there might be some parts. I'll keep looking.

[DoofiesMom]

Just a thought.....You can also buy the largest kiddie wading pool you can find, and fill it to your desired length on her leg. Try to get one about 10 feet in diameter so you can walk her in circles, which are used in physial therapy land programs to increase weight bearing (and thus muscle mass). The leg on the "inside" of the circle would be the one the weight bearing was forced on. When we did this, we started off doing two circles in each direction and increased to 20 each direction, with rest in between. I would get in the wading pool with him and make him walk along the edge (to ensure he was doing 10 foot circles). We found his wading pool at Walmart, it was bright blue with yellow duckies. On alternate days we walked hills. Before every meal he worked up to as many 20 sit-to-stand transistions, then stand-to-sits using slow, controlled motion (no "plopping down" of the rear- physically guide them if need be). This program really helped one of my dogs build up his weak rear and reverse atrophy.

Cheers,
Doofie's Mom

[debbiej]

thanks for the good advice and information! what if the dog's hips make her sit slowly and to the side? but she can do circles in a wading pool.

[DoofiesMom]

You really want them to sit square (feet tucked in and a tight rear, like a competition obedience sit where the front legs don't move and the back legs fold under), in a slow, controlled motion. If she rolls on her hips then I think it would be quite taxing to be doing these position changes so skip this one.

I think the circles in the wading pool and the leash walks on inclines are quite effective by themselves. We often changed the height of the water in the pool, sometimes to his hocks, sometimes almost to the elbow.

The water temp should be warm, I used to fill the wading pool up and let it sit in the sun for a few hours. In the winter, I would fill halfway with water from the hose, and the rest I would lug buckets out from the hot water in the house. Nothing but the best for my kid, LOL!!

Good Luck!!
Doofie's Mom