Canine Hydrotherapy - Swimming As A Recovery Exercise

Canine Hydrotherapy - Swimming As A Recovery Exercise

If your dog is injured, especially in the limbs, one of the most recommended treatments is hydrotherapy. Hydrotherapy is basically nothing but swimming for the dogs. Swimming is a great exercise for recovering and recuperating dogs. The benefits of swimming to help the dog regain its musculoskeletal and neurological strength are unmatched.

Why use canine hydrotherapy for the dog?


Injuries to dogs generally require immobilization of the injured area, which in most cases is the leg of the dog. Within 3 days of immobilization, the muscles of the area begin to lose strength due to inactivity. Once the immobilization period is over, there is a requirement of strength in those muscles again. However, due to muscle wastage, the muscles cannot function well.

This therefore requires certain muscle strengthening exercises so that the dog can recuperate and walk well. Nevertheless, since the muscles and joints are weak, you cannot expect your dog to just start walking and running again, as it makes the dog bare a lot of load on its legs. In fact, such movements after an injury could do more harm and cause the recurrence of injury.

Hydrotherapy, which mainly involves swimming, keeps the weight of the dog off the feet due to buoyancy. Being non-weight bearing exercise it allows for safe recovery of the joint movement and flexibility, without any risk.

Whole Body Fitness through Swimming for your Dog


Swimming is a great exercise, which can strengthen a lot of systems of the body. It affects the cardiovascular, the musculoskeletal as well as the neurological systems of the dog's body.

Cardiovascular: Swimming is a great aerobic exercise and can get the heart pumping like no other exercise. It is known that swimming can increase the circulation within the body of the dog. Research has proven that heart and lung capacities increase dramatically after swimming for a few weeks.
Musculoskeletal: Swimming is a great way to strengthen the muscles, ligaments and tendons and to improve joint flexibility. After swimming, the muscular tone increases dramatically and ligament and tendon strength also rises. The water acts as a resistance, and swimming in the water forces the dog to push against it to stay afloat. This movement is non-load bearing and therefore less stressful for the animal, making this an ideal recovery exercise for the animal.
Neurological: certain neurological conditions lead to restricted movements of the limbs of the dogs. Swimming is a great way for the nerves to get activated to allow better neurological transmission in the body.

From the above points, it can be deduced that swimming is a great exercise not just for injured dogs but for healthy ones as well, because it can help strengthen the body and also build stamina in the dogs. Hydrotherapy although mainly used for recovery of injured dogs, can also therefore be utilized to strengthen and make fit healthy dogs as well.