Paws in the Water: The Power of Hydrotherapy

Anyone who’s visited us at our JDP dog clinic knows that our underwater treadmill is one of our favorite tools for helping our patients become the healthiest, happiest version of themselves. But why do we love this particular treatment option, and how does it work?

With an understanding of canine physiology and biomechanics, we can use the treadmill to create a program that is individualised and effective in addressing your dog’s deficits and building up their strength, fitness and mobility, without breaking them in the process. Think of it like a gym for dogs!

But to fully understand how the treadmill is more beneficial than a walk outside, and why we might suggest switching that tennis ball with a rubber duck, we first need to consider some of the properties of water. 

Buoyancy:

I may be a fully grown adult woman, but best believe when I am in a pool I am  bobbing around like a cork, holding on to the side letting my feet float up, and living out my mermaid fantasies. That delicious feeling of weightlessness we get in the water is due to buoyancy. In our water treadmill, we can use buoyancy as a tool, by adjusting depth. When our dog is walking on land, they are taking 100% of their body weight, but as we increase the water depth, the amount of weight the dog is taking through their limb decreases. When the water is at it’s deepest, about shoulder/hip height, it is estimated that body weight is reduced up to 38%. 

This is helpful for two main reasons. Firstly, if the dog is getting pain from a weight bearing structure, like a joint, we can reduce the force that’s causing them pain and therefore allow them to exercise relatively pain free. Getting an arthritic joint moving and strengthening surrounding muscles will improve both pain and function. 

Secondly, in our treadmill we can adjust this depth- it’s not just full or empty. By gradually decreasing depth throughout our sessions, we can be gradually loading or unloading a joint or structure, just as you would gradually increase your weights at the gym, or the length of your runs. This can be especially helpful post-operatively, where we might need to be easing your dog back into normal walks, or with neurological conditions where the support of the water is less and less required as we see improvement.

TLDR: We can adjust the amount of weight bearing your dog is doing through manipulating water depth, and therefore can also gradually increase load. 

Hydrostatic pressure:

Unfortunately a lot of dogs that come to see us are doing so due to injury or disease. Often this comes with an amount of swelling or accumulated fluid. Swelling is a sign of inflammation, which is actually a necessary step in healing. However, excessive or prolonged swelling is not helpful. Swelling can be painful, and can limit movement in the swollen area. The water treadmill can help with excessive swelling in two ways. The first is just moving the area. It can seem counter intuitive, as it might seem more sensible to immobilise a sore or injured area, however once healing is sufficient we must get moving in order to regain function. Every time that muscle contracts, then relaxes it acts as a pump; moving that fluid away. Complimenting this, we can utilise the hydrostatic pressure, or the pressure of the water. When you’re under water, there’s a feeling of the water pushing in on you. The deeper you go, the more the pressure- this is why sometimes your ears will feel funny when you dive really deep. In a rehab setting, this water can act as a compression on swollen areas, gently encouraging the movement of fluid. 

TLDR: Water pushes against the dog’s body, acting as a compression to help manage swelling. 

Viscosity: 

A fancy word for a fairly basic concept. When you walk through the air, it’s easy, right? If you walk through knee deep water… harder. If you walk through chest deep water, you’re doing a workout. Don’t let Granny going aqua jogging fool you into thinking that’s an easy bit of exercise- give it a try next time you’re at the pool! Viscosity is the resistance, or friction, water gives when you walk through it. The deeper the water, the more the resistance. As we can control the depth on our treadmill, we can control resistance, therefore making it more or less of a workout for your pooch! This helps strengthen muscles, improve cardiovascular fitness and endurance. 

TLDR: Water provides a resistance to walking that can make it more of a workout than walking on land. 

Temperature: 

The water temperature in our treadmill is carefully controlled to between 29-32 degrees, perfect for our requirements. Too hot, and our poor best friends will overheat as they do their work out! But a bit of warmth helps relax tight muscles, soothes painful joints, and increases blood flow. 

TLDR: Warm water feels great on sore muscles and joints. 

Control:

Moving away from the benefits of water, there’s one other benefit we get from using the treadmill, and that is control. When your dog is in our treadmill, we can control resistance, speed, and facilitate their movement so they’re moving the best way possible. I’m by no means suggesting that your walks outside consist of your dog doing exactly what it wants while you hang on to the end of the lead, but if you can achieve the same control of variables that we can achieve with our water treadmill then you deserve a knighthood. Picture your personal trainer guiding you into a squat or chest press, we can do that for your dog! A sore limb leads to a change in the way your dog moves, and this in turn can lead to more problems than it fixes. So we can fix movement patterns, and ensure the right muscles and joints are moving and working in order to get the most out of the workout. If we consider the principles of strength and conditioning, the water treadmill is the ultimate tool to effectively work out your dog. We can ensure the session is specific and individual, with gradual loading to promote progress, and room for recovery. 

We love it, the dogs love it, and for what it can do for your best friends… you should love it too! If you are interested in our hydrotherapy services, get in touch via our website.