Is your dog a true athlete?
Then make sure to read the advice below of Bart Menten, dog physiotherapist, who used to be active at one of Belgian’s most prominent rehabilitation centres.

Tip 1: Your dog needs, just as every other athlete, a warming up and cooling down session in order to avoid injuries

Few people take the time to give their dog a warming up, or cooling down session before/after a hard workout. Nonetheless, these are very important for your dog. A good warming up can avoid many injuries.

Just like with humans, the warming up is the moment when the body is being prepared for the upcoming activity. Especially during cold weather, this is a very important part of your dog’s training. The blood flow of the muscles begins to go faster, the respiration goes up, together with an increased heart rate. Furthermore, the warming up will also supple your dog’s joints.

After a game, or training session the cooling down is an important moment. It certainly isn’t healthy to just put your dog in his dog kennel or the car after a heavy physical activity. You have to give your dog the opportunity to come to rest so that his heart rate, respiration and blood circulation can normalize again.

With hydrotherapy they use a swimming pool, a tread way (with or without water) and a spa.
The spa is used both before and after the rest of the therapy to warm up and cool down, which is as important as the training itself because (as said before) it will prevent injuries and muscle acidosis.

The swimming pool is a useful tool because it allows movement without burdening the joints.
This is a very important issue for older dogs, but also for dogs with paralysis or at the beginning of muscular development.

The tread way enables a better power training, but is also a useful tool for balance recovery and learning how to place the paws again The device has different functions such as the angle of inclination, the water level, etc. Thanks to these various settings every dog gets its own personal training.

Want to find out more about these techniques, or do you have any questions?
Send us an e-mail and we’ll bring you in contact with Bart Menten, who will definitely be able to help you with this matter.