The Next Dark Age
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Splash Dog
In his last years, our dog Shadow had some pretty bad arthritis. Our vet, like many MDs treating arthritic people, recommended exercise in the water. It is pricey, but it really helped. Shadow spent a lot of time at Splash Dog, a hydrotherapy facility for dogs. As everywhere, he was very popular. His picture is still on their website:
On the long list of laments when he passed was that my mother, Kay, wouldn’t Amy and Traci anymore. Enter Gibbs.
Gibbs gets plenty of exercise and is ridiculously toned. But as everyone knows, he is a pain in the butt in new situations and with new people. It is hard to find “safe places” to take him – where he isn’t scared-to-barking-incessantly. So Kay thought of Splash Dog and made an appointment.
He was predictably anxious on his first visit – on a day that I had Fiona at a charity walk. But on Saturday, I was at yoga so Fiona tagged along on Gibbs’ appointment. They even let her in the pool room, which was particularly nice since she had been skunked the day before. Again.
They kept waiting for her to jump in, but she just paced around the edges. But you can see that the dog wears a life jacket and is guided through the exercise by a staffer that is also in the pool. I have also seen places that put a treadmill in the water and the dog walks on the treadmill, but I like this better. Appointments are 30 minutes.
Further shout out to Splash Dog because they support local rescue groups. They have personally adopted from Wright-Way Rescue and Fiona and I met Amy yesterday at the walk for the Puppy Mill Project. (Side Note: It was really scary to have a total stranger come up to me, look at my dog and ask: Is that Fiona?)
So. Consider Splash Dog recommended by Gibbs.
The Next Dark Age 
Seriously? Water therapy for dogs is the cutest thing I’ve heard in a long time.
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