Dr. Barbara Fuglsang is the owner (and currently, only employee) of K9 Swim & Trim Inc. She graduated from Iowa State University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. She was drawn to emergency medicine which was a relatively new specialty at the time. It was always challenging, occasionally exhausting and often rewarding. She practiced at emergency clinics in Albuquerque, NM, southern CA, and Peoria, IL before joining Golf Rose Animal Hospital, in Schaumburg in May of 1995. She attended yearly continuing education centered on emergency medicine and critical care.
In February of 2012 Dr. Fuglsang left Golf Rose and began a search for a second act that still involved working with pets, but on a less stressful, more normal schedule. She was inspired by a segment on ABC’s Nightline called “Doggie Fat Camp” about a facility in NJ that used swimming, land treadmills, and diet to help dogs lose weight. She also read Dr. Ernie Ward’s book Chow Hounds and learned more about nutrition than she had in 28 years of practice. She researched other area dog swimming pools and saw a need to combine them with fitness conditioning and diet and weight loss counseling. She attended a 5 day course at Pet Massage in Toledo, OH in May 2013 that taught the basics of water work, or swimming combined with massage.
Wanting to add more letters after her name, she headed for the Canine Rehabilitation Institute and become a CCRT – Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist in 2017. She got a refresher course in anatomy along with learning state of the art treatments for conditions and injuries that benefit from rehab. The sports medicine class was eye-opening and inspiring. The final requirement was a week long internship at Canine Physical Rehabilitation of the Southwest with Jeffrey Flocker, a genuine hydrotherapy guru and mentor.
Read more about why certification is important for hydrotherapy
Dr. Fuglsang lives in Lake Zurich with 3 cats who tolerated her 13 hour emergency shifts. Oliver is the new cat on the block; a feisty, fat orange tabby who is still warming up to the older cats. Harley is a 12 year old cat with diabetes with an attitude that fits his name, he is the ruler of the cat house. He is lucky to have found such a forgiving owner! Fancy Pants is the new addition, he has a very bushy tail, that makes him more tail than cat. Dr. Fuglsang’s mother owns a 10 year old black lab named Sam that tipped the scales at 109# before becoming K9 Swim & Trim’s first client. His “swimming” has been confined to a kiddie pool in his back yard thus far, but he is currently down to 92# and enjoys his low calorie banana flavored treats and endless games of fetch.
