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Canine Hydrotherapy Improves Mobility

10 Jul 2016
Animals
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Here is a great article on the positive effects of canine hydrotherapy for mobility of Labradors suffering from elbow dysplasia.

Provided by:Society for Experimental Biology

Doggy paddles help dogs to stay on the move

July 6, 2016
Doggy paddles help dogs to stay on the move
A dog is held up in the water during a hydrotherapy session. Credit: Tate Preston

Canine hydrotherapy improves the mobility of Labradors suffering from elbow dysplasia. Not only this, it also positively affects the strides of healthy dogs, showing great potential as both a therapeutic tool and an effective way to keep your dog fit.

Watch this fantastic video.

Mobility is a huge issue for dogs suffering from forelimb lameness, affecting their ability to live a normal happy, doggy life. The most common cause of forelimb lameness is dysplasia, a genetic disorder that causes in the dog’s elbow. Some breeds of dog, Labradors and German Shepherds for example, are particularly susceptible to this condition.

Researchers at Hartpury University Centre, UK, Tate Preston and Dr Alison Wills, have discovered that hydrotherapy helps with movement in Labradors with elbow dysplasia. Dr Wills explains: “Dogs with elbow dysplasia displayed an increased range of motion, stride frequency and stride length—measures of mobility in our study—after the hydrotherapy.”

The benefits of hydrotherapy also extended to the healthy control group. “Interestingly, the healthy controls also showed significantly better stride characteristics,” says Dr Wills. “From the findings of this study, it does appear that swimming is good for dogs.”

So should everyone take their dog swimming? Dr Wills maintains a cautious approach to her exciting results: “It is hard to generalise the findings to the entire canine population due to the small sample size. Dogs also come in all shapes and sizes so what works for one may not for another. Even so, most dogs still find swimming fun!”

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-07-doggy-dogs.html#jCp