Ted begins his hydrotherapy plan
Age 65 months Nick Ridley takes the plunge and puts Ted on a hydrotherapy fitness programme to prepare him for the new season
Things haven’t gone quite as I would have liked recently. Percy contracted a dose of kennel cough and his training had to be put on hold for a fortnight, which was frustrating in the run-up to his working test at the Game Fair. I had secured a lease on a two-acre rough grass field that was ideal for getting him to hunt the type of cover I thought he would face in the test. After he recovered from his cough, I pushed him hard to try to get him back on track, and by the time you read this it will all be over, and I will probably be lying in a dark corner somewhere recovering from the ordeal.
A while back I mentioned that I was planning to start Ted on a hydro-treadmill fitness programme with Katherine Hill of Hill’s Canine Hydrotherapy. My aim is to get Ted fit and ready for the shooting season.
As I said, I am far too old to run the dogs while I pedal a bike and, apart from anything else, I would not look good in Lycra, believe me. So, after having a chat with Katherine and exploring the potential benefits of the treadmill, I signed Ted up for a 12-week intensive course.
Wear and tear
Before I go into the science and technical side of the programme, let me explain my reasoning. Ted is now five and during the shooting season he works very hard. I do my best to try to get him fit for early September, but nothing I do can really prepare him for the exertion of a full shoot day. Over the past few years Ted has stayed relatively fit and healthy, other than suffering a few cuts and a pulled claw. However, the physical pressures of the shooting season take their toll and, like all of us, his joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles are more likely to suffer pulls, strains and tears as he gets older. So, if I can get him fit before we start beating, shooting and picking-up, he is less likely to be injured and I won’t lose him during any recovery period. Also, the cost of the sessions could offset any potential vet’s bills. I know plenty of people who get their guns serviced before the shooting season so that it will perform properly and hopefully not break, but so few people are prepared to spend the same kind of money and invest in getting their dogs fit and ready for the very same reasons.
Before Ted could start his programme, he had to be assessed by Katherine. He was checked for any lameness when he was standing, walking and trotting. He was clear on all of those, though it was noticeable he had a slight weakness in his right hind leg, and he slightly favoured his left hind when trotting. I am pretty sure this came about when he pulled a claw last winter. It took a good few weeks for him to recover, and he had just got into a habit of off-loading slightly on the side of the injury. I hadn’t ever picked that up, but when Katherine took his body mass measurements his right hip muscle was 2cm smaller than his left, so this is something she will be working on to build up the muscle. Another important aspect of the sessions will be to build up Ted’s stamina, and his measurements will be taken at monthly intervals to check his progress.
Science friction
The treadmill is high-tech and I find the science behind it fascinating. Katherine has devised a specific programme for Ted based
“People seem loath to invest in getting their dogs fit and ready for the season”
on his overall condition and current fitness level and, just like a human working out in a gym, the sessions are built around ‘sets’. It must be a strange thing for a dog to walk into a large Perspex box that fills up with warm water and then moves underneath them, but like everything else Ted has done in his life, he took it all in his stride.
The height of the water dictates how much resistance there is for the dog; Ted has his at 310mm (hip region), which relates to a 30% resistance. The water is heated to 30°C, the optimum temperature to draw blood out into the muscles, which in turn makes them work more efficiently. The dogs work harder in this situation than they do swimming as there is far more resistance in the treadmill.
Getting things straight
I won’t bore you with all the stats, but each session will gradually increase in time and intensity. Ted’s second session lasted 20 minutes, with eight sets ranging from just under one minute and extending to just over two minutes. The speed of the treadmill ranged from just under 1mph up to 3.5mph, and the incline went from zero to 30%. We will be aiming for a total time of around 40 minutes, with varying degrees of speed and incline, so Ted has quite a long way to go yet. Interestingly, a 20-minute session on the treadmill is the equivalent to more than oneand-a-half hours’ constant exercise on land. The plan is to work on straightening up Ted’s gait, which hopefully will also begin to build up the muscle on his right rear leg.