WALKING IN WATER
Each year about this time, I start looking back over the year and picking out the highlights. This year, without a shadow of a doubt, the highlight is Yogi’s remarkable recovery in hydrotherapy.
In April she ruptured a cruciate ligament and was ‘off work and walks’. She wasn’t even able or allowed to jump up on the couch, and was carried up and down the numerous flights of steep steps outside at the cottage. She started to get depressed and to go from having her by my side in work all day to her being ‘housebound’ made me quite depressed as well.
However, eight long and stressful weeks later, she was much more mobile, in better spirits and we were enjoying short walks.
And then she chased a squirrel and ruptured the cruciate ligament on her other leg. It has been a ‘summer of discontented dog’ for sure. As her first leg was already weak and not fully healed she was obviously finding the second rupture much harder to deal with.
After a lot of research I found hydrotherapy was highly recommended, and lo and behold, there was a hydro-therapist in Tredegar. And that was the turning point in our summer. I haven’t got enough room in my column to wax lyrical about the marvellous and miraculous progress that Yogi has made under the expert eye of Sue at Four Seasons Hydrotherapy, suffice to say it has been a life (style) saver for both me and Yogi.
Hydrotherapy is beneficial for the treatment of osteoarthritis, orthopaedic conditions, neurological conditions, muscle, ligament and other soft tissue injuries, as well as helping with general convalescence, weight loss and fitness. And talking of fitness, a friend of mine who is a personal trainer, took their dog to Sue and now describes her as an absolute ‘legend’. She will hate me printing that, but it is too accurate a description to omit.
I was sceptical that walking ‘on a treadmill in a big fish tank of warm water’ (as my brother helpfully described it) would benefit Yogi at all. And even more so when her first session lasted just over a minute as that was all she could manage. Then Sue assessed her and pointed out that Yogi also had issues with her shoulders as she was ‘front-loading’ to compensate for her weak back legs. I was devastated, it all seemed to be such bad news for my four-legged, best friend, but I put my faith and trust in Sue.
Three months later Yogi is up to the full 20 minutes of therapy and is strong and healthy. We have renamed Thursday ‘Sue Day’ as Yogi adores her trips to see Sue and to ‘walk in water’. As the winter takes it’s toll on my joints, I will probably be tempted to see if Sue will book me in too.
Yogi and I are now enjoying short walks again, (on the lead, to avoid squirrel chasing) and have both regained our sanity. During a recent splash through some puddles on the mountain, I’m sure I heard Yogi say, “Dew, the water is much warmer in Tredegar.”
■■ More details from Sue at fourseasonskennels.co.uk or call 07789071738