Appointments

Appointments

What happens at the appointment?

Have a read about the stages involved in your pet's hydrotherapy appointments at DogFish
The initial appointment involves a full assessment, with stance analyser and history taking, along with acclimatising your dog with their new surroundings.
After this, each appointment is about 30 minutes. Your dog will be in the pool for a very short time to begin with (just a couple of minutes in the water is normal for a second session).

At this point, a programme will then be individually tailored according to your dog's condition, age, current fitness and recovery at home. You will play a vital role in monitoring any changes in your animal.
All dogs start out wearing a buoyancy aid for safety and security.

A hydrotherapist will be in the pool at all times to provide stimulation along with physical and mental support.
Owners are encouraged to participate with sessions by providing encouragement with toys and helping with handling, for this reason we advise that you do not come in your best outfit, you will get wet!

Gradually the sessions progress, usually to removing the buoyancy aid and swapping to just a harness for safety. Eventually and only when or if the dog becomes ready, the jets are added. These provide extra resistance, so muscles, joints and ligaments work harder with each stroke.
At the end of each session you dog is given a shower to rinse away any chlorine and help with muscle warm down.
We do dry your dog but have yet to find a way to explain to them that our towels are better than your legs!

Our Booking Policy
For your first appointment, please book the 45 minute initial session and ensure that you have completed the vet referral form which will be emailed to you or can be found in the download section.
Appointments are also available for fun sessions and fitness for our harder working companions, i.e. agility, fly-ball, gun-dogs, Canicross - and the list goes on!
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