It’s easy to notice when your dog is not its usual, happy self. Sometimes the culprit is weight issues, injuries, or perhaps a chronic condition that is hindering their ability to move and exercise in the way that a healthy dog should.
This causes them unnecessary pain and generally makes them feel a bit under the weather, which is why it’s important to seek professional guidance to get your four-legged friend back on the right track.
Fortunately, canine rehabilitation specialists have professional knowledge and facilities to promote faster recovery time for pets, ease pain and strengthen muscles and joints. This helps keep your dog in tip-top shape, help them avoid injuries, and overcome illnesses much faster. As you know, a healthier dog is a happier dog.
With that said, let’s take a look at some specific ways a canine rehabilitation therapist can help your dog keep as fit and healthy as possible:
Table of Contents
Weight Loss
If your pet needs to lose a few pounds, it’s often difficult for you to know exactly which habits to change and the exact steps necessary to help your pet healthily lose weight.
Canine rehabilitation specialists can provide a plan that’s perfect for your dog, designed specifically for their age, breed, and condition to achieve the best results. As well as an exercise program with the specialist, the plan will include routines that can be done at home and expert nutritional advice on how to improve your dog’s diet.
When a dog is overweight, physical exercise can be strenuous on their joints, but rehabilitation offers alternative methods. Techniques such as hydro-therapy, where the dog exercises in a pool, can relieve the pressure on the joints and help your dog to exercise pain-free.
Physical Therapy
If your dog has a chronic condition, has had an injury, or is recovering from surgery, their movement is often limited and physical therapy will aid their recovery or ease any pain, just like it would for humans.
There are many techniques available to help your dog that will enhance the range of movement, including:
- Acupuncture
- Chiropractic
- Clinical massage
- Hydro-therapy
- Electros stimulation-laser therapy
- Therapeutic exercises
- Rhythmic patterning
- Electromagnetic
- Thermotherapy
These gentle techniques provide the best treatment for dogs that are fragile, ensuring that the muscles are strengthened correctly to avoid any further injuries.
Physical therapy is great for dogs who are struggling with muscle wastage, a common ailment amongst orthopedic dogs. Due to their weak composition, exercise can be difficult without straining additional areas, but rehabilitation specialists can focus on the problematic areas in ways that are less demanding.
Canine Rehabilitation: Health and Energy
Canine rehabilitation will improve your dog’s overall health and, in turn, improve their energy levels. When dogs are in an unhealthy state, they are much more likely to develop illnesses or be at risk of injury.
Improved health and increased energy will allow your dog to be more active, and this increased movement will help to maintain their fitness in a continuous cycle.
For elderly dogs or those suffering from chronic conditions, the soothing of muscles using gentle techniques such as massage, acupuncture, and thermotherapy will reduce pain and help your dog feel more energized.
Sport and Exercise
Rehabilitation isn’t just for orthopedic dogs or dogs that are recovering from surgery. The sport and exercise programs that rehabilitation entails can strengthen your dog’s muscles for better skeletal support. This can help prevent injuries or muscle wastage as your dog gets older, keeping them fit and healthy for a longer time.
When your dog is in prime condition, they live longer and much happier lives with less pain, and who doesn’t want that for their pet? Not to mention the reduction in vet bills and the benefit of avoiding trauma that surgery causes for both the dog and the owner.
In Summary – Pet’s Canine Rehabilitation
A canine rehabilitation therapist is an animal healthcare professional that adapts human physiotherapy techniques in order to reduce pain and increase mobility for dogs that suffer from injuries, chronic illnesses, degenerative diseases, obesity, and are recovering from surgery.
The main aim of these treatments is to decrease pain and improve your pet’s quality of life. However, even if your dog is not suffering from any sort of injury or illness, seeking therapy for your pet is a great way to keep them fit and strong, lowering the risk of injuries occurring in the first place.
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