Could My Pet Benefit From Rehabilitation?
There are some obvious cases where rehabilitation can benefit animals including spinal injury, osteoarthritis, or cruciate ligament rupture. But small injuries can happen during normal life and dogs are generally quite stoic and are very good at hiding subtle injuries. If these injuries aren’t picked up on, then as the dog ages, they will adapt how they move and hold themselves, either making the injury worse or causing other areas...
Muscle building and Strength Exercises for Dogs
When people think of muscle building and strength exercises for dogs they picture the big Pitbull or Rotti conditioning for protection sports or protection work or even the skinny dog needing to gain weight. However, muscle conditioning exercise has benefits for all dogs and is also beneficial in the rehabilitation of dogs recovering from injury or suffering degenerative issues such as hip dysplasia or spine related problems. See “Exercising a...
Cookie Stretches
Flexibility is an important component of fitness training. It plays a major role in overall health, fitness and function. But just like in human fitness, flexibility is often overlooked in our dog’s fitness program. Cookie Stretches are a great way to work on flexibility with our dogs. The goal of the exercise is to have your dog bring his nose to different parts of the body to get a nice...
Know-How for Dog Fitness: Understanding Weight Distribution Is the Key
If you are already doing fitness exercises, or are interested in starting them with your dog, you need to understand the dog’s neutral position, weight distribution, and what is happening during specific actions, activities or sports performances - how and why something as simple as the direction your dog is looking in can affect your dog’s body, AND how to use this to your advantage when doing fitness! I find people...
Can You Spot Muscle Atrophy?
What is muscle atrophy in dogs? It sounds alarming, but what does it look like and how can you help your four-legged friend? Here’s a quick overview. What is muscle atrophy? Muscle atrophy means when the muscles of your dog’s body weaken or waste away. It usually affects a dog’s back legs, but it can also occur in the head or the belly. Signs to look out for If your...
Electrostimulation Helps Increase Muscle & Decrease Pain
WHAT IS ELECTROSTIMULATION FOR PETS? Electrostimulation is using an electrical impulse to a nerve within a muscle to help decrease pain, increase muscle strength, or both. Hang on a minute…..I’m picturing Frankenstein stuff….. When delivered appropriately and with proper training, electrostimulation should be ONLY a positive experience, particularly in our pets who can’t understand why we would do something painful even if it was helpful. Stimulation devices all have multiple...
Know-How for Dog Fitness: Understanding Weight Distribution is the Key
If you are already doing fitness exercises, or are interested in starting them with your dog, you need to understand the dog’s neutral position, weight distribution, and what is happening during specific actions, activities or sports performances - how and why something as simple as the direction your dog is looking in can affect your dog’s body, AND how to use this to your advantage when doing fitness! I find people...
VITAL VOICE: Virtual consults give you another way to help your pet without leaving home
Introducing VITAL VOICE, Vital Vet's new video series featuring interviews with leaders and experts in the field of pet rehabilitation.