Water Therapy Eases Old Dog's Pain

By now thousands, if not millions, of people around the world have seen this wonderful photo of Schoep and his owner John swimming in Lake Superior. Actually John walks out into the water so his nineteen year old dog can sleep for a bit without as much pain. It really is an old dog love story that so many people can relate to if they have a senior dog in their lives. 

Copyright Stonehouse Photography 

It made me wonder if our older dog would have benefited from swimming or water therapy as he aged. We live in an area with abundant lakes but Tikki really didn't like seem to like the water. Maybe it was just that couldn't swim.
These days there are options for non-swimming dogs to make them more comfortable with water therapy. Dog life jackets can be very helpful in this situation. Not every older dog is able to swim and not every dog owner can swim well enough to assist them either. Before you venture out into the lake for a bit of relaxing water therapy for your older dog, a life jacket or life vest might work wonders. Here's a great video I found that helps show how to measure your dog for the correct size life jacket.




Copyright 2012 OldDogPaws.com