[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by gemy

Maybe, but we have always and I have had more than 5 dogs do PT for one reason or another started off with the life vest even for walking in the water. First the life vest adds a bit of flotation which decreases the amount of weight bearing through the legs. And yes I have done underwater treadmill work for almost 10 yrs now.


And at some point the underwater treadmill walking will progress to swimming; they add in more water to make that happen.


I just took Dara in for physical conditioning on the underwater treadmill, she did 3 miles of walking/trotting, treadmill work, with her life vest on, and then 10 minutes of swimming - not so effective for a large dog in the small underwater treadmill equipment.


I re-iterate while I have only seen two different physios over the course of 10 years, will always put the lifevest on the dog for the first session if not more sessions. Better to be safe than sorry is my opinion.


I am sorry that my experiences do not match up to yours, I can only repeat that things can be done differently.

See that's how yours was different, mine did not progress to swimming just walking on the water treadmills.