Purpose of Rehab

Bring patients back to pre-injury level

Control pain, inflammation and mobility

Slow down degenerative joint disease

Neuromuscular re-education

_

Rebuild muscle mass and strength

Fitness and weight control

Improve quality of life

Who are the Rehab Patients?

When we think about the typical rehab patient, we often think about dogs with traumatic injuries or post-op patients. However, all dogs can benefit from core and stability training, especially sport dogs performing agility, flyball etc. and working dogs like hunting dogs, rescue dogs etc. where a strong core and good balance will help them perform even better and help avoid injuries. For older dogs and obese dogs, training and joint protectors can help improve life quality.

Increase in demand for rehabilitation from dog owners
Physiotherapy, individual training programs, chiropractic and other treatment modalities have become much more recognised in human medicine over the past decades and the dog owners are becoming more aware of the possibilities of doing something extra for their dogs to improve rehabilitation after an injury and their overall wellness.

As a result of this we have seen an increase in demand from dog owners asking that the veterinarian offers rehabilitation plans and advice in addition to the more traditional treatments.

Typical rehab patients

  Patients with traumatic injuries

  Post-op patients

  Working dogs

  Sports dogs

  Older dogs

  Obese dogs

Neuro-muscular re-education

The central nervous system (CNS) receives information from the peripheral nervous system (PNS) in the skin, joints, ligaments and tendons about the bodies position and balance. The CNS translates this information into a muscle response. This input/output loop works quickly and effortlessly under normal circumstances and helps the dogs correct its footing on uneven surfaces and other challenges.

Once an injury occurs i.e. in a ligament, the loop changes in pace and the dog could have difficulty with weightbearing, balance and proprioception.

Rehabilitation aims to bring the information loop between the CNS
and PNS back to pre-injury level.