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What does a walk in the canine treadmill involve?

The patient here is a 4 year old collie called Ben who many visitors will have seen at the practice and at LCRC as he is owned by one of the partners Dr Tom Brown and is always on hand for demonstrations.

Common to a lot of collies his age he has mild bilateral hip dysplasia which benefits from his regular sessions in the canine treadmill by allowing  full mobilisation of the hip joints but in a bouyant environment so there is less loading of the affected joints. This also allows muscle development which helps to stabilise the affected joints. Also he enjoys his regular runs and the workload is evident by him sleeping very well afterwards.

Before entering the canine treadmill (at least for the first few sessions) each dog is fitted with a purpose built, comfortably fitting life jacket.

This is not needed for any life threatening emergency but is designed to give the dog extra bouyancy and also they have a useful 'handle' on the back to allow is to direct the dog within the treadmill itself so as to encourage them to walk along the canine treadmill in a straight line. Some dogs want to run off the end or like to hug the sides of the tank but the ideal position is right along the centre of the moving walkway away from the glass sides.

Once the dog is comfortably within the treadmill and the doors are shut water is allowed to gently enter the tank below the treadmill surface. This make take a minute or two to reach the dogs feet but in being slow and controlled the dogs tend to not mind this new sensation!

The water is filtered and treated to ensure it is as clean a possible and is in fact far less dirty than normal tap water. It is kept at a constant 28 degrees celcius too which is not too cold so as to avoid causing cramps and stiffness but equally is not too warm to unduly stress the dog during the exercise to follow.

Above we see Ben patiently waiting for the water so he can start his exercise. When the water reaches his feet he moves around a little but as soon as its past his toes he generally just wants to get on with his walking programme.