Dear friends, 

I have some really exciting news to share!  Guess what I started doing this month?  Yes, yes, my dears, you are right, at the TOP of my list of "to-do's" is fulfilling my promise to not have so much fun that I forget to write a column out to you every month, yes of course, but THIS thing is really new and exciting. 

I am going to warm water hydrotherapy!  Do you know what that is?  It is swimming for dogs and cats, in a special place with nice warm water, with people who are trained to help us get stronger when we are sick or old or maybe just have some arthritis that is hurting our legs.  And for paralyzed pets, and for pets who have sore backs or necks, and also for healthy pets who like to swim in the summer but have no place to go and swim in the winter when it is cold out.  And my dears, swimming is most especially good for those of you with *ahem* pleasantly plump contours who need help slimming down. And for agility dogs who want to have better balance and coordination.   

But mostly, hydrotherapy is for those of us who need a little help getting our legs and backs and paws strong again, like they were when we were young dogs.  So we can have a nice, healthy, balanced and coordinated body again.  That is what I am going swimming for.  My Mom noticed that I was getting kinda stiff and I didn't want to jump out of the car anymore and I needed a boost to get into the car and sometimes I didn't want to play ball very much.  So she decided that I needed to see someone who could help me get better, and we started looking at places that have swimming for dogs. 

Now, buckaroos, I want you to know that there are a lot of swimming places out there, and there are also a lot of places that don't have good answers to the questions that my Mom says you should ask about any swimming place you are thinking about.  You can see the questions you should ask right here: Canine Rehabilitation

(I told Mom that it is also important to ask if they have good wholesome treats!) 

I am swimming at AquaDog in Schaumburg.  We picked this place after learning about all of the places out there, from big fancy places with humongous pools to the kind of places that have people who yell and whistle at you to swim harder and faster (I didn't like that AT ALL) to some places where you walk on a treadmill in the water.  I was surprised by how many places didn't have people who were specially trained to do what they were doing!  So we picked a place where they DID have the training, and they DID know what to do in emergencies, and they DID check me out before letting me swim.  AquaDog is a good place.  It is nice and calm and Holli is quiet and calm, too (she's my swim coach), and she stays with you in the water so you don't get scared and she holds you until you feel safe about swimming by yourself.  And the lifejackets are SO CUTE!   

I was a little nervous, the first time, but Holli said that was OK.  She said that the first time she swims with a dog it is to make you feel comfortable and safe so she slowly took me in the water and she held me close and she talked to me the whole time. Holli has a good energy and I felt safe really fast, especially after she told me that she took a big long course to learn all about how to do this properly and she even went all the way out to Washington to learn from an expert!  And her pool is a special one with this ion filter thing that takes the bad stuff out of the water so the water stays nice and clean and doesn't make me smell funny or wreck my hair, like a pool with lots of chlorine or bromine in it could do. And the floor is heated so I stayed warm even after I got out.   

But here is the best part: after a little bit I stopped being scared and I swam all by myself, with Holly right next to me!  I swam in circles, and from one side to the other, and back and forth until Holly had to slow me down a little so I wouldn't be too sore my first time. When I came out of the water, Holly helped me dry off with this big hair dryer and she told my Mom that I did really good. 

Hydrotherapy is really good exercise.  Swimming in water is hard work, I can tell you!  Even just a little-bitty five minute swim can give you as much of a workout as a five mile run.  But it's a lot safer for your joints in the nice warm water, so you can move better, and it doesn't hurt your legs if you are a little sore or stiff.   

Let me tell you a little bit about all the good stuff that swimming does for you.  There is a LOT, 'cause it is good for all of the parts of you, starting with your skin.  I bet you didn't know that swimming in nice warm water can make your skin and coat nicer, by increasing your circulation.  Or that getting all that blood moving can make pain and stiff muscles go away.  And can help even out your muscles if one side is a little weak 'cause maybe one leg is sore and the other is OK.  All that water moving past you as you swim kinda squooshes on your lymph vessels and your muscles and your blood vessels, too, and that helps squoosh out the bad toxins and crud so the good stuff, like oxygen and antioxidants and food for all your organs, gets inside better and faster.  

And if you are a little on the nervous side like me - well, let me tell you, it was SO relaxing being in the water. I felt kinda.....well, like I was getting ready to take a nap, that's what it was like.  Once I stopped being nervous.  Holli helped me with that, a lot! And I did take a good long nap after I came home after my first swim.  But I felt a LOT better later that day, and I even played ball a little!  My second swim was the same week, 'cause Holli says twice a week was best to start and then I could drop to once a week.  I was not nervous this time and I swam more and I even swam on my own and Holli said she could see me wagging my tail in the water!  

Here is more good stuff that swimming can do for you: 

It helps your lungs because it is good exercise and makes you breathe nice and deep.  And that helps your heart, too. And swimming helps your kidneys by speeding up their filtering of the crud in your body (so you can pee out the bad stuff better) and it helps your digestion so you can poop better, too.  (Mom says I should say "defecate" and "micturate" but I think that pee and poop says it all, don't you? And it is easier to type.)  Swimming also helps all your bones, ‘cause you are moving free in the water without any gravity on your joints, so they don't hurt and you can move them better.  And that helps all your muscles, too, and can even help you build new muscles.  (I think my butt is looking better already!)

I had my third swim at AquaDog this week and Holli says I am "starting to show my independence."  Now, I don't get to swim free as much because Holli holds me still while I swim some of the time, so I have to work a little harder.  Holli told Mom that my endurance is better and that once a week swimming is fine now.  My hind legs are stronger and I jumped in the car all by myself today.  I think that is pretty good after only three swims, don't you? 

Now it's naptime, so I think that is all I am going to tell you this month.  But I will be back in December to keep you updated on how the swimming is going, and also to tell you about some holiday things to be careful about, and OOH!  I have more exciting stuff to tell you about why YOU may need to go on a diet and what kind of food you should be eating, and some new vaccine information that the vaccine companies don't want you to know, too!   

Your friend,

LIZZIE