Working or Sporting Dogs
Is your pet returning to work (applicable to service animals)? Or are you keen on starting your pet on agility? Different types of work and sports have specific physical requirements of your pet in turns of muscular strength, flexibility and balance. You can consider sending for pet for a physiotherapy assessment to ensure your pet has what he/she needs before returning to work or starting agility. This will reduce their risk of injury greatly!
Types of Requirements
Service animals
Service dogs are specially trained to assist with their handlers' daily activities and require both good physical condition and proper training to perform their duties effectively. If a service dog is injured, rehabilitation and learning to manage their condition can help maintain their health and fitness. Regular exercise and ongoing training are essential for prevention and overall well-being, as prevention is often better than cure.
How Can Physiotherapy Help?
Dry needling will help with releasing trigger points to allow good myofascia flexibility.
Sports taping can be done to optimise muscle function through neuromuscular facilitation as your pet perform exercises or return to sports or work.
Soft tissue releases, joint mobilisations and mulligan with movement techniques will help ensure your pet achieves full joint range of motion and muscle flexibility he/she needs.
Land-based exercises that target strengthening and balancing will be done to address any muscular imbalance. Power, reaction and speed can be trained as well to help your pet adapt to agility training.