We have owned Chesapeake Bay Retrievers since the late 1990’s. They are a true
water loving breed, and incredibly powerful in the water so swimming in lakes, rivers and the sea has always been a big part of their exercise routine.
In 2011 we noticed that Bracken, pictured left, was becoming unsteady on her feet and our vet diagnosed the early onset of a condition called DM – Degenerative Myelopathy which is a progressive disease of the spinal cord. Bracken regularly swam in the local River Leven to help her with her condition to help keep her mobile and remained a happy girl until she lost her battle in 2012.
Several years on from losing Bracken we are now sadly facing the same disease in 2015 with Leia, pictured on the right. Once again we wanted Leia to benefit from swimming to aid her condition, but in a safe year-round facility which prompted us to build our new canine hydrotherapy pool!
Leia is a very lucky girl to have her own pool facility, and thankfully she is happy to share her good fortune with many other dogs with various conditions that will benefit from hydrotherapy.
We shall leave the last word to Bracken and her trademark ‘WooWoo’
Happy Swimming everyone!
