The Idea
- Our canine wonderland is divided into two basic groups, Dry & Wet exercise. With exercise being the key word here. Just to be abundantly clear with all of our awesome customers, we are a dog gym, not a rehabilitation center. We call this Pre-Hab not Re-Hab. A rather new concept. And what is pre-Hab? It’s basically what you are probably thinking. These are preventative based health and vitality activities to keep your beloved family member healthy inside and out. Keeping your vet bills down and out of costly surgeries and rehabilitation.
The Activities
Underwater Canine Treadmill
Our fully customized underwater treadmill is one of the finest conditioning concepts for both canine and humans alike. As a matter of fact they are frequently used to train racing horses due to their ability to lower the animal's weight through water buoyancy while increasing resistance and thereby achieving a tremendous amount of muscle tone and strength while never nearing a danger zone.
Your dog enters from a full open door at the rear of the treadmill and walks in, at which time the door is closed. The treadmill tank then begins to fill with crystal clear and dog friendly 91-degree water. As it fills, we start the underwater treadmill at a low speed. We fill it to an exact height, usually about 3-4 inches above the lowest spot on their belly. This ensures that the water is lifting them up, increasing their positive buoyancy thus removing a considerable amount of weight off of their limbs and joints. At the same time the forward walking motion is quite intensified for a miraculous work out without the pain. For our canine companions who need a bit more support, we have very nice neoprene life jackets for every size dog.
We track your dog's health and weight with each visit. Insuring that the plan we made with you is coming along at the pace you desire. Each turn in the underwater treadmill will increase stamina and duration of future work outs. Starting at around 15 minutes for healthy dogs to a max of around 30-40 minutes once the new muscle is developed and the dog is totally comfortable with the process.
Strength Training & Conditioning
- Agility tunnel 10 feet long
- Agility training horizontal ladder
- Balance peanut inflatable
- Stability discs large and small
- Climb (klimb brand) platforms
- Adjustable hurdles
15’ Endless Pool
Arguably one of the coolest gadgets we have here. A brand new state of the art 15’ foot endless pool, the kind that have a powerful water flow jet to swim against. Your dog can literally swim in place. The entire shop including the pool is custom lighted by Robert to a very relaxing blue/purple spectrum, including the pool. We have learned that dogs see mostly in the blue and yellow spectrum. It seems to relax the dogs quite a bit. We have a custom made ramp for your dogs to enter and exit the pool.
Now we understand that not all dogs love water. We have two Australian Shepherds, Zoe who loves to look at water but never touches it under any circumstances. Then there’s Apollo that will go right in, with his beautiful tail in tow knocking over everything in its path. We have methods to try and coax your pup in. In the end, it's their choice and some just will not get in. If that’s the case, the non-underwater treadmill and exercise equipment is surely enough to get your best friend in ultimate health and happiness.
Our 1800 gallon 91-degree pool is 100% maintained by Robert daily. I am very conscious of bad chemicals and know exactly what I am doing. I use a small amount of powdered chlorine which I adjust every day after all dogs are done for the night. The filter runs for eight hours during the night. This gives the chlorine a chance to do its job (attach itself to unwanted contaminates and become large enough for our filter to remove it all) and be filtered out by the next morning. So, you can be assured that your canine companion is always safe while in our hands. We put our own dogs Zoe and Apollo through it every few days. We also use an Ozone generator during the night which further kills all organisms and bacteria. I take great pride in my work and would put it up against the best aquatic treadmill systems. This same pool water is what supplies our underwater treadmill with its supply of warm water.
We have life vests for every size dog, the small ones are so cute! We also have blow up neck pillows for those pets who are not too sure about this water stuff. Sessions are $65 for 45 minutes and includes a full bath and blow using our new No Soap furever Bathes.
Weight Management Tracking
Every dog at Pirates’ Paws will have an individual file containing all past and current stats and recommendations. This allows us to give personal attention to your dogs special needs. Including initial weight, weight lost, girth measurements and loss of fat and the gain of lean muscle mass.
Through personal experiences Jessi and I had, we realized that no matter what vet we visited, they had failed to inform us that our dogs where (to be quite harsh) obese! How have two intelligent people who have no kids not realize their canine companions were overweight, let alone obese?
Every dog that comes through Jessi & I’s door is treated as if it were our own. Your pup will have the place to themselves and two humans at all times while in our care. We have no employees, and everything is done by us, Robert and Jessi Rideout. Ensuring your most valuable treasure is safe, secure and in good hands.