Yesterday was Bacio’s first day of school therapy. I was excited about it, more so than him. We braved through the wet snowstorm to get there. This session was a double session, so it started off with a laser therapy treatment. The laser therapy stimulates the cells in his muscles and bones. It helps the body “wake up”, so they can start healing, building new tissues, all that fun stuff. I wonder if they can laser therapy my brain…
Bacio is Mr. Nervous, he did NOT like anything that was going on. We had to wear these uber cool glasses. They looked like the wraparound sunglasses older folks wear to the beach. Since Yuki was in the room, I jokingly asked if they had a pair for her. Jokes on me, to my surprise, they did have a pair.
They used the laser on both of his hips. It looked like a back massager with a glowing top. The therapist moved it along his hip, his knee and leg. The whole process took about 15-20 minutes.
After the laser therapy, Bacio did some floor exercises. Foam blocks were used to try to get him to walk and balance on them. Walking was fine, but the little bugger doesn’t stand for any length of time. He just immediately sits down. We tried treats and coaxing, turns out therapy with Yuki at his side worked the best. Have I mentioned he’s a stubborn dog?! He did a few incline exercises and then it was off to the water. If he doesn’t change his attitude about these therapy sessions, he’s going to be getting a pair of wheels for his birthday in November.
I chose to take Bacio to Integrative Pet Care because they are one of the few facilities with an underwater treadmill. This giant tank fills with water once the door is sealed and he gets to walk without impact. Just being locked in the tank and having a treadmill underneath him made Bacio nervous. A therapist was in the tank with him, and he got a life jacket to wear for safety. There wasn’t too much of a fight getting in, but the therapist just lifted him up like a suitcase via the life jacket. Once he was locked in, the water started filling, and his eyes got bigger than the moon. He was sooo terrified at what was happening, but he did pretty well all things considered. The treadmill started slowly rolling its track, and he did a surprisingly good job for his first time. He couldn’t go very long. He only went two times, both a minute long each. The last 30 seconds of that second minute he did not want to be moving. You can see for yourself how well he did.
After the hydro tank they rinsed him off and dried him off with a blow dryer. When we got home, my parking spot in front of my apartment was still open. Win! Bacio got inside and immediately laid on his memory foam bed. Later in the evening, I had to ice his hip, and before we went to bed, I iced it once again. Our next session is tomorrow actually, and we’ll continue with 3 sessions a week for the first 5 weeks of his program.
Until next time….
