Moncton dogs making a splash in new canine therapy pool

For Cynthia Babineau, spending a Monday afternoon in waders and standing nearly shoulder-deep in a pool surrounded by dogs is a dream come true.

It’s all part of her canine rehabilitation clinic in Moncton, N.B., called Pawiso. She opened it back in November when her dog, Ash, had surgery on both elbows and she couldn’t find anyone to help in his recovery.

“We didn’t have a practitioner or provider that would give this kind of service and I did see that there was a need and a niche,” she said.

By day, Babineau is a registered physiotherapist for humans. However, she’s always wanted to work with dogs and animals, so she did extra work to be certified for canine rehab.

“It is amazing,” she said.

“I can just remember one dog, he came in walking on three legs and the sore leg was actually the one he was walking on. But by the time he left the clinic, he was walking on all four legs.”

Last month, Babineau installed and opened a pool for the pups. She offers both pool and rehab time so that all dogs can feel the benefits.

“The thing with the pool is that you don’t have as much joint reaction to the ground, especially when you’re running or walking, those all make a really big compression on the joint itself,” she said.

“The pool actually increases the range of motion as well, because dogs won’t necessarily have the full range of motion when they’re walking or trotting.”

There are several local dogs who are already reaping the pool’s benefits and learning a new skill, like Clyde and Boomerang, two Australian Kelpies.

“I discovered last year my dog [Clyde] cannot swim and because I hike so much, and sometimes you have to go through rivers and such, I wanted to teach him to swim,” said owner, Trish Levesque.

“I tried repeatedly out in the real world and it was just not happening, so this provided me with an opportunity to teach him to swim.”

No strangers to hard work, Clyde and Boomerang are both agility dogs, who are very active.

So far, the pair have had three swimming lessons and Levesque is hoping to increase it to at least once a week.

“This provided me with an opportunity where [Clyde] could have some conditioning that was not having any real impact on his joints. And I was hopeful that I would be able to get better relaxation from him and I might get better range of motion, especially through his front end,” she said.

Dogs looking to try out Pawsio need a referral from a vet so the team can do a deep dive into every dog’s unique needs.

“We want to make sure there’s no underlying conditions of the dog before they get into the pool,” said Babineau.

“In terms of the rehab services, I like to have a vet referral because I want to make sure we are working on what they need to be done.”

Rehab services are available by appointment and pool hours are currently Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.

Levesque says it’s a service in the community that is filling a gap for all dog owners.

“Your dog could go out tomorrow, slip through on a run through a field on a crusty snow and damage a joint really simply and have to have surgery, so the fact that Pawsio is now here in Moncton is fantastic,” said Levesque.