Unfortunately, she didn't have the strength to go on long walks or hikes anymore and was getting depressed and anxious. She still had all of her spirit and energy but couldn't expend it anywhere.

And then we learned about Sheila and her staff and Wellsprings. I was thrilled that swimming might be a way for her to build strength and work out and Tahoma desperately needed someone to help massage her remaining rear leg which was now a tight, muscular, rock - like mass. Walking on three legs was also creating back tension and I hoped that massage would help this as well.

We have seen the benefits of fantastic veterinary care, naturopath, acupuncture and generous chiropractors. None of this compares with the dramatic physical and psychological improvement Tahoma has seen while working with Sheila and her staff.

Since working with Sheila, Tahoma has rebuilt her muscle and cardiovascular strength and we even hiked near Mt. Rainier (aka Tahoma) recently for 2 hours! She runs around the house and plays chase with her toys and is as happy as she's ever been. Tahoma barks and whines every time we take the turn off to get to Wellsprings. All of this from a dog who HATED water!

If you're worried about how your dog might react to water therapy - read on. If Tahoma loves it, I think almost any dog will.

How a Siberian Husky became a swimmer.

Everyone loves Tahoma and the feelings are mutual - Tahoma loves everyone.

The same cannot be said for water. Tahoma hated water. If a wave touched her while we were walking along an ocean beach, she would cry out as if someone had hit her on the head with a metal pipe. When she was younger, she wouldn't even cross bridges over water so I had to carry her across if a walk or hike involved any kind of bridge over streams - very embarrassing at Japanese gardens.

This is understandable. If your ancestors grew up on the tundra, getting wet was not high on the survivability index.

So, I was hesitant after reading all of the success stories on Sheila's website. I wanted this freedom and strength building for Tahoma but couldn't imagine that Tahoma would enjoy it. For the first 5 -5 10 minutes, Tahoma proved me right. She looked dreadfully unhappy and looked at me with a look of utter disappointment - "Why had I done this to her? Didn't I love her anymore"?

But Sheila was incredible and helped Tahoma immediately understand that we were trying to help her. Tahoma began to relax in Sheila's arms and by the end of our session was swimming like a pro.

Now, you'd never know that Tahoma didn't grow up swimming. I have to hold her back from swimming in ponds and she looks as happy as a puppy afer our swim and massage sessions at Wellsprings. She's come quit a long ways from the dog who considered water a reason to call the SPCA.

©Copyright Wellsprings 2001, all rights reserved.
Revised: 15 Apr 2006 14:48
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