PALMETTO (WSNN) – Southeastern Guide Dogs makes a splash with its new Stephen and Marcia Miner Canine Aquatic Center.
“These dogs change lives,” Southeastern Guide Dogs graduate and handler, Katie McCoy said.
Especially with training programs at the new aquatic center and in the hydrotherapy tank.
“We want to add a year, a couple of years if we can,” Certified Canine Rehab Technician, Jessica D’Ambrosio said. “And the way we’re hoping to do that is to strengthen their muscles, increase their heart health, increase their confidence, and we’re hoping that that will contribute to their training in a positive way.”
They’re helping dogs take the pressure off of their joints. An exercise device called “Super Swim” helps with this. It looks like a fishing pole, and it hooks onto a dog’s life vest.
“The idea is that they swim against their own weight,” D’Ambrosio said. “And it’s designed to swim into a jet. So you have a jet blowing back out at them; high-pressure water, and they’re swimming against their weight and that. So they’re creating those muscles and they’re working harder without really having to go too far.”
And then there’s the hydrotherapy tank or underwater treadmill. Where they can adjust the water level, control the water temperature and change the speed.
“So basically we’re creating an environment for them where we can alter the buoyancy for them, so we can take the pressure off their joints if there’s an issue,” D’Ambrosio said. “We want to strengthen their muscles.”
It’s all part of their Canine Fitness Program, which launched in July 2018. It’s been adapting over time. They installed the pool in February 2020 just before COVID changed everything. And they added the tank about a month ago.
It’s part of their effort to help keep changing lives, the way it has for McCoy. She has a rare genetic disorder called Retinitis pigmentosa.
“I don’t have any peripheral vision, I can’t see in the dark, and I struggle with depth perception and light change,” McCoy said. “So stairs, sidewalks, curbs, all of those, I tripped a lot before I had Bristol.”
During training 5 years ago, Bristol, her dog, saved her from getting hit by a car. At that moment, she knew …
“My whole life after this was going to be so different,” McCoy said. “It’s so much safer than it was before I came to Southeastern.”
McCoy says Bristol gave her independence and confidence.
“It just being able to go places and do all the things that I want, and not have to rely on anybody else for that,” McCoy said.
There are already some graduates with the pool training program, but none yet with the hydrotherapy.
They have 30 dogs in the program right now. It lasts for about four weeks, and then they go with a trainer for about six months before they graduate with a handler.
