I Work With Animals! - Water Therapist for Dogs

What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about ditching their desk job and applying for a job at the zoo? Or at a doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do.

Name: Jean Marie Cooper
Age: 39
Job Title: Manager and Rehabilitation Coordinator at Water4Dogs, New York City's only pool for dogs.

How did you get into aquatic therapy for dogs?
I thought that because I wasn't a vet, I couldn't have a career with animals. Then I heard of animal massage and enrolled in massage school for humans to learn more. When the first canine pool in New York opened in 1998 -- Bonnie's K-9 Swim -- I went right over and applied for a job. It was there I leaned what a valuable tool water is when treating dogs. It makes exercise easier, more effective, and safer for the dogs. Bonnie's later closed, and the owner opened Water4Dogs two years ago.

Do all dogs know how to swim?
They all have the instinct to paddle, but if a dog hasn't been in a pool before, they may not be very coordinated with that. They may kind of thrash around. Labs, golden retrievers, Portuguese water dogs, poodles, German shepherds and pit bulls are very good swimmers. Rottweilers are great in the water. Jack Russells either love it or hate it. Dachshunds kind of have the big dog personality; they have a lot of confidence so once they get used to the water they're swimming around like nobody's business.

Dogs that are very muscularly dense like bulldogs and pugs, they have short little legs, they can paddle but they don't make a lot of progress, so they need assistance.

What's the best part of your job?
Cultivating trust and love in an animal, and helping improve their quality of life.

Why is swimming good exercise for overweight dogs?
Obviously they're not exercising, and they don't really want to exercise. Sometimes exercise can be painful for them. Once they get into the water they're extremely buoyant, and swimming burns a lot of calories, so they're able to get a very intense workout that's easy on the joints that's going to burn a lot of calories and build muscle and burn off the fat.

What are some of the stresses of city life that water therapy helps alleviate?
Walking or running on concrete is very hard on the joints. There's a lot of impact and there really isn't that much grass. Also, dogs may have to stay in the apartment all day and they don't get a lot of exercise. A dog that's not active can be prone to obesity and arthritis, and then when they do go out, they're walking on a hard surface.

What kind of swimming accessories do you use?
We use a lot of flotation jackets. We also use what's called a swim snood, its kind of like a swim cap for dogs, for dogs that are prone to ear infections or don't like getting water in their ears. For dogs that have sensitive eyes or have eye irritations, we can put doggles on. The piece that goes over the eye is kind of curved to fit a dog's head. My own dog uses it because he has droopy eyes and he gets irritated when he dives under to get a toy.

What success stories have you seen with water therapy?
We've gotten paralyzed dogs to walk before, which is just the greatest thing. It's a very slow process. Some owners are very dedicated. They bring their dogs two, three times a week. If you have a dedicated owner and a motivated dog, you can see some amazing things.

Tags: dog ailments, dog fitness, hydrotherapy, obesity, pet ailments, pet fitness, strokes, swimming, water therapy, water4dogs