Sacha

Sacha is a seven year old German shepherd/collie cross. She was found injured as a stray, with a ruptured cruciate ligament. Her owner was traced but did not want her back. The vets told us a year ago that the other cruciate ligament was in bad shape and was highly vulnerable to rupture. They advised that a maintenance programme of hydrotherapy might help Sacha’s recovery from surgery and also reduce the risk of rupture of the other ligament.

Sacha uses a treadmill once a month at a hydrotherapy centre close to our home. In addition, every three weeks we bring her to Cathy for a session of free swimming in the pool. Sacha is a very energetic and highly intelligent dog. We use games in the water to keep her interested, and to get her moving in different directions; we can throw three toys into the water and tell her which one we want her to fetch. The pool helps enormously to use up some of Sacha’s energy, while also helping her hind legs. She has been with us for 14 months and has had no problems with either cruciate ligament.