Rusty goes swimming

Monday, July 26th was Rusty's 6 month adoption anniversary (he has lived with me 7 months total)! I decided what Rusty needed in celebration was some water therapy. :)

Today was our first appointment with Cindy Hickman of Aquadog Spa in Kent. Really great place, I liked the spa tub quite a bit and the room was open and dog safe. And Rusty made me proud by not marking in the building. As a side note, he also hasn't tried to mark any of Nim's accidents. Considering this is the dog that lifted his leg on my wall, that is impressive.

It was almost a little emotional (in a good way) to watch him go through this session. He has come so far and I have put him into so many new experiences. He was pretty high stress at first in the appointment, but you can tell by this photo he relaxed into it wonderfully. Then he was interested in making eye contact with me and interacting with Cindy. Cindy did a great job reading him and letting him work through the experience.

And as it turns out Rusty can swim - actually pretty well. The spa tub is a good size for him to swim a lap but not overdo it.

This is another great option for Rusty's aging body. Next appointment we will introduce Nim to the pool as well. Dobermans are not exactly known for their love of water or swimming so this should be interesting.