The Oasis –
Canine Underwater Treadmill
H2O For Fitness proudly presents the Oasis – the latest underwater treadmill technology for canines and small animals.
The Oasis is the premier offering in physical rehabilitation via hydrotherapy. The natural buoyancy of water assists in minimizing the weight placed on muscles and joints for low-impact workouts to aid in recovery from injury.
H2O For Fitness- Hydrotherapy Products & Canine Treadmills
The Mirage –
Human Underwater Treadmill
The Mirage underwater treadmill by H2O For Fitness has been exclusively designed for human aquatic therapy.
Utilizing the innate properties of water, the Mirage enhances a person’s physical therapy by allowing them to confidently exercise in a controlled, comfortable environment, easing recovery from surgery or injury. Recovery time can be decreased while creating better results,
Along with rehabilitation, the Mirage can also be used for conditioning, cardiovascular fitness, and weight loss. Each hydrotherapy session is fully customizable, allowing someone to achieve their goals.
What is Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy is the use of water to relieve discomfort and promote physical well-being
The term describes therapies performed more broadly in a body of water, such as a pool, or more specifically in a controlled setting of an underwater treadmill. The special properties of water create a unique exercise environment that decreases the impact on muscles and joints while enhancing healing and fitness.
Disclaimer: H2O For Fitness regularly implements design changes and improvements to its products. Accordingly, all images and videos may not be an exact representation of current product lines or features. Please contact H2O For Fitness with any questions.
Hydrotherapy FAQs
What is hydrotherapy and how does it work?
Hydrotherapy is the use of water and its properties to relieve discomfort and promote physical wellbeing. The properties of water, such as buoyancy, resistance, and hydrostatic pressure, support the body for ease of movement, rehabilitation, conditioning, and recovery.
What are the benefits of exercising in water?
Water creates an environment that allows reduced weight-bearing, controlled resistance, and increased support for low-impact exercise. Major benefits include:
- Improved range of motion
- Better pain management for chronic ailments like arthritis
- Faster recovery after surgery or injury
- Increased cardiovascular fitness and conditioning
- Decreased inflammation
- Enhanced balance and gait training
What is the difference between an underwater treadmill and a swimming pool for hydrotherapy?
The biggest difference between an underwater treadmill and a swimming pool is the amount of weightbearing for desired outcomes. An underwater treadmill offers a more controlled environment with adjustable parameters to allow for weight-bearing gait training in water while exercising on a treadmill belt. This makes it ideal for re-educating walking patterns, targeting specific joints, and progressive loading. With a swimming pool, you’re able to be weightless, which can be important when total offloading is needed.
What is buoyancy and how does it help with aquatic therapy?
Buoyancy reduces the amount of weight a person or animal assumes while exercising in water. As the height of the water increases, a larger percentage of weight on the body is offset by the support water provides, which can decrease loading on joints, limbs, and the body as a whole. This allows patients, athletes, and animals to practice controlled walking, jogging, or running, or other movements that may be difficult or uncomfortable to perform on land.
What is hydrostatic pressure and why is it important for hydrotherapy?
Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure added to the body while in the water, and it increases as water depth increases. This uniform pressure can provide support and create a compressive effect around the limbs and body during aquatic exercise, helping to ease swelling in limbs and joints.
How does water depth affect an underwater treadmill session?
Water depth determines the impact of buoyancy and resistance. Shallower water increases weightbearing, requiring more effort to lift the limbs for strength building and enhancing range of motion. Deeper water, such as to hip height, can reduce effective body weight by 50% or more, protecting injured areas while still providing resistance and hydrostatic pressure benefits. The depth of the water can be adjusted session-by-session to match the stage of recovery and/or fitness goals.
How does water resistance build strength?
Water creates resistance in the full plane of body movement, causing muscles to receive a challenging workout while offering support for the body. The amount of resistance can increase with faster movement, covering larger areas of the body, and altering how the body moves through the water. This allows for progressive resistance while maintaining the weight-minimizing benefits of buoyancy. This makes aquatic exercise useful for both rehabilitation and performance conditioning.
How does an underwater treadmill work?
An underwater treadmill system consists of a water storage reservoir, pool equipment for heating, treating, and recycling the water, and an exercise chamber with a motorized treadmill belt. You enter the exercise chamber, shut the door, and fill it with water to the preferred depth; then the belt is started and moves at a controlled speed. Water height, speed, and, if an incline has been added, can all be adjusted throughout the session to match rehabilitation or fitness goals.
What conditions can hydrotherapy help treat?
Hydrotherapy is commonly used for post-operative rehabilitation (orthopedic surgeries such as cruciate repairs or joint replacements), osteoarthritis and other joint diseases, soft-tissue injuries (tendons and ligaments), neurological conditions, muscle weakness or atrophy, and obesity. It is also valuable for athletic conditioning and maintaining fitness in humans, dogs, and horses when high-impact exercise is contraindicated.
Is hydrotherapy only used for rehabilitation after surgery or an injury?
No. Hydrotherapy is used for rehabilitation, fitness, conditioning, mobility, proprioceptive and balance training, weight loss, and performance training. In human physical therapy, aquatic exercise can be used to support mobility and progressive exercise. In veterinary rehabilitation, underwater treadmills are used with dogs and other companion animals for rehabilitation and conditioning. Equine professionals may use aquatic exercise as part of conditioning, performance support, and recovery programs. Because water allows resistance with reduced impact, it can be useful across different stages of a training or rehabilitation program.
Properties Of Water
Buoyancy ➝ Decrease Weight
Thermal ➝ Soothing
Water ➝ Viscosity
Counterbalance ➝ Gravity
Hydrostatic Pressure ➝ Decrease Swelling
Resistance ➝ Stabilize/Challenge
Relative Density ➝ Float
Surface Tension ➝ Degree Of Difficulty
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Disclaimer: H2O For Fitness regularly implements design changes and improvements to its products. Accordingly, all images and videos may not be an exact representation of current product lines or features. Please contact H2O For Fitness with any questions.
Disclaimer: H2O For Fitness regularly implements design changes and improvements to its products. Accordingly, all images and videos may not be an exact representation of current product lines or features. Please contact H2O For Fitness with any questions.
FAQs About Canine Underwater Treadmills
What is underwater treadmill therapy for dogs and how is it different from canine pool hydrotherapy?
Underwater treadmill therapy for dogs (also called canine hydrotherapy or canine aquatic treadmill therapy) is used in veterinary rehabilitation and combines water with controlled treadmill walking.
Unlike swimming pools, an underwater treadmill allows precise control of water depth, speed, temperature, and time. The dog is able to unload around 65% of their body weight while working on their natural walking gait. This reduces joint stress, improves muscle activation, and allows safer physical rehabilitation in the early healing stages.
What are the benefits of hydrotherapy with an underwater treadmill for dogs?
The properties of water, like buoyancy, resistance, and hydrostatic pressure, create a welcoming environment to help accelerate recovery, reduce pain during movement, improve range of motion, and build strength and cardiovascular fitness in dogs.
Veterinary rehabilitation, specifically dog physical therapy, can lead to quicker functional gains in post-surgical, neurological, and geriatric patients. Key benefits include:
- Speedier post-operative recovery after TPLO, CCL repair, and fracture repair
- Improved mobility for dogs with osteoarthritis and hip dysplasia
- Safe weight-loss and conditioning programs for overweight dogs
- Better gait retraining after neurological injury (IVDD, degenerative myelopathy)
- Enhanced quality of life for senior dogs with limited tolerance to exercise on land
How much do you charge for canine hydrotherapy?
Typical 30-minute session pricing ranges from $65 to $125. This allows for enough time to get the dog in the chamber, exercise, and towel-dry them off after the session. Packages of 6 to 10 sessions can be offered, or aquatic therapy for dogs can be included with the surgical estimate and/or grouped in with different tiers of rehab, weight-loss, pain-management, or senior wellness plans. An initial evaluation charge should be added in as well.
What type of ROI can one expect when adding underwater treadmill therapy to a veterinary rehab practice?
Many veterinary clinics can achieve a break-even and/or positive return on investment (ROI) within 12 to 18 months. Charging an average of $65 per 30 minutes, with 2 to 4 pets a day, pays for the investment while elevating your practice offerings to a new standard of care. Giving pet owners alternatives to traditional pet pain management options, options for geriatric wellness, and companion animal weight loss will assist in creating better compliance and customer loyalty.
How much space is needed for a veterinary underwater treadmill?
A canine underwater treadmill typically requires a footprint of 75 to 150 sq. ft., depending on the unit installed. A facility should plan for proper patient entry/exit, the ability to observe the dog’s gait while walking, and space for routine maintenance. Providing a drawing of the room with the dimensions of the space will allow the underwater treadmill manufacturer to create a custom layout with those items taken into consideration.
What type of infrastructure or facility requirements are needed to accommodate an aquatic treadmill installation?
The basics required are:
- A dedicated electrical circuit, typically around 220V, 50 Amps
- A floor drain at least 2” in diameter
- Water access for filling
- Floor load capacity when filled with water
Other infrastructure that needs to be considered is access for the delivery of the equipment. Outlining the access to the building, through hallways, and the width of doorways will help ensure a smooth installation.
Which conditions respond best to aquatic therapy for dogs and small animals?
Canine underwater treadmill therapy can be effective for post-surgical orthopedic cases, neurological conditions, osteoarthritis, pet obesity, and geriatric mobility issues. Top indications include:
- Post-op orthopedic issues: TPLO, TTA, cruciate repair, surgery for hip dysplasia or elbow dysplasia, patellar luxation, and recovery from repaired fractures
- Neurologic conditions: Intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), degenerative myelopathy (DM), FCE, vestibular disease, and post-spinal surgery
- Chronic conditions: Osteoarthritis, joint pain, geriatric arthritis, muscle atrophy
- Obesity: Incorporated into a structured weight-loss program
- Athletic conditioning: sporting dogs, working dogs, law enforcement canines
- Non-surgical intervention: muscle, tendon, and/or ligament injuries, when surgery is contraindicated
Water’s buoyancy lessens limb and joint loading for earlier and safer movement than with land-based exercise alone.
What is included with a dog underwater treadmill and how does it work?
A typical veterinary underwater treadmill includes a separate water storage reservoir, filtration, heater, water transfer pumps, and the exercise chamber housing the treadmill. This arrangement allows for the water to be treated, heated, filtered, recirculated, and recycled between uses for proper water maintenance and efficiency.
The way it works is that the pet enters the empty treadmill chamber, and it gets filled with water up to the appropriate height for the weight distribution desired for the session. From here, the veterinary therapist can control the speed, water height, and time based on the protocol designed for that pet. After the session is completed, the water is emptied back into the water storage tank, the pet exits, and then gets towel-dried off.
How does underwater treadmill therapy integrate with land-based canine rehab?
Both types of therapies complement each other in a variety of ways. Canine hydrotherapy gets used in the early phase after surgery or acutely after injury, where weight-bearing should be limited, but promoting a normal gait pattern is desired. When a pet has gained more confidence and can tolerate more weight on their musculoskeletal system, land-based therapies can be added to promote strength, coordination, and functional movement. Combining these therapies optimizes recovery outcomes for orthopedic, neurologic, and sports medicine cases.
What should I look for when buying a veterinary underwater treadmill?
When researching aquatic canine underwater treadmills, choose a veterinary-specific underwater treadmill with adjustable water depth, variable speeds suitable for cats and small/large dogs, clear viewing panels, and ease of entry/exit without the need for ramps. Prioritize systems that offer:
- Reliable warranties and responsive technical support
- Proven durability in high-volume settings
- Easy cleaning and disinfection protocols
- A known country of origin and are comfortable with their service record
Does pet insurance cover underwater treadmill therapy or veterinary hydrotherapy?
Coverage for physical therapy and veterinary hydrotherapy varies by pet insurance provider and policy. Many pet insurance plans may reimburse canine rehabilitation or underwater treadmill therapy when prescribed by a veterinarian for medically necessary treatment after surgery, injury, or neurologic disease. Veterinary practices should encourage pet owners to contact their insurance provider regarding rehabilitation benefits, coverage limits, and documentation requirements.