Watsu? What?

This year has started off with the exciting opening of my canine hydrotherapy pool. I did all the building by myself with the help of my partner Warren. It all started about this same time last year. There were times I never thought I would get to the end, but here we are!

As I was building the pool, I was expanding my knowledge by going over to Sequim, Washington for more hydrotherapy instruction and practice. When there, I had an opportunity to visit the Integrated Wellness Center on Bainbridge Island. It was there I had my first Watsu session. The simplest way to explain it is a massage in the water. While in the Watsu session, I was the dog. I was the one who was being carried and held. It was a most amazing experience and one I will never forget. It really deepened my intention to make the dog I am holding as comfortable as possible so that the water can be healing. I was not a noodle when I entered the water, I can assure you. I was quite guarded in fact. It was over an hour the transformation happened and I became the calmest I had been in months, if not years.

In this video blog, I wanted to share with you details about my experience and talk more about what Watsu is. It further shaped how I enter the water with a dog. Hydrotherapy is far more than throwing the dog in the water and asking it to swim like I saw at a lake over the summer. I was in horror and so was the dog. Many dogs do not like the water so it is most important for me to earn their trust and know I will never drop them. I am their island. In my pool, the pups do not wear life vests. I am their life vest just as my Watsu practitioner was my life vest.