Senior Golden Retriever Regained Use of His Legs by Doing Pilates With His Human
A beautiful senior golden retriever named Weasel, who was losing use of his back legs due to neurological issues, slowly regained mobility by doing Pilates alongside his beloved human, Jillian Loustaunau, a Pilates instructor in Kailua, Hawai’i. She told GeoBeats Animals that she got the idea to try human exercises with Weasel from Joseph Pilates, who drew on animal movements when developing his program.
Joseph Pilates developed the whole exercise program based off of animal movements. So, I figured, why not see if it translates back to my senior dog? And he’s responded really well to it.
Loustaunau, who has had Weasel since he was an eight-week-old puppy, noticed that the rehab exercises from his veterinarian looked a lot like the Pilates moves she teaches her human clients every day.
Loustaunau also explained that Weasel has improved quite a bit, but it takes daily practice.
It’s not 100% because it’s an up-and-down process. It’s something we have to fight against every day. There was a day recently where we were at the beach, and he really wanted to play, but the legs weren’t super cooperating. So, I just took him down on my towel. I did his little stretches that we’ve learned to do, and then he was up and at him, ready to go.
Loustaunau also offers “Pawlates”, virtual Pilates classes for dogs and humans at Movmint Pilates.
Through daily practice, Weasel has regained almost [all] of his functionality and is making more and more progress each week. I am fortunate to be able to dedicate time each day to helping Weasel heal and have created a virtual class to help other dog parents facing similar issues. Our Pawlates virtual classes cover simple moves you can do at home to make a big difference in your pup’s wellbeing.
