Intensive Hydrotherapy Session helped German Shepherd Puppy to Recover from Hip Displasia

A German Shepherd puppy "Fred", that has been suffering from severe joint pain and couldn't walk effortlessly has been put to intensive hydrotherapy session. Good news is that after having undergone a tenure of well planned hydrotherapy session, Fred is almost fit to join the training session to serve as a police dog.

Fred had been diagnosed with displastic hip at the age of 6 months. Vets and canine experts planned to to put poor little Fred in a course of swimming sessions. Fred has successfully passed his assessment test to start off with the training program with Devon and Cornwall Police in January, 2012.

"Fred's police dog career looked like it was over before it had begun but, following his hard work in the pool, he is now one of eight puppies about to begin their training as police dogs. Fred was literally thrown in at the deep end and has worked hard to ease his stiff joints and build up the muscles in his legs. There is now no reason why he won't go on to become a successful police dog, able to assist tracking missing people, locate stolen property, chase and detain suspects, and keep order in crowd control situations", said Sergeant Paul Glennon. So the future now looks really bright for Fred!

Fred, who is going to be a smart police German Shepherd Dog had initially joined the force through the Devon and Cornwall Police puppy schemes. He was taken care of by volunteer canine experts until he reached 12 months of age. A series of 13-weeks training course is awaiting ahead for Fred. The scheme has been highly successful, which literally created a demand for the willingness of puppy walkers, who are given practical dog training and special classes on "Dog Socialization" by the Dog Training School. All puppy walkers have to have a settled family background, a well secured garden and most importantly willingness to undertake daily exercise, grooming and care of the dogs.

Sergeant Glennon said: “In order to find the best people to look after our dogs we are looking for homes in Devon, Cornwall and even Somerset... What is most important is that we find the right people who have the time, patience and determination to give our dogs the best start in life... To help us give these dogs to get the best start to their training we need more walkers to come forward... Ideal applicants will have previous experience caring for dogs but what is most important to us is that they share our aim to produce a well-balanced, confident and social dog at the end of the year.”