Clad in a wet suit, Debbie La Monica recently put her client, Dax, through his paces.
The 14-year-old golden retriever, who had suffered a spinal-cord stroke, or fibrocartilagenous embolism, months before stood on a platform in the 20-foot swim spa to receive a massage before starting to doggy paddle with La Monica’s assistance. Then it was back to the platform, or “beach,” for more bodywork followed by more swimming.
In the three months Dax has been coming to SplashDog in Edmonds, he has gained improved mobility in his rear body as well as flexibility in his neck, which had been strained while compensating for his weaker body, said La Monica, co-owner and lead therapist of the warm-water therapy facility.
“At his age, it’s really hard to build muscle. … We work on the whole body,” said La Monica, a licensed massage practitioner for both humans and small animals.
A former medical assistant managing an ear, nose and throat clinic in Seattle, La Monica’s interest in canine massage began years ago when her whippet, Karma, ran into a tree stump hidden in the grass and suffered serious injuries. There was even talk of amputation.
“I found somebody to do swimming therapy with her,” La Monica said, noting that within a year, Karma was back to full function. “I had seen what the work could do and was intimately familiar with the benefits of the work.”
Eager to offer those benefits to others, La Monica graduated from Ashmead College, going on to earn her SAMP license right out of school four years ago.
“It used to be that you had to be a licensed human massage therapist, then (get) another 100 hours for small-animal training,” she said. “Last year, the law changed. Now it’s just 300 hours in large- or small-animal massage training.”
Three-and-a-half years ago, La Monica joined newly opened SplashDog. This past January, she and colleague Leigh Anne Hardy bought the business from founder Melissa Barran, taking on the day-to-day responsibilities of operating the spa, which has a staff of four, including three licensed massage practitioners.
“People are becoming aware of the benefits of warm-water therapy: post-surgical healing, conditioning, the emotional (benefits). At any age of life there’s a benefit,” said La Monica, adding that many of her clients are referrals from veterinarians.
“We have worked really hard to forge really nice working relationships with veterinarians in the area,” she said, noting that the therapy provided at SplashDog is not a medical procedure.
The therapy is a combination of massage, bodywork and swim conditioning in water kept at 94 degrees Fahrenheit. Water jets can add resistance to the workout, depending on the needs of the dog, La Monica said.
Along with therapy sessions, dogs can take advantage of assisted-swim sessions and self-swim sessions, held in half-hour and one-hour increments. Sessions are limited to one dog at a time.
“One reason dogs come in is they just need to take some weight off,” La Monica said. Others are performance dogs and use swim time for conditioning. And others, like Dax, need to recuperate from an operation or injury.
“They give us so much during their life that it’s nice to give something back,” said the lifelong dog lover, whose family includes four whippets: Karma and her sister, Winnie; Karma’s daughter, Julia; and Julia’s daughter, Rumba.
“I’m lucky. I get to splash around in the water all day and have dogs stick their tongue up my nose,” La Monica said, laughing. “Who else gets to do that?”
For more information on SplashDog, call 206-546-5309 or go online to www.splashdogspa.com.
SCBJ Assistant Editor
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