From: imbibe@mindspring.com   
      
   Military Dogs at Premier Rehab Center Do Push-Ups and Yoga   
   By James R. Hagerty, Dec. 30, 2022, WSJ   
      
   SAN ANTONIO, Texas––At the U.S. military’s working dog hospital here,   
   being treated like a dog isn’t so bad.   
      
   Dogs fly in from all over the world for treatment at the hospital’s   
   rehabilitation center. Some are so eager to start daily exercises that they   
   body slam the clinic’s doors. Rewards for good behavior include squeeze toys   
   and frozen chicken chunks.   
      
   The dogs—mostly German shepherds, Belgian Malinois or related breeds—get   
   premium treatment because they have important jobs, such as patrolling   
   military bases, finding hidden explosives or searching for illegal drugs. They   
   are known as “canine    
   tactical athletes” or “four-legged war fighters.”   
      
   The U.S. military has more than 1,000 working dogs worldwide, and hundreds are   
   treated each year in San Antonio.   
      
   While they’re getting rehab, dogs also can see a dentist. The hospital   
   performs about 100 root canal operations a year, said Col. Nic R. Cabano, head   
   of the veterinary service. Dental care is vital, he said, partly because   
   “one of our key priorities    
   is to preserve the biting strength.”   
      
   During rehab exercises, “you can’t tell them to do crunches,” said   
   Andrea L. Henderson, head of rehab services at the base, “but you can teach   
   them to do push-ups or squats.” Dog push-ups involve standing with the front   
   feet up on a plastic    
   table, crouching down on forearms and standing up again. Squats require   
   sitting down on command, with the front feet elevated on a higher surface.   
      
   “That’s a good core and hind-leg workout,” Dr. Henderson said.   
      
   She likens the dogs to human athletes. Given proper care, Dr. Henderson said,   
   “we would hope for a seven- or eight-year career.” Without such care,   
   working dogs can wear out and be forced into early retirement.   
      
   On a recent morning, one of her patients was a Belgian Malinois called Qqasi.   
   The dog, nearly 2 years old and highly excitable, landed wrong during a   
   training exercise and tore an ankle ligament. Surgeons had repaired the ankle   
   with plates and screws.    
   Qqasi, who had been hobbling on three legs, was starting to use the wounded   
   limb tentatively.   
      
   After a stroll on a grassy patch outside, he was sent for a session on the   
   underwater treadmill, inside a clear plastic tank with water rising up to the   
   dog’s shoulder. The water provides buoyancy, taking some of the weight off   
   Qqasi’s wounded leg.    
   Water also is like a resistance band, forcing more exertion than required for   
   regular trotting.   
      
   Qqasi was still getting used to the tub but propelled himself doggedly and   
   occasionally splashed his minders.   
      
   His next stop was a padded table in a room with dim lighting meant to calm   
   animals. Dr. Henderson wanted to begin teaching him other exercises, but he   
   was thrashing around so much that she and a muscular attendant struggled to   
   hold him in place.   
      
   “You’re all right, you’re all right, buddy,” Dr. Henderson said   
   softly. She tossed Qqasi some frozen chicken.   
      
   Still, he was too wound up. Dr. Henderson sent him off for R&R.   
      
   “These dogs were made to be hyper-focused on something,” such as following   
   a scent or repelling an infiltrator, she said. That’s great for job   
   performance but sometimes makes it hard to calm down and learn a new trick.   
   “We want them to have    
   extremely high drive,” she said, but some are “off their rocker.” Animal   
   behaviorists are on hand to determine what might be triggering a dog’s   
   meltdown.   
      
   Rehab is increasingly popular for civilian dogs, horses and other animals too.   
   Some animals injure themselves in competitions, such as dock diving for dogs.   
   Others are ordinary pets succumbing to the ravages of age.   
      
   “It has become quite mainstream,” said Dr. Darryl Millis, director of a   
   canine arthritis and rehab center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.   
   He finds people want pets to receive services similar to what humans get in   
   physical therapy.   
      
   The dogs tend to compare favorably with humans. “As a generality, dogs do   
   not have this thing in their brain that tells them they have a fracture and   
   can’t move, so a dog never has an excuse,” said Sasha A. Foster, rehab   
   coordinator at Colorado    
   State University’s veterinary teaching hospital.   
      
   Chance, a 13-year-old yellow Labrador, regularly visits Elizabeth Wade, a   
   veterinarian in Monroeville, Pa., for exercises designed to strengthen her   
   hind legs, troubled by ligament tears. “She loves Dr. Wade,” said   
   Chance’s owner, Lori Kleppick.   
      
   At the San Antonio military base, in a room decorated with a Christmas tree   
   bearing glittery pictures of dogs, a German shepherd named Nox was recovering   
   from a severe sprain. One of Dr. Henderson’s assistants dangled a chew toy   
   to lead Nox on a walk    
   threading through a row of plastic cones and over low plastic tubes. Nox   
   waited for a command before grabbing his reward, the toy.   
      
   “Somebody taught this dog really good impulse control,” Dr. Henderson said.   
      
   She coaxed another dog, Aarianna , to walk backward, working hamstrings and   
   glutes. “Back! Back! Back!” Dr. Henderson said. “Good girl!”   
      
   Other canine-rehab exercises include walking in figure eights, touching the   
   nose to the hips or crouching to reach for a treat under a low table. For   
   dogs, lifting one paw to shake hands, while keeping balance in a standing   
   position, is roughly    
   equivalent to a superman pose in yoga, Dr. Henderson said.   
      
   Picking the right type of reward can be tricky. “We have to find a reward   
   that is enticing but not too enticing,” she said. Meat or low-sodium cheese   
   spread are high-value rewards that work for some dogs but can overstimulate   
   others. Dry dog food can    
   be a calming alternative. “Most dogs will work for kibble,” she said,   
   “but they aren’t going to work that hard for it.”   
      
   At the San Antonio base, dogs too old or worn out for further military work   
   still get rehab care to prepare them for adoption. All dogs are given an   
   honorary rank one notch above that of their human handlers. The idea, said   
   Col. Cabano, is “to    
   reinforce honor and respect for the canine partner.”   
      
   https://www.wsj.com/articles/military-dogs-rehab-push-ups-yoga-11672412343   
      
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