Water Walkies making waves with life-changing results for Illawarra’s canine companions

Dog-loving friends Allison Gaynor and Catherine Douglas are barking up the right tree with Water Walkies, the Illawarra’s first hydrotherapy centre for dogs, where pooches can paddle their way to recovery, mobility, and tail-wagging happiness.

From French bulldogs ditching wheelchairs to arthritic pups finding comfort in 30 degrees Celsius therapeutic waters, this Port Kembla facility is changing lives one splash at a time.

Opened in 2020, Water Walkies boasts heated pool therapy, underwater treadmills, and laser treatment – all aimed at rehabilitating canines with injuries, arthritis, and other conditions.

Despite growing their team and expanding their services, the pair hasn’t been able to transition to working in the business full time, with Allison still managing the family construction company, while Catherine is a full-time professional firefighter.

“I’ve always had animals and a lot of rescue animals over the years,” Catherine said.

“I was always the kid picking up a seagull hit by a car and dragging it down to my vet. Still to this day, my vet reminds me of that.”

She said when she became a firefighter, her roster allowed her time to look after special needs animals, which were often “the ones that nobody wants”.

“A few years back, I rescued a cat that was born with brain damage,” she said.

“I came home from night shift as a fiery one night, and my Great Dane had run over the top of the cat.

“We went to surgery and we pinned his leg but after surgery he wasn’t using it correctly.”

She said when she went searching for rehabilitation in the area in 2016, there was nothing in the Illawarra.

“Ali and I have been mates for 20 years, and we were talking about it, and I researched and found hydrotherapy, and we said we could bring this to the Illawarra,” she said.

Allison was previously a human phlebotomist, admitting the timing of the business was right.

“I’d worked in blood collection for a while, and when Cath talked about this, I was getting tired of what I was doing, and looking for a change,” Allison said.

The pair earned their qualifications in 2017 in the UK where hydrotherapy is part of mainstream treatment, before returning to the Illawarra to design and build Water Walkies from the ground up.

Catherine said buying a building off the plan that required additional plumbing set the opening back a couple of years, only to then open in 2020 as the pandemic hit.

However, she said it was important they did it right.

While there was another Illawarra clinic with an underwater treadmill, Water Walkies was the only facility with a heated indoor pool.

“There’s some conditions with dogs that do much better in the pool than on the treadmill,” she said.

“In the pool, we do everything from learn-to-swim with dogs, to dogs that have had trauma from near-drowning experiences and are now scared of water.”

She said other conditions ranged from arthritic dogs through to palliative care cases.

“They can come in for a soak, because the warm waters help with all the reasons we have a bath – it relaxes them,” she said, with some often falling asleep in the trainers’ arms.

Catherine said the underwater treadmill was used for rehabilitation, particularly for cruciate ligament injuries, knee complaints and spinal issues.

She said the results could be life-changing for the dogs.

“A couple of years ago, we had a French bulldog come to us who had been in a wheelchair for 12 months because he had a spinal issue,” she said.

“He was coming twice a week and within six months he was walking again and we threw the wheelchair out.”

Allison said another case involved a Labrador with an autoimmune condition, who woke up paralysed and couldn’t walk.

“The treadmill is the best way to get them walking,” she said.

“He had to be carried into the centre on the first day, but walked out on the last day.”

She said earlier this year they added laser therapy, which focused on cell rejuvenation for injuries and wounds.

For some, the facilities were simply for fun and fitness for those unable to go to beaches or parks, or who needed to burn energy.

However, Catherine said it wasn’t just canines, with a 19-year-old cat using underwater treatment therapy and the mobile nature of the laser therapy allowing them to visit properties with varying animals.

All this equipment has meant a massive investment and risk for the pair.

“We’re all still working second jobs to make it work, but the benefits have really outweighed the bad days when we’re like, ‘What are we doing?’” Catherine said.

“When you see wheelchairs get thrown out or dogs with arthritis just relax into a comfortable sleep, it’s pretty incredible.”

In addition, one of their certified canine hydrotherapists also developed a pet treat line, Coastal Pet Treats, and dog robes.

“We didn’t like the commercial treats we were buying to treat the dogs,” she said.

“Narelle started making the treats just out of meat and dehydrating it herself with no additives in it.

“It became so popular we ended up branching off and opening up Coastal Pet Treats.”

As their staff base grew, Catherine said it was important they were continually trained to offer the best care, despite rehabilitation and hydrotherapy in Australia not yet a regulated industry.

“You could literally go out tomorrow and buy a treadmill and start charging clients,” she said.

“The one big thing that sets us apart from a lot of others doing it is all our girls are trained and qualified.”

The business is continuing to grow into a holistic centre, having brought on a nutritionist, a dog trainer and working in conjunction with a daycare centre to do a pickup service.

Visit Water Walkies at 19/35 Five Islands Road, Port Kembla.