The swimming Pips

It’s been a while since we updated about Pippin monster’s progress.

Here goes…

We know that our priority for Pips is to build up her muscles, especially since she spent a good part of her life being caged up. The best way to do so, is none other than… SWIMMING!

So off to the beach we went. And boy oh boy, it did not go well. At all.

Actually, prior to the beach, we brought her to Sunny Heights once to swim. Yap, it didn’t go too good either. Because, poor Pips kept sinking to one side. (Her tripod side) #ofcoursewegotlaughla #itwasdamnfunnyla

When we brought her to the beach for the first time, we took it slow and allowed her to roam around (under close watch) and soak her little paws. She did get splashed by a few crashing waves though. #ofcoursewelaughedatheragainla

Seeing how Pippin swims convinced Mummy that she should get professional help. Thus, Mummy approached Anna from Hydro Paws Plus to start Pippin on her hydrotherapy sessions. Together, we spent several months building her water confidence and strengthening her muscles. From being able to swim for barely 15 minutes before KO-ing, Pips’ stamina has improved significantly. #officiallyaLooLimwaterdog

And more importantly, the tripod no longer sinks to one side. #cannotlaughatheranymoreliao #sian

To be on the safe side, Anna advised that Pippin should always wear a life jacket whenever she is in the water. Anna also prepared a special head float to support Pips’ head when swimming. She even gave us one! Thanks Anna!

Once Pippin finished her first round of hydrotherapy sessions, Mummy went and bought her her very own life jacket from Ezydog. While this jacket does look a little short on Pips, it is actually a perfect fit as it allows the full motion of her back legs when swimming. (This was a tip that Anna gave us while fitting her) #actsasahandbagholdertoo

Off to the beach we went again! Enjoying some running time before getting wet.

Pippin has really grown in confidence after all these months and we just love watching her run and chase after us. #shemayonlyhave3legsbutsheisdamnfasthor

Coming after me! #hengistillfaster

Taste of the sand.

After a little warm up, we are ready!

Let’s go!

We noticed that while Pippin was happy to hop along the shoreline, she was rather hesitant about approaching the water. Mummy had to manually put her in the water for her to swim. #andshewasnotimpressed

So Mummy decided to do what she did to get me and Pecan to become so obsessed with swimming – she tossed in a squeaky toy.

And there you go, Ms Pippin Loo the swimming Jack.

The lifejacket probably boasted her water confidence a fair bit and she started heading into the water readily.

In fact, she was so good at swimming that was often ahead of us. Nay. Just kidding.#likereallor

Mummy didn’t want a situation where she had to jump in the water to ‘rescue’ Pips so all her fetches are close to the shore.

It’s really exciting watching Pippin grow from a sinking dog, to a competent swimmer! Plus, we also noticed that her muscle mass is growing. Not only is she lasting longer on walks, we also observed that she is starting to use her hind legs individually now. #achievementunlocked

Guess we are certainly doing something right and yap, we will keep working on it!