Diploma In Canine Exercise Rehabilitation
The most comprehensive and flexible online course in Canine Rehabilitation with Exercise Prescription
Learn how to provide effective rehabilitation for dogs, so that you can give them the best possible recovery while growing your skills and profits for your practice.
The Diploma in Canine Exercise Rehabilitation is the only CPD/CE programme of its kind, that not only shows you how to carry out rehabilitation exercises safely and effectively but also teaches you how to create progressive, tailored rehabilitation plans for a multitude of conditions and takes the headache out of programme development with our proven framework.
Who is this course for?
If you are a veterinary nurse or therapist who dreams of being able to provide the absolute best chance of recovery for your canine patients and wants to help their owners to ensure their beloved pet has the best quality of life, without musculoskeletal pain and suffering, then this course is for you. Whether you are:
A Veterinary Nurse wanting to develop your knowledge and skills in rehabilitation so that you can better assist clients with post operative exercise advice and see that more cases return to full function after surgery as well as providing support for patients with debilitating musculoskeletal conditions such as OA.
OR
A Canine Manual Therapist who is frustrated that in some cases, although your hands on treatment provides great short term relief, your patient continues on a downward spiral and without the specific knowledge in corrective exercise, you are struggling to help them further.
Our Diploma in Canine Exercise Rehabilitation will provide you with all the knowledge, skills and support required to provide an outstanding exercise rehabilitation service for dogs.
What our students have to say.....
What's included? Canine Exercise Rehabilitation
Clinical Practice
This module will bring together the principles and practice of exercise rehabilitation and is where you will demonstrate your competency through case studies in your practice. Your final assessments include:
- Case studies – these will be carried out with clients in your practice and will demonstrate your understanding of the rehabilitation process from start to finish to include planning and ongoing case management
- Video submission – to demonstrate your clinical competency and practical skills
Module 1
Foundation in Canine Exercise Rehabilitation
This module is also a course in itself available to buy separately for £597. APPLY HERE
During this module you will cover the fundamental principles of exercise rehabilitation for dogs which will include:
- What exactly exercise rehabilitation is and why it is so important
- Assessment and reasoning – how you will work in the vet led team
- Essential functional anatomy and exercise physiology
- How the body positively responds to exercise and how to use this advantage
- Therapeutic exercises to include those for: balance and proprioception, assisted standing and ambulation, strength and joint range of motion
- How to develop rehabilitation goals and measure improvement
- How to use our trusted framework to develop a rehabilitation programme
Module 2
Exercise Rehabilitation for the Orthopaedic patient
In this module you will build on your foundation knowledge of exercise rehabilitation and learn how to create specific plans for orthopaedic patients. This module includes:
- Biomechanics of lameness and the biomechanical application to the rehabilitation of orthopaedic conditions
- Injury, repair and healing time frames
- Tissue disuse, remobilisation and conditioning
- How to use therapeutic exercise for the osteoarthritic patient
- How to use therapeutic exercise for the shoulder, carpus and elbow
- How to use therapeutic exercise for the hip and pelvis
- How to use therapeutic exercise for the stifle and tarsus
- Special considerations for patients with fixators and amputees
- Using the framework to create comprehensive rehabilitation plans for patients with orthopaedic conditions
Module 3
Exercise Rehabilitation for the Neurological Patient
In this module you will learn how to apply your skills and knowledge to develop and manage rehabilitation plans specifically for patients with neurological disease. This module includes:
- Revision of canine neuroanatomy
- Spinal anatomy and kinematics
- How to recognise and interpret signs of neurological impairment
- How to restore functional movement patterns through exercise
- How to use therapeutic exercises for patients with cervical and spinal conditions
- How to use therapeutic exercises for patients with brain and spinal cord conditions and neoplasia
- How to use therapeutic exercises for patients with polyneuropathies
- Special considerations for aged patients and those with traumatic injuries
- Using the framework to create comprehensive rehabilitation plans for patients with orthopaedic conditions
Module 4
Clinical Practice
This module will bring together the principles and practice of exercise rehabilitation and is where you will demonstrate your competency through case studies in your practice. Your final assessments include:
- Case studies – these will be carried out with clients in your practice and will demonstrate your understanding of the rehabilitation process from start to finish to include planning and ongoing case management
- Video submission – to demonstrate your clinical competency and practical skills
Benefits of studying with us
Why should you choose to study with us? Below are some of the reasons:
- We have been doing this since 2003! Your tutor, Katie Lawrence, is a very experienced specialist in veterinary education and veterinary physiotherapy/rehabilitation and has been training veterinary nurses in canine physiotherapy and rehabilitation since 2003. Katie’s unique combination of expertise means that she knows exactly what you need to know and exactly how you need to learn it.
- Free access to supporting literature and research – with your course membership you have access to relevant research, some of which is not freely available and core textbooks, worth over £100 – one of which is the extensively detailed book ‘Canine Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy’ written by experts in canine rehabilitation Darryl Millis and David Levine!!
- Free access Canine Exercise Solutions Software which contains 100’s of instruction videos with experts from the University of Tennessee and Laurie Edge-Hughes from Four Leg Rehab Inc. Access to this software is usually through a monthly subscription!
- Support and community – You will become part of our private Facebook group just for our canine rehab students. Here you will have the support of your classmates! You also have direct access to Katie for any help and advice with cases or any other area of your study. You are fully supported throughout your training.
- Quality assured CPD/CE – Anyone can put together a CPD and sell it online. There are no compulsory requirements to adhere to. However, we want to make sure that you feel confident studying with us so our courses and our organisation is externally endorsed by the Quality Licence Scheme which is part of the Skills and Education Group. This means that we choose to undergo robust and rigorous quality audits by external auditors to ensure the quality of our courses and provision is continually met.
Meet Your Tutor
Registered Veterinary Physiotherapist, Canine Rehabilitation Therapist, Specialist in Veterinary Education - Katie Lawrence
Like you, I am dedicated to the wellbeing of animals. There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you can provide the way forward for a dog who has broken down on the road to recovery. So much of the pain and suffering seen in dogs comes from their musculoskeletal system and I am so grateful that I have the knowledge and skills to help them.
Quick points about me:
- I have been a Veterinary Physiotherapist for 20 years and have been training Equine and Canine therapists and Veterinary Nurses since 2003.
- I have developed many courses including vocational diplomas and an undergraduate degree in Veterinary Physiotherapy (BSc Hons).
- I have been involved in industry regulation for many years and regularly sit on validation panels and on course approval boards.
- I developed the first ever blended learning Veterinary Physiotherapy Degree
- I have a specialist qualification in Veterinary Education from the Royal Veterinary College, London (RVC). I was the first Veterinary Physiotherapist in the world to be awarded this qualification.
- I hold a Postgraduate Qualification in Equestrian Rehabilitation and Performance.
- I was a founding board member of the Animal Health Professions’ Register (AHPR).
- I am a lifetime Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
My mission for the last 18 years has been to share my knowledge and skills far and wide, so that many more dogs can reap the benefits of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation. Thank you for helping me! Read more about Katie.
We LOVE to follow our past students' success!!
Read about Alex Collins and her growing business Flexidog Therapy & Training Workshops.
Alex has competed in Agility for the past 12 years and it was the endeavour to condition her dogs correctly and prevent sporting injuries that ignited her passion for therapy and rehabilitation. To build on her knowledge and skills from past training which include equine science, canine anatomy, physiology, nutrition and massage, Alex undertook our Diploma in Canine Exercise Rehabilitation which she completed in 2020.
Flexidog Therapy specialises in canine exercise rehabilitation programs, 'return to sports' fitness programs, fitness and conditioning group workshops and therapeutic massage to sporting and pet dogs. Here is what a Flexidog Therapy client has to say about Alex:
'I have completed a 10 session fitness programme that Alex devised for my two shelties who both do agility. I would wholeheartedly recommend Alex to anyone looking for an excellent conditioning programme for their dogs, whether working, rehab or just general conditioning. She is sensitive to their needs, extremely knowledgeable and very clear in her instruction and guidance’.
Alex has also partnered with therapists from Bach Canine Rehab and Canine Rebalance on an exciting project ‘Conditioning your Canine’. Conditioning your Canine provides access to a great library of canine conditioning and rehabilitation videos uniquely including training tips for owners.
Well done to Alex for all her hard work and for reaching more owners with high quality instruction and guidance for their pets!! Check out Flexi Dog Therapy.