John’s love of German Shepherds dates back to his instructing at a Dog Obedience Training Club over 20 years ago. His first competing shepherd, Cassie, was doing really well in open shows, but John was forced to give up competition when the renovation of their 300 year old farm took up most of his time. John did continue to organise both Obedience and Agility displays at various events and has kept very well behaved Shepherds as pets since then, he presently has three. Through Pauline’s passion for pekingese, came their introduction to hydrotherapy. Following a horrific accident little Rosie had to undergo surgery to remove ruptured discs from her spine. Unfortunately, despite the operation being a success, Rosie’s accident had caused neurological damage to her spinal cord, she had lost the use of both hind legs, being left with nothing but deep pain reflex. Although she is a tryer, progress was really slow. Six months down the line with only a minor amount of improvement they took Rosie to see a Chiropractor, who suggested hydrotherapy. Rosie hated it at the start, but she did begin to work both hind legs in the water so they persevered, making a 50 mile round trip to their nearest hydrotherapy pool, twice a week. There was no miracle cure for Rosie’s problem. With use other nerves have had to learn to do the job of the damaged ones, however she can now stand, walk and run, she leads a very full and active life, but the concentration on her face when she scratches her ear is a picture. After having experienced Hydrotherapy first hand and the lack of facilities in their area, John and Pauline saw an opportunity to work with four legged friends. Undeterred by hard work, seeking advice from other pool operators, attending various courses in canine hydrotherapy and canine first aid at the Hawksmoor Training Centre, with the help of Westcoast Products, suppliers of their purpose built hydrotherapy pool, they went ahead. .