Browns Veterinary Physiotherapy

Browns Veterinary Physiotherapy Canine physiotherapist in Cumbria, UK. Helping owners understand movement, confidence & coordination

Professional, insured veterinary physiotherapist covering South West Scotland and North Cumbria and a Member of Register of Animal Musculoskeletal Practitioners (RAMP) (www.ramp.org) and Institute of Registered Veterinary and Animal Physiotherapists (IRVAP) (www.irvap.org.uk/).

13/06/2026

If your puppy is bouncing off the walls and you think they need a longer walk to tire them out, think again and save this first.

Here are 3 things that are more tiring than a long walk and are safer for developing joints.

1. Sniffy walks, let them lead, explore, and sniff everything they want. 10 mins of sniffing is genuinely exhausting for them.

2. Scatter feeding, either in the garden or the house. Throw their kibble or treats, such as carrots, in the grass or around the house, and let their nose do the work!

3. A stuffed kong or lickimat, with frozen natural yoghurt, provides a calm,focused activity that is tiring and releases endorphins.

Their joints are still developing until around 18 months old, so how they move now shapes how they move later.

Save this for the next time they are zooming around at midnight. #

10/06/2026

Five minutes of play. Your puppy is absolutely flying. Then — flop. Sprawled on the floor like their bones have left the building.

We've all seen it. It's honestly one of the best things about puppies.

But can I tell you what's actually happening in that little body?

In those five minutes of chaos, your puppy's developing joints took a lot of load. Their growing muscles fired hard — and unevenly, because coordination in young dogs is still very much a work in progress. Their growth plates, which are the soft areas at the end of their bones that haven't fully hardened yet, absorbed impact with every landing, every skid, every dramatic corner.

And then they collapsed. Because they genuinely had nothing left.

Now here's the thing.

One session of this? Completely fine. Puppies are built to play.

But repeated high-intensity ball sessions — especially with a ball launcher, especially on hard surfaces — before a puppy's body has the strength and coordination to handle that load?

That's where problems can start to quietly build.

Not dramatically. Not immediately.

Just… quietly.

The good news is this is so easy to adjust once you know. Shorter bursts. Better surfaces. More sniff-led movement. Less repetitive launching.

Small changes now. Big difference later. 💚

💬 Guilty of the five-minute ball marathon? No judgement here — drop a 🙋 below!

10/06/2026

Five minutes of ball. Your puppy is absolutely flying. Then — flop. Sprawled on the floor like their bones have left the building.

We've all seen it. It's honestly one of the best things about puppies.

But can I tell you what's actually happening in that little body?

In those five minutes of chaos, your puppy's developing joints took a lot of load. Their growing muscles fired hard — and unevenly, because coordination in young dogs is still very much a work in progress. Their growth plates, which are the soft areas at the end of their bones that haven't fully hardened yet, absorbed impact with every landing, every skid, every dramatic corner.

And then they collapsed. Because they genuinely had nothing left.

Now here's the thing.

One session of this? Completely fine. Puppies are built to play.

But repeated high-intensity ball sessions — especially with a ball launcher, especially on hard surfaces — before a puppy's body has the strength and coordination to handle that load?

That's where problems can start to quietly build.

Not dramatically. Not immediately.

Just… quietly.

The good news is this is so easy to adjust once you know. Shorter bursts. Better surfaces. More sniff-led movement. Less repetitive launching.

Small changes now. Big difference later. 💚

💬 Guilty of the five-minute ball marathon? No judgement here — drop a 🙋 below!

09/06/2026

"He's always walked like that. It's just how he is."

Of all the things I hear in my work — this one makes me want to sit down and have a proper conversation.

Because sometimes, yes. Some dogs do have a slightly unusual way of moving and there's nothing going on.

But often?

"He's always walked like that" means: this started so gradually that nobody noticed it changing.

The crab walk that appeared slowly over six months. The slight head bob that got a little more pronounced over a year. The hip sway that used to be barely there and is now just… how they walk.

Dogs don't tend to wake up one morning and move completely differently.

Changes creep in. The body adapts. The owner adjusts their eye. And before long, the compensation has become the new normal.

That's not anyone's fault. It happens so quietly.

But it does mean that "he's always been like this" is sometimes worth a second look.

Not because something is definitely wrong. But because a fresh pair of eyes — from someone who hasn't been watching the same dog every day — can sometimes spot something that's been hiding in plain sight.

If you've ever had that small nagging thought about how your dog moves?

That thought is worth listening to. 💚

👉 If you'd like me to take a look, feel free to drop me a message — I'm always happy to have a chat.

"He's always walked like that. It's just how he is."Of all the things I hear in my work — this one makes me want to sit ...
09/06/2026

"He's always walked like that. It's just how he is."

Of all the things I hear in my work — this one makes me want to sit down and have a proper conversation.

Because sometimes, yes. Some dogs do have a slightly unusual way of moving and there's nothing going on.

But often?

"He's always walked like that" means: this started so gradually that nobody noticed it changing.

The crab walk that appeared slowly over six months. The slight head bob that got a little more pronounced over a year. The hip sway that used to be barely there and is now just… how they walk.

Dogs don't tend to wake up one morning and move completely differently.

Changes creep in. The body adapts. The owner adjusts their eye. And before long, the compensation has become the new normal.

That's not anyone's fault. It happens so quietly.

But it does mean that "he's always been like this" is sometimes worth a second look.

Not because something is definitely wrong. But because a fresh pair of eyes — from someone who hasn't been watching the same dog every day — can sometimes spot something that's been hiding in plain sight.

If you've ever had that small nagging thought about how your dog moves?

That thought is worth listening to. 💚

👉 If you'd like me to take a look, feel free to drop me a message — I'm always happy to have a chat.

Or

👉 Not sure if what you're seeing is worth looking into?
Download the free Dog Mobility Checklist here: https://rb.gy/nn6az5

08/06/2026

Tiredness doesn't protect a developing body. Sometimes it makes things worse.

I know. It sounds wrong.

Because the advice most puppy owners get is: tire them out. Wear them out. A tired puppy is a good puppy.

And yes — puppies do need to learn to settle, and rest is genuinely important.

But here's the bit nobody mentions.

A tired puppy is also a puppy with reduced muscle control.

When a developing body is exhausted, coordination drops. Proprioception — the body's ability to sense where it is in space — gets less reliable. The tiny stabilising muscles that protect growing joints aren't firing as well as they should.

Which means the puppy who is charging around in the garden for the fifth game of fetch? Is doing that with less body control than they had at game one.

More load. Less stability. On joints that are still developing.

That's not me saying never let your puppy run. Of course they should run. Of course they should play.

It's me saying: a short burst of quality movement is worth a lot more than an hour of exhausted chaos.

Quality over quantity. For puppies especially. 💚

💬 How do you manage exercise with your puppy? Drop your breed below — I'm always curious!

👉 Want to know how to build movement habits that actually support your puppy's developing body?

Download the free Puppy Foundations Guide: https://www.brownsvetphysio.co.uk/puppy-foundations-guide

07/06/2026

"He's fine — he's not even limping."

I hear this a lot.

And I completely understand why. Limping is obvious. Limping is the thing we've all been told to watch for.

But here's what most people don't know.

Limping is actually quite late in the story.

By the time a dog is visibly limping, they've usually been compensating for a while — shifting weight, adjusting their gait, quietly offloading pressure from something that doesn't feel right.

Dogs are extraordinary at hiding discomfort. Not because they're stoic. Because their survival instinct tells them not to show weakness.

So the dog who "isn't limping" might still be:

— Sitting slightly to one side
— Slowing down on the second half of walks
— Getting up a little stiffly after rest
— Being just a little less bouncy than they used to be

None of those things look like limping. All of them are worth paying attention to.

If something feels off — even if you can't quite put your finger on it — your instinct is usually right.

You know your dog better than anyone. 💚

👇 Has your dog ever shown any of these subtle signs? I'd love to hear your experience.

Download the free Dog Mobility Checklist here: https://rb.gy/nn6az5

3 things to watch in your puppy this weekend.Takes 5 minutes.Costs nothing.And tells you more than you might expect.You ...
06/06/2026

3 things to watch in your puppy this weekend.

Takes 5 minutes.

Costs nothing.

And tells you more than you might expect.

You don't need any equipment.
You don't need any training.
You just need to slow down and watch.

Here's what to look for. 👇

1. How do they land?

When your puppy jumps off something — even just a small step — watch what happens next.
Do they land evenly on both front feet?
Or do they consistently favour one side?

Puppies tend to have a preferred landing leg, the same way humans are left or right handed. A slight preference is normal.

Consistently loading one side every single time is worth keeping an eye on.

2. How do they turn?

Watch your puppy turning in a tight circle — chasing a toy, spinning for excitement, doing the full zoomie loop.

Do they turn equally easily in both directions?
Or do they always spin the same way, and seem a bit stiff or awkward going the other?

Difficulty or stiffness turning one way can be an early signal that something isn't quite balanced in how they're moving.

3. How do they stop?

When your puppy is running full tilt and comes to a halt — how do they brake?

Do they slow gradually and stop evenly?
Or do they slither, collapse slightly, or flop dramatically to one side every time?
Some puppiness is just puppiness.

But consistent patterns — always the same side, always the same leg — are worth noting.

Have a go this weekend.

And if you notice something that makes you go "hmm" — come back and tell me. I genuinely want to know what you see. 💚

💬 Drop your observations below. Every dog is different, and every detail helps.

I've been doing this for over 10 years.And there's one thing I wish I could go back and tell every single client I've ev...
05/06/2026

I've been doing this for over 10 years.

And there's one thing I wish I could go back and tell every single client I've ever worked with.

Not at the point of injury.
Not after surgery.
Not when we're already in the middle of rehab and working our way back.

But right at the very beginning.

Before any of it.

Here it is.

The decisions you make in your dog's first year of life matter more than most people ever get told.

Not in a frightening way.
In an empowering one.

Because the truth is — so much of what I spend my time fixing?

Started quietly.

A movement pattern that developed under load too early.
A compensation that went unnoticed for months.
A habit that felt harmless at the time but added up over years.

I don't say that to make anyone feel guilty.
Not even slightly.

Because owners can only act on the information they have.

And most people simply weren't given this information.

That's the thing that bothers me most about the way we talk about dog care.

We wait for problems.
We react to injury.
We intervene after the fact.

And we leave owners without the tools to spot things early, make better daily decisions, or ask better questions when something feels off.

That's why I'm here.

Not to replace your vet.

Not to make things complicated.

But to give you the clarity that — in my experience — makes an enormous difference. 💚

💬 If you could go back and tell yourself one thing about your dog's health from the beginning, what would it be?

Address

Carlisle

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Tuesday 9am - 6pm
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Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 6pm

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+447747151905

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