ABOUT
ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A DOG NAMED THOR...
OUR PHILOSOPHY
"My journey with Thor literally changed my life. He taught me so many life lessons. One
of the most important is quality of life. Sometimes we are so focused on “fixing”
something that we lose sight of the toll that takes on our pets. I dedicated my life to
ensuring Thor would have the best life based on his ability level. Thor saw some of the
best veterinarians and had physical therapy from one of the best rehabilitation doctors
and facilities in Los Angeles, but his ability to get as far as he did was because we
worked on things at home. We were able to come up with a regimen he would do at
home. Consistency is key when you are rehabbing a dog, or just doing it for exercise.
Like with humans, change doesn’t happen overnight, and the change is only temporary
if we do not maintain it. I made the activities part of our daily routine and made them fun
for him! We want to create an environment that helps reduce your dog’s stress level
while helping them. We do this by limiting the number of dogs in our facility at one time
and making the exercises fun. We strive to create a fun experience."
-LEA GILINETS
Lea has always been an animal lover. Since childhood she has always tried to help animals in need. In fact, her mother always thought she would become a veterinarian. As a child, she tried to rescue every lost puppy and would go visit the animal shelter just to see the dogs. When Lea met Thor in 2017 she knew she had found her calling. Lea spent the next three years helping Thor regain his strength and his ability to walk again. She spent hours with Thor and his vets. She learned everything she could about his mobility issues. This is where she learned about the benefits of hydrotherapy. She realized just how many dogs could benefit from this scarce resource so she began researching how she could bring the service to more dogs. Teaming up with a well-respected underwater treadmill company they created the first fully contained mobile treadmill, the Mutt Mobile. Lea also worked to become certified in small animal massage therapy. She earned her certification from the nationally and internationally recognized school of Ojai School of Canine Massage in 2021. Moving forward Lea hopes to help as many animals as she can live their best lives using the knowledge and skills she has learned.