Passing the Offices at Matriotti Creek multi-business building on U.S. Highway 101, just west of Hooker and Carlsborg Road, a driver might not guess that nestled within it is the only canine hydrotherapy facility on the Peninsula.
However, for those who bring dogs that otherwise would have to travel to Seattle and other cities for therapy or fitness sessions, Sequim’s MerMutts is a blessing.
Susan Paulsen brings two dogs to certified Heart 2 Heart Level II hydrotherapist Stephenye Avery every week at MerMutts, which launched in Sequim on Jan. 1.
“I am thankful this service is offered in our area because I did not have the opportunity to have my dogs in hydrotherapy before MerMutts due to lack of accessibility. My trainers, veterinarian friends and my canine fitness coaches highly recommended it,” she said.
“Stephenye is kind and thoughtful with my dogs, working on their different focuses. We have a weekly standing appointment to ensure my dogs continue to improve and build their strength. At first, neither of my dogs was very excited about swimming, and Nova couldn’t swim; now, they bark and are excited when we pull up to the facility.”
Paulsen’s Supernova is a 3-year-old Papillion, a “competitive agility dog competing on the National level to become a member of the World Agility Team,” she said.
‘Nova attends MerMutts for endurance, muscle strength and flexibility to improve her overall fitness for the competition ring,” Paulsen said.
”Crosstraining is a vital part of competing at this level, and the top competitors utilize services such as MerMutts to improve performance,” she said. “I am thankful to have access.”
Butter is also a Papillion, 13-years-old with degenerative disc disease. Paulsen said that swimming has increased his overall mobility and muscles in his back, legs and abdomen.
“When he first started swimming, he was not strong enough to keep himself upright and would roll,” she said. “Stephenye, of course, supported him and slowly worked up his swimming time each week.
“He can now swim across the pool multiple times and is working on turns. When Butter rests between his swim laps, he is worked on by Stephenye to extend and increase his mobility in the warm water. Seeing how this has transferred to Butter’s overall mobility and comfort in his daily life is fantastic.” The waiting room
Dogs and their people wait for their appointments in a large, clean, cheerfully decorated room with lush plants, bright paint and a huge tile mural of mountains.
Avery and husband Scott Ney redecorated the place during one of his frequent visits from New Mexico.
Ney, co-owner of MerMutts, is a music professor at the University of New Mexico, who received his doctorate from the University of Washington. While in Seattle, he met Avery; they’ve been married for 24 years.
On summer break in Sequim now, Ney has three years until retirement in New Mexico, where “he also worked with the Arts in Medicine program at UNM providing therapeutic music at the psychiatric department at the UNM hospital system and plays with the world class Santa Fe Opera as well and the NM Philharmonic as well as many smaller chamber type ensembles,” said Avery. Avery said he is training for certification and will “be swimming dogs in the near future.”
While living in New Mexico, Avery was general manager of a pet resort in Albuquerque, where there were pools for the dogs and a trained dog swimmer.
“It was so fun to watch the dogs swim,” she said. “It brings so much joy to watch them splash around.”
This led to Avery training for her certification and starting her own business — first with dogs in her backyard pool during the pandemic — and then a move to Sequim.
She said she is in the process of receiving other advanced canine care certification, including two certificates from North Carolina State University in canine strength and conditioning, and will be expanding her service offerings soon.
The experience
From the waiting room and its comfortable seats, dogs and their people will follow a gently inclined ramp ending in a gate that opens into the pool room.
Clients depart the room down a different ramp behind another gate, which leads outside through a small drying room. In this way, dogs can come and go without encountering each other. Clients said this is an ideal setup. “We don’t run into another dog because the facility is set up that way,” said client Sandy Brown. “(It) keeps the atmosphere serene and peaceful, without conflict.
“Stephenye is so organized that we are amazed by all she can accomplish in an hour. Actually, she has a steady stream of dogs coming in all day on Saturday, but we never see the one before us or after us.”
Beyond redecorating, Avery was able to step into this well-designed space. MerMutts is the third iteration of a dog hydrotherapy business in the Offices at Matriotti.
Doors lead to small rooms housing all the practicalities of running such a business. The room is large, with plenty of places to sit and a floor that dries quickly via “an HRV system that helps decrease the humidity in the area without removing the heat in the building,” Avery said.
The 8-foot-by-20-foot pool is bordered on one side by a row of windows and on the other a wall with sink and cabinet.
The pool is cleaned and sanitized using a system combining ultra-violet light, hydrogen peroxide and triple filtration. It is kept at 92 degrees, which Avery said is ideal for dog therapy, and has a current that can be switched on to challenge those dogs that need it.
Steps lead into the approximately 4-foot-deep pool on one side and a submerged wall that runs along the perimeter for dogs to stand and walk on during some therapy.
Moose, Malcolm Brown and Frances Q String Cheese (aka Frankie)
Nine-year-old Moose, a small English bulldog, comes from the Miller Peninsula with Sarah Baker and her husband Joseph Stanbouli for treatment of arthritis and an anterior crucial ligament (ACL) tear.
“She tore it because of long term explosive movements while she played,” Baker said. “She is very active, especially for a bulldog.”
Photo by Emily Matthiessen Moose has been taking part in hydrotherapy for a year and a half along with ‘other alternative modalities’,” said Baker, including acupuncture, chiropractic and physical therapy. “We moved from Seattle to Sequim and our holistic vet recommended MerMutts to get Moose back on hydrotherapy,” said Baker.
“Hydrotherapy allows her to use her muscles without putting pressure on her joints, which is great for her arthritis.
Avery said that the people who bring their dogs to her are dedicated to their dogs’ well-being.
“It’s such a pleasure for me to work with them to help their fur babies feel better,” she said.
When she is in the pool, Avery said her entire attention is focused on the dog.
“There’s nothing else. It’s therapeutic for all of us: the dog, dog parent and me.”
The initial intake session is spent reviewing the dog’s history, injuries and gait assessment.
“We take our time getting to know each other and introducing the pool,” Avery said. “I sit on the floor with them and use non-threatening body language.”
The sessions might extend for a few months, or even years, like physical therapy for humans.
Photo by Emily Matthiessen “It all depends on the dog, its owner and the opinion of the referring vet,” Avery said.
Owners do not enter the water. Avery said that where the owners sit depends on the dog.
“Sometimes owners will sit poolside. Some are comfortable in chairs. There is a range of how we do things to make the dogs comfortable.”
“We both come every time because we both love watching,” said Brown, who comes with her husband Joe and Malcolm, a 10-year-old golden retriever. “It’s been a great experience for all of us. The hour goes fast. Stephenye has a way with dogs; she has a knack.”
The golden was athletic, fast and agile, and loved to swim and play with his ball both in and out of the water prior to hurting the muscles and tendons in his left leg, Brown said.
“The rehab vet, along with our regular vet, recommended swimming therapy as a good way for Malcolm to get needed exercise without traumatizing his joints.”
He is also being treated with a combination of herbal medicine, supplements and a special diet, but “the swimming brings him the most joy and also results in an improved gait and stance.”
Malcolm, like some other dogs, wears a life jacket in the pool so that he will use his back legs more. He is a ball dog, but Avery said the ball gets too much water in his mouth so she prefers to use his second favorite, a turtle toy, in the water.
Photo by Emily Matthiessen Avery’s beloved 8-year-old labradoodle and mascot of MerMutts, Frances Q String Cheese, aka Frankie, also loves the turtle and has no trouble being convinced to get into the water.
She swims for the fun of it, her soft white curls flattening out.
She, Avery said, is her inspiration.
And that the challenge with Frankie is convincing her to stop swimming.
In addition to toys, vests and treats, MerMutts contains many towels. Some dogs enjoy the ritual of being rubbed down as much, or more, than swimming. “Malcolm was a little nervous the first time we went for a swim session,” said Brown. “He would not take any treats from Stephenye, and he was worried about the flotation vest.
“However, Stephenye has a very low key and loving way, and is extraordinarily patient. It is apparent that she loves dogs. Once he was in the water and realized he could chase a ball or a toy, he quickly adapted that same day.
“On the second visit he dragged us up to the pool and could hardly contain his excitement.”
MerMutts is at 261043 U.S. Highway 101 in Sequim.
For more information about MerMutts, contact Stephenye Avery at stephenye@mermutts.love or call/text 360-582-WOOF (9663). Or, visit mermutts.love or facebook.com/
