Ruff Day Vet + Pet Gym
Veterinary Acupuncture & Rehabilitation
in South Puget Sound
Relationship-Based Medicine + Integrative Therapies
Physical + Cognitive Fitness for Pets
Education + Coaching for Humans
Comprehensive Pet Health and Fitness Programs for All Life Stages
A Foundational Health focus for Pets
At Ruff Day Vet, we believe in a lifelong approach and help owners create healthy lifestyle foundations for pets of all ages. Whether you have a new puppy, an adopted adult cat, or an older dog with chronic conditions, our preventive physical medicine and fitness programs are designed to maximize quality of life and ensure your pet enjoys a long, vibrant life.
Introducing Young Pets to Engaging Exercises
We work with young dogs (and some cats) to select exercises and experiences that enhance environmental and situational awareness, sensory perception, and coordinated movement. These activities stimulate both body and mind, establishing practices that support overall well-being. By incorporating these elements early, we lay the foundation for a lifetime of health and vitality.
Injury Prevention and Physical Fitness
Preventive medicine is at the heart of what we do. We go beyond treatment to strengthen your pet’s body against future injuries, employing tailored fitness plans that enhance mobility, posture, and resilience. Our proactive approach helps your pets stay agile and active, reducing the need for more invasive treatments.
Senior Pet Care for Enhanced Quality of Life
As pets age, their needs change. We offer specialized services to enhance the quality of life for senior pets, incorporating treatments that address age-related issues and maintain mobility and comfort in their later years.
Optimizing Healthspan and Managing Chronic Conditions
At Ruff Day Vet, we specialize in managing chronic conditions and enhancing healthspan through regular acupuncture and tailored exercise programs. Whether your pet is dealing with a chronic condition or is an athlete looking to optimize their performance, our services provide the support they need. Even pets without specific health issues benefit from our preventative care. We believe that proactive wellness care is key to a long, vibrant life for pets at all stages.
Our Integrative and Collaborative Approach to Veterinary Care
Trusting Relationships
At Ruff Day Vet, we prioritize building trusting relationships through dedicated time and a thoughtful approach. Recognizing that good bedside manner cannot coexist with high patient loads, we intentionally limit our productivity to ensure ample time for building and maintaining these relationships. Our Pet Gym environment fosters active learning and collaboration in pet care, enhancing communication among all involved. We value the diverse knowledge and observations of pet owners, understanding that your intimate knowledge of your pet guides our care and planning. By engaging with pet owners directly, we clarify home challenges and explore solutions together, making adjustments as needed to enhance care.
Cutting-Edge Treatments and Personalized Attention
Every pet at Ruff Day Vet receives individualized treatment plans crafted from a range of innovative therapies. Our compassionate team takes the time to understand the unique needs of each pet and their family, fostering a collaborative environment that encourages ongoing communication and education.
A Compassionate Path Through All Seasons
Navigating the challenges of pet health, including end-of-life decisions, is a profound journey. We provide thoughtful guidance and support through all stages, ensuring that your pet’s care continues to be loving and respectful to the very end. Though we do not currently provide euthanasia services, we anticipate adding this important service at the beginning of 2025.
Balanced Healing Environments Optimized for Pet Wellness
At Ruff Day, we redefine pet care with our unique facilities:
The Ruff Day Pet Gym is a vibrant space that combines physical challenges with cognitive games, tailored to match each pet's abilities and promote overall fitness. It’s a place where your pets can enjoy a playground atmosphere while enhancing their health.
In The Rest & Recovery Room, we slow down the pace with calming treatments like acupuncture, massage, and ESTIM, creating a serene environment for healing and relaxation.
Together, these spaces offer a comprehensive approach to pet wellness, where fun activities and soothing therapies blend seamlessly for your pet's health and happiness.
The Ruff Day Pet Gym
The Ruff Day Pet Gym is designed as a sanctuary that puts both pets and owners at ease, promoting a sense of safety and comfort. It is crafted to encourage playfulness, connection, and flow, creating a space that feels more like a playground than a clinic. This environment stimulates both the cognitive and physical aspects of pets through engaging activities such as obstacle courses and puzzle games. By considering the pet's sensory experiences and designing activities that match their capabilities, we ensure that the Pet Gym is not only a place of healing but also of enjoyment and profound engagement.
Exercise-Based Therapies and Activities
We use exercise to not only build fitness, strength, flexibility, and confidence in our patients, but we also use therapeutic exercises to treat injuries that affect your best friend’s mobility. Whether your dog is young and healthy, a senior with many mobility restrictions, or somewhere in the middle, we can create a plan that is fun, healthy, and rewarding!
Strength and Conditioning for Pets
One of the best insurance policies is building a healthy musculoskeletal system to prevent muscle wasting and degeneration. It’s also a great way to increase healthspan and lifespan, because a strong body enables a healthy mind by allowing for growth and emotional fortitude.
The Rest & Recovery Room
The Acupuncture Room, or the Rest & Recovery Room, is dedicated to providing relaxing therapies that slow the pace of traditional care, creating a tranquil and therapeutic environment. This room is the optimal environment for pets to receive treatments like acupuncture, electrical stimulation (ESTIM), and massage, tailored to support health maintenance and recovery. Designed to calm the nervous system, it enhances relaxation and healing, allowing pets to associate treatments with positive interactions. Small needles from acupuncture treatments, complemented by gentle care and the calm ambiance, help manage pain, stress, and inflammation, contributing significantly to the pet's recovery and overall well-being.
Acupuncture, Manual Therapy, and Body Stimulation Treatments
Many people are aware of the extensive benefits of dog and cat acupuncture, including pain relief, anxiety reduction, and improved nerve function.
We also use High Power Therapeutic Laser (Class 4), Massage, PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field), ESTIM (Electroacupuncture), TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), and other therapies to offer a full range of synergistic treatments.
Shock Wave Treatments
Shock Wave Therapy uses high-energy sound waves to stimulate and speed the body’s own healing process. Unlike other Shock Wave devices, our PulseVet unit requires no sedation (making it a safe option for senior and geriatric pets who may have medical sensitivities to anesthetic drugs), and is proven to help relieve pain, reduce lameness, and increase mobility in dogs and cats.
Work, Play, Connection and Flow
Enhancing Every Moment Together
At Ruff Day Vet, we believe life is enriched by the activities we share with our dogs. Whether your canine companion loves hiking, lounging, providing support, or competing in sports, we are here to help them thrive by your side. Our specialized care fosters strong connections and optimizes health through tailored programs designed to meet each dog's unique needs.
For Sporting Dogs
High-energy athletes need dedicated care to maintain peak physical condition and enhance performance. Our tailored fitness plans, injury prevention strategies, and rehabilitation programs ensure sporting dogs stay strong, healthy, and ready for every adventure.
For Working Dogs
Working dogs perform essential tasks that demand intelligence, strength, and endurance. We provide specialized training, structured routines, and physical and mental stimulation to keep these canine partners at the top of their game, thriving in their vital roles.
For Conformation and Show Dogs
Conformation and show dogs perform their duties with elegance and excellence. Our comprehensive care fitness plans and health maintenance focus help these dogs shine in the ring. By managing their physical and emotional needs proactively, we address challenges upstream so that dogs and their owners can focus on performing confidently.
Navigating Rough Seas
Our compassionate and expert care helps manage serious medical conditions such as neurological diseases, acute and chronic pain, and orthopedic injuries. We offer specialized therapies to improve your pet's quality of life, guiding them through challenging health journeys with hope and healing.
Minimize Pain
We place great importance upon treating pain to the best of our ability, in planning and execution. Our approach includes regular acupuncture, tailored exercise programs, and specialized therapies to help pets manage chronic pain and acute discomfort. Whether your pet is recovering from surgery or dealing with a long-term condition, our treatments aim to reduce pain and enhance their quality of life
We also help pets manage anxiety and nervous energy by using gentle approaches to build trust and confidence through shared, positive experiences and building healthy practices over time.
Maximize Mobility
Keeping your pet active and mobile is key to their overall well-being. We offer advanced rehabilitation programs, customized fitness plans, and expert guidance with supportive devices like wheelchairs and braces to help pets with mobility challenges.
Our goal for pets is to ensure that every pet, regardless of their condition, can move comfortably and enjoy an active lifestyle.
Our goal for owners is to identify, assist, and adjust solutions that support the sustainable management of conditions as they change or progress over time.
Improve Function
Enhancing your pet's functional abilities is central to our care philosophy. Whether dealing with neurological issues, orthopedic injuries, or general fitness, we provide targeted therapies and exercises designed to improve nerve healing, muscle strength, and overall function. Our personalized care plans are crafted to help your pet live their best, most functional life.
The Education Lab
The Education Lab is a collaborative space where curiosity and problem-solving meet. We work with clients who are eager to learn and explore new solutions for their pets' health issues. From mobility challenges to health optimization, we empower pet owners with the knowledge and tools they need to help their pets live their best lives.
-
We teach pet owners exercises, stretches, and hands-on therapies with clear explanations, enhancing treatment outcomes and strengthening the bond between pets and their owners. Understanding the "why" behind each action helps build a comprehensive care framework.
-
We encourage curiosity by fostering open-mindedness and constructive skepticism, in an environment where owners and pets can safely engage in active learning, turning mistakes into opportunities for practice and growth. This collaborative approach benefits pets, owners, and Ruff Day’s medicine.
-
We help pet owners fully understand their pet's diagnoses, empowering them to take an active role in the healing process. This leads to better health outcomes and a more involved care experience.
-
We guide pet owners in communicating effectively with their pet healthcare team, ensuring all parties work together for the best outcomes.
What informs Ruff Day Vet’s brand of medicine?
At Ruff Day Vet, we recognize medicine as a dynamic and comprehensive field that blends science, art, tradition, and service to foster better health outcomes. As we navigate the complexities of veterinary medicine, we continually adapt, integrating cutting-edge technologies with age-old wisdom to tailor our approach to the unique needs of each pet and their family.
Ruff Day success stories from happy pet owners
-
![]()
Acting decisively with Amanda to restore Rizzo’s Functional Movement
“...my 9 year old dachshund (Rizzo) was diagnosed with IVDD and quickly lost his ability to walk.... I wish I could go into great detail about Rizzo's recovery but I'm happy to say he is now walking, running, and is completely pain free. In addition, he is 100% off all of his pain medication. Thanks to Heather, I feel I got my best friend back and he is no longer in pain.... She is hands down THE reason Rizzo is still with us today and we will always be thankful for her coming into our lives. We love you Heather 🖤”
-
![]()
Collaborating with Gin to Improve Eggroll’s Mobility
“Dr Misener is amazing. She is so good with my pup and has helped her so much. We originally started rehab bc my dogs hind end was shaking + an X-ray showed some calcification in her spine. She has gained mobility and hind end strength and is pain free!! I drive 45mins from Seattle to see her every 2 weeks and it’s totally worth it. Pic with doggles on for laser treatment.”
-
![]()
Maximizing Chai’s Quality of Life with Sarah and John
Ruff Day Veterinary Services is an awesome rehabilitation gym for your pet with limited or painful mobility. Our dog Chai started showing signs of hip dysplasia, he was limping even though he wasn't hurt, and he lost some of his appetite because he was in so much pain. The xrays confirmed the degradation of his hips.
We decided to give Ruff Day a shot and to our surprise, after the first session of acupuncture and cold laser, he's gone back to being his normal energetic self! We are continuing on with his therapy, for as long as it will work.
Ruff Day is owned and operated by a licenced veterinarian, who will work with your dog at a very high level of care. Staff can and will accommodate the experience to your dog to ensure maximum calm and comfortablility.
I highly recommend that if you have an aging dog in pain, or they're just in pain due to mobility issues, it might be worth their time to try out a treatment or two to see if it makes a difference for them.
Book your appointment today
Ruff Writer Featured Posts
