Senior Golden Retriever goes viral after Pilates helps him regain mobility

He got pawsitive results.A 15-year-old Golden Retriever who “abruptly” lost his mobility a few months ago went viral after a daily dose of Pilates helped put some pep back into his step.Weasel, affectionately known as “the Pilates Dog” on his Instagram page @paw.lates, is now a spry senior living his best life, according to his mom, Jillian Loustaunau.“I started doing Pilates with him in an attempt to keep the mobility he had left … but than three months later, he’s almost back to 100%” she marveled on Instagram.When Loustaunau, who happens to be a Pilates instructor, took Weasel to a vet who specializes in acupuncture and physical therapy, she “noticed a lot of similarities with his rehab exercises and the movement I teach to humans every day,” she explained.Loustaunau, who owns her own studio, Movmint Pilates, in Kailua, HI, then remembered that the founder of the fitness practice, Joseph Pilates, developed it by observing the movements of cats, and had a “lightbulb moment.”“I brought him to my studios and started him on the reformer – then the Cadillac, Chair CoreAlign and ladder barrel and the rest is history! I’m still in awe of how much he enjoys using these machines and how much they are actually helping him,” she gushed in an Instagram post, which racked up 1.8 million views.The devoted dog mom was so impressed with her pup’s progress that she started a virtual class, aptly named “Pawlates 101” to help other canines with the same issues.Weasel’s followers loved watching the videos of him at the Pilates studio.“A dog doing Pilates… ICONIC.

Pilates is for everybody!!!” one said.“Get him some lulu and a Stanley, he is the pawlates community,” another added.Others praised the fur baby’s mom, for her TLC.“This is how animals deserve to be treated!! You are an angel,” one said.“As a mother of a senior lab, I’m sobbing,” another replied.There were some naysayers, who poked fun at the idea of a mutt exer...