About Us

Diane has been a licensed veterinary technician for 23 years. She spent most of her career in California working as a technician and a manager for an emergency and critical care facility in the Bay Area. She has always had Labrador Retrievers, so swimming dogs have always been a part of her life. She has studied the effects of swimming on recovery, and has had lots of experience with her own dogs through 4 knee surgeries and degenerative spinal disease. Diane recently successfully completed a course of study and earned a certificate in Canine Aquatic Rehabilitation from the Canine Rehabilitation Institute. This training is only offered to Veterinarians, Certified Veterinary Technicians, and Certified Physical Therapists. After moving to Oregon with their Labrador, Porterhouse, a dock diving dog, she and her husband bought a house with an indoor swimming pool so Porter would have a place to swim year round. Realizing that there are limited places to swim dogs for rehabilitation or just for fun in the Portland area, Diane decided to open Paws Aquatics.

It is kind of like a miracle Rachel Klein ended up with Diane and Paws Aquatics. She spent several years traveling and transporting horses with the US Olympic Dressage Team, as Head Groom and was awarded the International Grooming Award in 2003. She worked with the team that won a bronze medal in the Athens, Greece games in 2004. Rachel and her husband Michael have turned their efforts to dogs and dog rescue. They currently have two rescued Pit Bulls, Sam and Tallow. Rachel couldn't have found a better fit for her love of dogs and interest in rehabilitation. For the last year she has studied and worked with Diane to become familiar with the aspects of canine water therapy and the benefits of swimming for these dogs. “The relationship and trust building that takes place, when working with an animal in pain or one that is fearful of the situation, is the most rewarding part of the job”. Rachel knows that there's nothing better than seeing a dog that came in painful and stiff, leave more energized and with increased mobility on their way out.