I went to see a friends 4 week old pups last night. One is a normal pup but the other has a problem with his back legs. He doesn't seem to be able to get them under himself properley and they stick out sideways like a frogs legs. e really struggles to get around e moves his back legs but doesn't seem to get anywhere. If he does manage a few steps he does not walk on his toes like a normal dog but he uses the whole of his lower leg from the hock down as a foot. Not sure if I am describing this very well. It really looks very odd.
He has vet ed in the whelping box so a nice grippy surface to walk on but his legs just don't seem to grip.
I have heard of swimmer puppies but I thought that was a problem with the front legs and chest where this is with the back legs.
Has anyone come across this before?

Swimmers are flat chested puppies , have you compared his chest with the other puppy to see if you can tell if he is flat ? Keep him of his chest and lay him on his side or back to give his ribs chance to spring back out also make the bed where he is laying very very lumpy so he doesnt get chance to lay flat , balls of socks , teddys , old clothes cut up all put under the vet bed , You can hobble his back legs up so he has to push up on his feet and strengthen his muscle in his back legs . If she has the rubber backed vet bed she could turn it over as the rubber is easier to grip to than the fleece on the right side of it .
If you google swimmer puppy , it will come up with lots of advice tips and photos of all different things you can try .

yes his chest is fine and can use his front legs just fine. I did google swimmer puppies but they did not look like this little  chap.

Flat chested puppies dont always have problems with the front legs , it depends just how bad it is . I would still think he is a swimmer if he has back legs like a frog , Id be tempted to hobble the legs a couple of times a day to help him get up on them - or try a drain pipe type design to walk him through to keep his legs from splaying whilst he is practising .

I can't get the website to work at the moment, not sure why, but if you can get it to come up have a look at this page on 'inverted hind legs' http://timbreblue.com/about-breeding/whippet-health/shamrock

They had a pup born with inverted hind legs.  Most vets would have put to sleep, but they did some research, found that in some breeds it's not uncommon, and with a bit of physio/manipulation and just letting nature take its course by 8 weeks pup was totally normal, and at a year old the breeder regretted letting her go as she was stunning in conformation and movement.

This is very different from swimmers.

If you can't get the link to work then just do a google search and see if it's similar to what you're talking about.  They do have photographs on the page of the whole process from birth to leaving.   It's just being really stubborn to load at the moment.

Hope this helps.

the website won't work for me either. this is the nearest thing I have found to how he puppy looks
http://www.moosecoonsmc.com/Kermit.html

Hopefully the site will come back up, but it was actually cat owners first that suggested to this breeder what the issue was and that it could easily come right, so it's very possibly the same thing as on the cat website there.  When Shamrock was born her legs were entirely out behind her (looked almost like they were put on upside down) but as they progressed to coming right looked a lot like the ones in the kitten photos.

I'm not sure why their site is down.  I'll have to pop her an email and let her know.  Check back over the next couple of days and hopefully the issues will be gone and you can read how they dealt with it.

ps - meant to say it's caused by hyperflexion in the uterus.

I had  pup who had the frog back legs.  I would hold his head in one hand and under his stomach with the other one.  It took him until he was about 6 weeks before he started walkng almost properly.  He is now a fit, athletic boy.  though saying that it was a small litter for the breed and he was very fat which I don't think helped for the first few weeks.

I've hobbled the legs of numerous newly hatched chicks with great success. Just a few days of the legs being tied with wool to stop them splaying and they come right as the muscles strengthen. Make sure they aren't given newspaper or similar to walk when tiny as this will make it worse, they need something underfoot with plenty grip. I use a roll of that rubber mesh designed to stop things sliding on trays and dashboards Don't know what they call it sorry)

How's the pup doing.  The website I was trying to get you to view is up and running again. I got in touch with the breeder that night and she was going to get it sorted, but I've only just remembered to check

http://www.timbreblue.com/about-breeding/whippet-health/shamrock