Hi all
I just thought I would let people know about my "Swimmer" puppies. They are now 5 weeks old (yesterday) and are up on their feet completely!!! I have a dog and a bitch and was going to keep the bitch. She is a beautiful, chunky puppy, that I hoped to keep to show. However, given that she had this problem with walking initially, would this pass on to any puppies she may have in the future? I have done a lot of research on the net about swimmers and have heard both that it WILL be hereditary and that it WON'T be!! What would you folks do? This will be my bitches last litter as she is now 6.
Advice PLEASE!!!!

Don't know about the breeding bit but would like to say I am so happy for you that the puppies are now doing so well.

Fiona

If they were swimmers  because of their size I am sure everything will be OK. Many years ago I had two lone puppies in a litter that were fat and lazy I kept the bitch and bred from her with no problems, infact she went on to have 3 litters with no problems at all, I lost her at 15 1/2 years Hope that helps.

Thanks Megaloo

That really helps me, she is such a lovely puppy, I don't want to let her go!

told you so!!! really,im so happy for you
louzola

I have just found this site, and have been reading about swimmers. I have 2 - 5week old cavalier boys. 1 is fine running around, the other I have been worried about for the last couple of weeks. From what I have read he has swimmers. Took him to the vets tonight and he recommended having him put down.. of course I said no way. He had never heard of swimmers said he would never walk and I might as well have him distroyed now. I've told him that I was taking him home and he will walk. Now I need help. I am already trying to keep him propped on his side when asleep every couple of hours I am massaging his legs and keeping him sat on me in a normal position and I have made him a polo shaped cushion for him to lie on. Is there anything else I can do? Would be grateful for any other suggestion. 

Hi Julieand
Please don't put him down! My Vet. said the same, and my two puppies turned out fine. They didn't walk properly until about 5 wks and a bit. That was outside on grass, but obviously you can't do that at the moment. What they need is an uneven surface to walk and play on. I'll P.M. you with my phone number, give me a ring and we can chat about it, I'm not all that fast at typing!
Please don't give up on them, I have photos of my puppies before they were walking and you wouldn't believe that they would ever come right, but they did!

Hi Julieand

Here are some links for you. 

http://www.cockerspanielinformation.com/puppies/swimmer_puppy/  plenty to explore but not easy to access the info you need ;)

http://www.craigmcfeely.force9.co.uk/Rameses/fck.html  about kittens but they suffer from the same condition and the explanation of how to help is very clear.

Hope this helps

Julie I'm glad you've brought him home and I'm sure with your perserverance he'll be fine. My friend had a shar-pei puppy that was a swimmer. He looked horrendous and his ribcage was literally triangular at about 3 weeks old - totally flat on the bottom like a turtle. When he first went flat about 2 weeks old he cried incessantly for about 3 days and it was distressing to hear. The vet x-rayed him and said he'd never make it and the kindest thing was to put him to sleep. By 5 weeks old he was totally normal in every way and the vet was gobsmacked. He's two years old now and winning classes at Champshow level.

Hi Julie
I had 2 swimmers in my last litter it was down to overfeeding by the bitch and they were a kilo overweight at 17 days old fortunately my vet was all for keeping the pups and helping as much as we could to get them right. They had the typical flat chests front legs out to the sides and very weak back legs. They were put on a diet to start with ie taking mum away and monitoring the amount of time she fed them. The Cockerspaniel web site is a great help and we used the garter idea on one and the the jacket on the other but the most useful thing was using eggbox type foam it really boosted their ability to get their back legs underneath them and to push along. It seemed to help to start to build muscle in their legs. After about 2 weeks both puppies were up and running about and their chests have dropped back to a barrel shape as they should be. Like you we massaged them thro out the day at every possible  opportunity and we are really pleased with their progress. My vet said it had made his day to see how well they now and was more than happy to give them the all clear at their 6 wk check. you wouldn't know there had been anything wrong with them they are now no different from their litter mates  so keep with it and I think maybe you shud consider changing your vet if he has never heard of swimmers before he doesnt seem to be helpful at all . Good Luck