Could anyone advise me on helping my 20 week pup get "up on his front feet" as we are entered in his 1st show next month and he's still very low on the front.
Been going to ringcraft for a while and nobody said anything until this week when we had a fun dog show night and the lady judge said he was down on his paws and would not now come up, but i seen dogs like this in the past and most are up by 8 or months or so i just wondered if there was any thing i could do that would help improve it.

do you mean his pasterns??

the only advice I've ever had for tightening up front feet and pasterns is road walk or walking on pebbles/shingle....

:)

yes i do mean that and i have been told to try walking on shingle and a vit c tablet each day although i am not sure what this is for?

Hi, I have been told that feeding the pup from a stand where he has to nearly stand on tipee toe can also help with front leg positions for show and of course help develop a broad chest too.

The Vit C seems to be something that Dobe people also advise for slack pasterns in pups, and flying ears.

I think Vitamin C has a positive relationship with the assimilation of Calcium in the bones, but not sure.  As it is a water soluble vitamin I don't think it can do any harm.

Pat Hastings of "The Puppy Puzzle" recommends vitamin C for teething stages and growth spurts. It is supposed to assist in the pup utilising all the calcium in there diet.

One of the other things she also recommends at the same time is for pups to be placed on an adult diet. This will help to slow the growing down as many puppy foods actually make puppies grow to quickly thus creating other problems.

I start pups on 500mg of Vitamin C and when major teething or growth spurts occur i up it to 1000mg. Then it is back to 500mg. I have never had a pup down on pasterns yet.

I remember my friend saying Henry was like that sometimes, but in his case it was just when he felt a bit bored and saggy, so it was more a case of getting him excited and standing up alertly rather than slouching!

Dear Newf 3,

We had this problem last year with a newf pup that we bought, he was slightly down when we picked him up at 10wks but just thought he had big feet.The problem was though as he got bigger he just went further and further down to the point he was walking on his stopper pads on the back of his feet, the pasterns had totallycollapsed by the time he was 6 months.  He was taken to the top ortho surgeon in the country and his advice was little excersise on hard ground and  swimming in a water treadmill, plus physio.

He said we should see a difference within 6 weeks but if not he would not come up on his own he would have to have 2 opps whem he got to 18months to pin the pasterns in the right place. Sadly he didnt get better, and was in a lot of pain.  The breeder came to see him as they also where heart broken by what they saw. We agreed that he would go back with them and have special splints from america placed on the legs to see if that would help him, plus hydro. Again this didnt work.  He is now waiting to have the opps done, but still has hydro 3 times aweek.  Can send you some pics of him to show you how he was. PM me and I ll send them. Also what food is he on as a friend also had a problem with her nwf pup and he had been fed and was still on the same food that ours was on. As soon as she took him off it he has got slightly better but it has taken
along time

Kodie

a pup i sold has been down on pasterns terribly and at 5 months i was rather worried!!! However like most things...time is a great help and now at 8 months he has pasterns like ramrods!!! :) So i think patience is best advice i can give.

thank you all for your comments and advice.
kodie i will pm you soon.
xxx

kodie ive pm'd you

hju

I had a mastiff puppy down on his pasterns. Hydrotherapy really helped, as did road walking and I also changed his food. Obviously with me doing all 3 I can't say if one worked better than the others.

Really useful string - thanks

I had a dog that was down on her pasterns she was on vitiman c but t did not make a difference, it was worse when she was worried about anything as she then spread her feet also..

i have found a gravel path at the local park and have also started him on the vit c. I am also feeding him from a much higher bowl and at meal times he stands on his toes to reach so i know his feet are working as they should.
As he is still only 21 weeks its difficult to tell if hes just being lazy or whatever it really is a problem.
However he runs fine and it does seem to be more noticable in the evening so maybe he is a late delveper.
i will just have to wait and see.