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Old 10-09-2012, 04:44 AM   #1
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Sad Puppy not walking correctly

I have a 3.5 week old puppy. She has no siblings. She sits up with her hind legs stretched along side of her. Sometimes the legs are in the correct sitting position. She is soo big. She weighs 1 lbs 4 oz. She had no hair when she was born, but vet said she is not a preemie. She has a great coat now. She nurses, pees, poops and seems ok except for her legs. She will take a couple steps then her hind legs will fall and do the splits. She will get up again take a couple steps and do the splits. Should I be concerned about this or should I just wait and see???
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Old 10-09-2012, 05:07 AM   #2
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I have a 3.5 week old puppy. She has no siblings. She sits up with her hind legs stretched along side of her. Sometimes the legs are in the correct sitting position. She is soo big. She weighs 1 lbs 4 oz. She had no hair when she was born, but vet said she is not a preemie. She has a great coat now. She nurses, pees, poops and seems ok except for her legs. She will take a couple steps then her hind legs will fall and do the splits. She will get up again take a couple steps and do the splits. Should I be concerned about this or should I just wait and see???
Is this a typo??? 3.5 weeks old and 1# 4 oz?? What breed of a puppy are we talking about?
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Old 10-09-2012, 05:19 AM   #3
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Is this a typo??? 3.5 weeks old and 1# 4 oz?? What breed of a puppy are we talking about?
NO typo. Mom is 5 lbs and dad is 3.5 lbs. Her first litter were ok sized. I guess she is the only pup, she had lots of room to move in the uterus. I thought she was too big to hold her weight up. She is a Yorkie.
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Old 10-09-2012, 05:48 AM   #4
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Search swimmer legs on here I dont know much about it but heard of it on here
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Old 10-09-2012, 06:20 AM   #5
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I had a little girl with this problem and she wasnt that big. Her legs were very weak because of having them folded in while inside the womb and no room to stretch them out. I massaged, massaged, and used warm water to start her paddling in as she grew. Also I put a bathcloth under her belly and held her up with her feet barely touching the floor. Something about stimulating the bottom of the feet on the floor helps them learn to walk. By 8 weeks you couldnt tell she had ever had a problem.
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Old 10-09-2012, 06:38 AM   #6
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Sounds like a mild case of swimmers to me too. It could have been brought on by her excessive weight due to being a singleton. These pups are usually seen in litters of only one or two pups and they are generally a littler larger and less energetic than their littermates. It has been suggested that swimmer puppy syndrome incidence is highest in obese puppies and it isn't until the puppies start moving around, usually at one to 1-1/2 weeks of age, that the difference can be detected.

Treatment includes massage, vitamin E supplementation and suspension in warm water to get the limbs moving. Some breeders have also experienced success with putting the puppy in a sling a couple of minutes each day to get them used to touching the floor and walking.

If treated, most swimmer puppies recover completely by 15 weeks of ages and become perfectly healthy adults. Good luck!
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Old 10-09-2012, 07:44 AM   #7
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wow! LOL thats a big pup for 3.5 weeks. Post some pics of her. As for the legs I have no suggestions. What did the vert say about it??
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Old 10-09-2012, 11:17 AM   #8
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Default Puppy not walking correctly

She does move her legs all the time. She takes several steps then she does the splits. Her temp is normal. She seems to sleep a lot. She is not lethargic. Do you think is still is swimmer legs?



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Sounds like a mild case of swimmers to me too. It could have been brought on by her excessive weight due to being a singleton. These pups are usually seen in litters of only one or two pups and they are generally a littler larger and less energetic than their littermates. It has been suggested that swimmer puppy syndrome incidence is highest in obese puppies and it isn't until the puppies start moving around, usually at one to 1-1/2 weeks of age, that the difference can be detected.

Treatment includes massage, vitamin E supplementation and suspension in warm water to get the limbs moving. Some breeders have also experienced success with putting the puppy in a sling a couple of minutes each day to get them used to touching the floor and walking.

If treated, most swimmer puppies recover completely by 15 weeks of ages and become perfectly healthy adults. Good luck!
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Old 10-09-2012, 11:20 AM   #9
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Default Puppy not walking correctly

She does move her back legs. She takes several steps, then she does the splits. She will drag her legs then pull her legs and take several more steps. Her temp is normal. She is not lethargic; however, she does sleep a lot. I play with her before and after she nurses. She nevers cries for food.


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She does move her legs all the time. She takes several steps then she does the splits. Her temp is normal. She seems to sleep a lot. She is not lethargic. Do you think is still is swimmer legs?
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Old 10-09-2012, 01:20 PM   #10
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She does move her legs all the time. She takes several steps then she does the splits. Her temp is normal. She seems to sleep a lot. She is not lethargic. Do you think is still is swimmer legs?
Yes, swimmers pups are normal in other ways, it's just their legs that seem too weak to support their bodies. They usually spend most of their time splayed on their chest and stomach as their legs split outward. You said she does the splits? That's usually a very sure sign of Swimmer Syndrome.

The fact that she's trying to walk is great news. You can try fashioning a sling for her out of an old T-shirt. You can support her as she tries to walk to make things easier and to give her muscles some strength and memory. Muscles store experiences as muscle memory. This makes it possible for us to learn to play tennis or drive a car.

Her muscles don't know how to walk yet and they aren't strong enough to get going. With massage and a little physical therapy, I think she'll be fine. Is she still drinking from her mom? Oh, and all puppies sleep a lot and as long as she's not lethargic, listless or has a lack of appetite, my guess is that she's fine.
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Old 10-09-2012, 04:25 PM   #11
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Bless her little heart!!! I certainly was not being ugly....I have never seen a 3 week old baby that large! Honestly, I was at first going to suggest the possibility of Swimmers, but then I HONESTLY dont know if maybe she just cant support her weight at such a young age!! I am trying to think back...(been a ROUGH day at work and my mind is short circuited from testing all day)....I dont think 3 week old babies are standing normally and walking around....seems they are trying to do so, but are still kind of just pushing around on their bellies....so maybe she is still just too young to be up on her legs and she is just doing what babies 1/4 her size would be doing! It is just looking more pronounced because of her size! Precious little angel! Please, give us a picture!
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Old 10-09-2012, 05:59 PM   #12
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Default Puppy not walking correctly

As of the end of this day she is much better. She has always used her front legs correctly. She never splayed her front legs. They always worked just fine. She walks good with them. She takes about 10 steps correctly with her back legs and then falls down. She does not have a caved in chest. She sleeps on her back and on her side. When she is on her back, I press on her back legs and she pushes back. I am watching how much she nurses. I don't let her eat too much. She never cries for food. When I wake her up, she is getting spoiled once I leave her. I do give her a lot of attention. She did not gain weight today - she did maintain.

QUOTE=Marilize;4031170]Yes, swimmers pups are normal in other ways, it's just their legs that seem too weak to support their bodies. They usually spend most of their time splayed on their chest and stomach as their legs split outward. You said she does the splits? That's usually a very sure sign of Swimmer Syndrome.

The fact that she's trying to walk is great news. You can try fashioning a sling for her out of an old T-shirt. You can support her as she tries to walk to make things easier and to give her muscles some strength and memory. Muscles store experiences as muscle memory. This makes it possible for us to learn to play tennis or drive a car.

Her muscles don't know how to walk yet and they aren't strong enough to get going. With massage and a little physical therapy, I think she'll be fine. Is she still drinking from her mom? Oh, and all puppies sleep a lot and as long as she's not lethargic, listless or has a lack of appetite, my guess is that she's fine.[/QUOTE]
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Old 10-09-2012, 06:03 PM   #13
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Default Puppy not walking correctly

She has done much better today. Her front legs work perfectly. Today she took about 10 steps using her back legs correctly - then fell down. With the mom's first litter, the boy was huge also. He topped out at 4 lbs 6 oz. I don't know why she has such big puppies. If things keep going like today, I think she will be fine. I have never had a single puppy - she is getting sooooo much attention. I am retired and give her all my attention - and worries also.


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Bless her little heart!!! I certainly was not being ugly....I have never seen a 3 week old baby that large! Honestly, I was at first going to suggest the possibility of Swimmers, but then I HONESTLY dont know if maybe she just cant support her weight at such a young age!! I am trying to think back...(been a ROUGH day at work and my mind is short circuited from testing all day)....I dont think 3 week old babies are standing normally and walking around....seems they are trying to do so, but are still kind of just pushing around on their bellies....so maybe she is still just too young to be up on her legs and she is just doing what babies 1/4 her size would be doing! It is just looking more pronounced because of her size! Precious little angel! Please, give us a picture!
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Old 10-10-2012, 12:56 AM   #14
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Can you post pics or even a video?

I'm wondering if she's just large or chubby and maybe if she's just a healthy chubby pup she's well outweighing her legs muscles ability?

Or swimmers...or a neurological issue, or another leg/hip issue?

I think pics or a vid would help.

When do your pups first see a vet as end result people here can guess all day but it'll come down to a vet's formal diagnosis.

Of course wr all want to see pics too puppies are so cute.

I have a 12.2 pound long lean yorkie and a 17 pound super lanky leggged long lean schnorkie, I have a special affinity for oversized yorkies. Teapots.
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Old 10-10-2012, 07:28 AM   #15
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How is that spoiled little girl today????!!!! I think she is going to get stronger and stronger each day and her hind legs will strengthen up...
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