Laurie's Blogs.

Hi Laurie,

I wanted to say thank you for all of the great insight and education you are providing with Four Leg Rehab Inc.  It has been a wonderful resource for me as I build my practice so thank you, thank you, thank you.  Also I have a question for you.  A colleague of mine (he does acupuncture and chiropractic) has been asked to look at a swimmers puppy that is 19 days old and he wants me to have a look as well.  He is not sure of the breed other than it is a sporting breed dog. Anyway I have done some reading and found that swimming and harness support are helpful.  I have not seen one of these before and honestly have never heard of this condition.  Learn something new everyday.  If you have any recommendations or thoughts on what may work from a rehab standpoint that would be great!  I really appreciate your time and advice.

Thanks again!

Sincerely,  A

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Hi A,           

So this tends to happen to the ’fat puppy’ that doesn’t roll around as much and/or lays on his chest / abdomen for too long, and because his bones are all squishy... his torso becomes a bit more ’human shaped’, and his little legs all end up pointing out to the side... so he can’t get up.  From what I understand (from breeders) is that they do normalize.  Try to get him standing, and also lying on his side.  From what I hear, breeders don’t usually do too much (i.e. no straps, no contraptions, etc).  I’ve known two... but only saw the two of them once they were up and walking properly. They both developed quite normally.  

(Admittedly, I’d be tempted to use an ace-bandage to move their legs inwards.)

Just go with function.  Try to get some standing & some weight-bearing.

Nothing magical - everyone I’ve heard of, corrects itself!!

Have fun playing with a puppy though!

Laurie