Laurie's Blogs.

This week, I am delighted to share with everyone, a couple of comments that I received about Swimmer Puppy Syndrome.  Thanks to Kristen and Tracey for sharing their experiences!  Cheers,  Laurie.

Re: Swimmer Puppy Syndrome.

We see it occasionally at Guide Dogs; the puppies all gain normal function in the end. We do PROM, and have the puppy regularly to walking in a “gutter” (i.e. so their legs can’t splay laterally, think of a kennel to visualize the “gutter walking”). Balance Board and Physioroll seem to help speed along the strengthening.

Kristen L Hagler BS RVT CCRP CVPP OACM CBW

Animal Wellness Center - Marin, California

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Re: The swimmer puppy on your blog.  

As an update, my friend with the swimmer puppy that I was talking to you about a few months ago, had a real bad one that was truly flattened dorsoventrally…they are amazing when you see one.  We tried regular rehab with lots of standing, good traction etc, but it wasn’t improving until we bit the bullet and hobbled the front legs.  We just used regular white tape and hobbled them about normal stance width apart.  The dog couldn’t really walk but he also could not lie on his chest and was forced to sleep in lateral all of the time.  I couldn’t believe it but it improved within days.  We left him hobbled from about day 14-20 and then he was up on his feet and fine.  I checked him out at 7 weeks and could find no problems and he is in his new home and acting normal.  I thought you would like to know the update.

Tracey Griffin, DVM, CCRT

Pacific Animal Wellness Services – Chemainus, British Columbia