What Are Swimmer Puppies?
Swimmer puppies, also known as flat or turtle puppies, are those that never get their feet under them and stay prone most of the time. This can result in flattening of the chest and the extension of the front, rear, or all legs to the sides. These two structural changes make it increasingly difficult for the pup to get on its feet so we now have a vicious cycle. Swimmer pups can end up with lifetime challenges if the breeder doesn’t step in early in the process. Often, it only takes a few tweaks to get swimmers up on their feet, which in turn, corrects their body.
Swimmers can be found in any litter but are most often found in small litters because of the rapid growth rate in the pups. Pups that weigh well more than the breed or litter average at 10 and 28 days are at increased risk of being a swimmer. Luckily, most swimmer pups can be successfully treated and returned to normal if a breeder catches the syndrome early.
In 2021, Mizuki Tomihari’s team found a very high heritability, 0.8, of swimmer puppy syndrome among the Labardors they were studying. This indicates we should be cautious when breeding swimmer pups.
There is also a defect called Pectus excavatum, which is more serious. It can happen separately from swimmer syndrome or with it. This is a deformity of the thoracic wall in which several ribs and the sternum grow abnormally, causing the pup’s chest to be concave. Severely affected pups struggle to breathe and move. They often need supplemental oxygen for long periods.
Signs of Swimmer Puppy Syndrome
Experienced breeders can usually identify swimmers by 10 days or two weeks of age. If you haven’t see a swimmer, look for pups that:
- aren’t walking by 3 weeks of age
- spend most of its time on its chest and belly
- don’t move much
- paddle their legs but look more like a turtle
- have flattened chests
- at least front or rear legs go out to the side rather than being under the pup
Treating Swimmer Puppies
1) Improve the pup’s footing. This is one of the reasons we use Wonder Fleece but other products, such as rubber shelf liner, can work. You should see little to no slipping of the pups’ feet as they move around the box.
2) Put egg crate foam under the bedding.
3) Add small obstacles to the box. You can roll up towels or use stuffed animals to force the pups to use their bodies.
4) Place the pup on its side every time you are near. Most of these pups lie on their sternum, which contributes to the flattening.
5) Require the pup to move more by moving it away from its mom so it must crawl back to nurse.
6) if the pup’s legs are out to the side, hobble the puppy. It sounds more difficult than it is. You can use electrical or even something like Scotch tape.
7) Do at-home physical therapy on the pup each day, moving its legs in a normal range of motion and massaging its chest toward a more normal shape.
8 ) Using walkways like others have posted are also helpful to get the pup to move normally.
9) If none of these help, you can use vests to hold the pup’s body in a normal position or even slings to use gravity to make the legs move under the pup.
10) Older pups can be treated with swim therapy and physical therapy.
References
Swimmer Puppy Syndrome: They can be saved, The Mia Foundation
Tomihari M, Y Nobutoki, et al. (2021) Factors Contributing To The Swimmer Puppy
Syndrome Found in Labrador Retrievers, BMC Research 15(3). 0.21203/rs.3.rs-764133/v1
