I have a puppy who is 4 weeks old today. He was a swimmer puppy that had the typical flat sternum and really wanted to rest in the flat position. We used a jacket as well as always having egg carton foam in the puppy pen and did all we could to get him on his side and walking as soon as possible.

Although he lagged a few days behind the others, he did well and now at 4 weeks old, he is walking and doing well and his sternum is now normal. He is eating well as they are being weaned and doing great with one concern.

We notice that his right leg looks somewhat strange when he walks.

Upon closer examination, we discovered that his tibia has a more than normal curve, like a backward "letter C". A definite more than normal curve of the tibia.

In the past 2 days, he has greatly improved in walking from barely being able to stand to now walking around all over the puppy room.

I am wondering if this might be a result of being a swimmer and how they tend to bring their legs under them when resting or perhaps it is coincidental and is a separated problem.

I am going to take him to my vet for X-rays and to take a closer look at the situation but wondered if anyone has seen this with swimmers or if I can expect he will grow out of this as he matures and he continues to gain strength? Maybe intervention of some kind might be needed? Maybe he will always be this way?

I wonder if anyone had any experiences or comments to share. This is the first experience we have seen like this although we have had swimmers in the past who were quick to their feet with a jacket and had no further problems.

Hopefully, it is a minor thing!

I had two swimmers with my last litter. I was upset because the one black puppy that I fell in love with at birth was the worst swimmer. She has bowed legs in the back and I thought the situation was hopeless. I did the hobble thing and kept her on her side. Still at four week she was all bow legged and walked funny. But.. at last she was the nicest puppy in the litter by week six and was my keeper. She is fine today...

I just went through the swimmer situation. I thought he was hopeless, then all of a sudden he was starting to get up on his feet, at 5 1/2 weeks. At that point, I did hobble him, loosly, so he could get his feet under him.

The next morning, I took the hobbles off. He is absolutely normal.

Just be paatient and keep working the legs.

I've had a few swimmers. Hobbling has always worked for me and then having sure footing to help him get up.

You might want to keep rubber matting under foot for the puppies for a few days just to give the problem puppy secure footing ... even though he's up on feet now. Not being able to see your puppy makes it hard to say if the tibia you speak of is a result of being a swimmer or not. However, it's not uncommon for dogs to have two different hind legs. That is, one may have a slight more angle than the other. If his problem is due to being a swimmer, I would suspect with activity, he'll level off as he gains strength.

I have had a few swimmers and one in particular had the curved leg - he's perfectly fine now (almost 2-year old adult). I think when they are swimmers, the back legs lay in a position to cause the curve, but after the swimmer is corrected, it takes a few weeks, but that bone goes back to normal straight position. Good luck with the puppy!

A friend of mine had a litter that had several swimmers in it. It was the worst case that I had ever seen and wish that I would have video taped the litter for reference. One of the males, at six weeks, was basically walking on his stifles with his feet curved backward into the air. I NEVER expected the puppy to be normal. She kept the male and he is perfectly normal and now a healthy 12 yr old. Never give up, although sometimes you have to hide them from your pet people visiting because they do not understand.

I am with some of the others. They look so strange for a week. Getting those legs going and up and moving more. You just think of my gosh, something is wrong and all of a sudden they are better and you don't remember when it happened. Do the egg crate thing. Give them alot to travel over. Mats so they don't slide. You will be amazed at how fast they improve. Let us know.

Thanks for the comments! He has no problems getting to his feet, is walking fine, etc.

The only concern is his curve in the leg. Hopefully it does improve in time. Will update later.

Thanks again.