Have a 3 week old pup that is a swimmer. Noticed at 2 weeks old and was able to work with her (flipping her on her side, moving her legs, using a upside down bath mat) to the point she is up and walking for several days now. My concern is the flattening of her rib cage. Her body shape reminds me a platypus (flat & wide... google an image). When she is in a very deep sleep I can get her to sleep on her side, otherwise (because she can walk and kick) she fights me. she prefers to sleep on her back or stomach.

Will the shape of her rib cage gradually improve on its own? Will she be permanently deformed with a wide, fatten ribcage? She is acting completely normal, plays, eats, breaths like all her littermates. She is the biggest bitch of the litter, which is why i think she got lazy. I would love to hear other breeders' experiences

having big, fat puppies I have encountered this before, unfortunately.

Once you have her up and going, her chest should gradually improve but I usually keep up the "treatments" until I see that is just like the other pups.

I make a towel roll, sort of like what they use to keep baby's heads from rolling in a car seat, and I make sure they sleep in that until they are totally normal.

Roll a large towel on both ends toward the center such that the pup fits between the two rolls. Fasten the rolls (luckily my plastic pens came with a fastener that I use to keep the rolls tight and the space small) so that the pup has to lie on her side between the two rolls. I usually lull them to sleep in it in whatever positions they prefer (usually on their tummies) and then move them to their sides and keep checking on them so they stay like that.

I also use small stuffed toys wedged in around them so they have to sleep on their sides.

but if she is up and walking, just keep up the good work and watch her chest come back to normal!

Bonnie

If you post an email addy I will send you off what I did with my swimmer pup. She was the largest pup in the litter and I was able to bring her around. She looks great now.

If she is up and walking, you have no problem. The chests alway become normal after a while. Forget about it and enjoy your puppies.

I had a swimmer in my last litter and her chest was flat... now today she's almost 13 wks and she's no different to the others... her chest is normal.

Thank you everyone! I feel better now. I am just gonna stay on top of her and hey maybe miss 'platty' will be our pick at 8 weeks

We had one in our litter as well - they are now 14 weeks old and you would never know. She was OBESE - always at the milk bar! Quite noticeable at ~12 days old. I put rubber backed mats in the whelping box - rubber side up with rolled towels underneath to give her things to climb over. Made her a "T shirt" with an old tube sock - cut the toe off for her head, cut the other end off to length and then little holes for her legs to go out and then I rolled up two pot holders and stuffed them in the bottom of the sock along her belly up between her front legs. This is to keep her feet under hear and off her belly. She was mad about wearing her little "outfit" for a few hours but warmed right up to it. Momma never bothered with it. I changed it 2 or 3 times per day depending on how clean / dirty it was. She wore it for 6 days until she was decently up on her feet. Was a couple of days behind the other pups in the litter but now she's a going concern.

She was also my pick of the litter!!

Just an update. "Platy" at 4.5 weeks of age is a normal looking puppy. She has a wide chest at the moment, but by 8 weeks that might be better to!