The cause of the syndrome is unknown, although various undocumented theories have been formulated. These include altered neuromuscular synapse function, improper or delayed myelindin of peripheral nerves, slow muscular development, and ventral horn dysfunction (neuropathy).
I had swimmers in one of my first litters. In the next litter, I noticed the early potential symptoms... Don't know if they would have become swimmers, but I started putting speed bumps in the whelping box, putting the pups on one side when mom was on the other. The motivation to get to mom is too strong for a speed bump to slow them down! They all developed normally. Once I stopped being so OCD making the whelping box bedding smooth and flat, I never saw the symptoms again. Don't know about the above listed causes, but apparently in mine it was simply making sure the puppies developed the right muscles to walk.
Reminds me of when my kids were babies, I noticed that some little kids had a habit of walking on their toes instead of normal heel-toe. Invariably these were kids who as infants spent long hours in one of those rolling walkers. By pushing themselves in the walker so much they developed the muscles to walk on their toes, and even when the walker was gone they stayed on their toes.
