SWIMMING PUPPY SYNDROME

Swimmer puppy syndrome is relatively common in English bulldogs and tends to have positive outcomes if you know how to deal with it. Manifestation: the puppies are unable to get up on their paws and instead of walking they "swim" by crawling on their stomachs, simulating the act of swimming. Their weight, associated with the fact that they cannot stand up for a long time, gives rise to a flat chest: it is therefore easy to feel, on palplation, the “pointed” and not rounded lateral side. In the presence of this pathology it is necessary: ​​1) to place, in the place where the puppies sleep, some rolls so that even when they sleep they have their legs not spread apart (as it normally happens in swimming puppies). If these rolls are positioned parallel to each other, and at the right distance, the ideal is to try to make the puppies sleep on their side, supported behind and in front by these objects; 2) make the puppies lose weight considerably; 3) prepare a gym, that is, a place where the puppy enters the measure, legs together, so that in the effort to get up, he encounters an obstacle (lateral) that prevents him from spreading his legs. In doing so, the puppy performs a kind of active gymnastics and slowly learns the right posture; 4) some authors suggest tying the puppy's hind legs, always with the aim of preventing them from spreading apart and therefore swimming; I personally do not use this method because it is too coercive for a puppy. In my experience, active gymnastics is better; 5) it is very important to massage the fingertips of the puppies: for this a soft brush is very good; 6) finally, it is important to put under the body of the puppies (always in the place where they sleep / play) a mat on which they do not slip; non-slip shower pads, fake grass mats, anything that creates friction are fine; Usually, once the puppy is able to get up, the disease regresses without sequelae; many baby swimmers have trod the rings of the most prestigious exhibitions, winning.