Puppy is struggling to walk at 10 weeks

Clouds88

Hello,

I am concerned about my 10 week old lab x golden retriever.
At 8 weeks he came home to us unsteady on his feet but he could walk, very clumsy.
Since then he has grown a lot but very unsteady on his feet. He cant walk more than 3 steps without falling over. I've started to carry him out to the garden for the toilet or helping to support his back legs as he just cant move without falling over all the time

I've read about wobblers/hip dysplasia. But it seems too early to be these as they usually develop later. This is our first dog so ivr got no experience. We have a sling to socialise him and he has been on the ground very occasionally to sit outside but we havent walked him as such. I make sure he has plenty of sleep and hes on a tails diet. I am so worried hes got some major issue. I have booked vets for him to be looked at tomorrow again but has anyone had any similar experiences? The breeder said she hasnt had this before and none of the other pups have been reported to have issues.

ameliarate

Definitely one for the vet, hope he’s ok. 

yksi

I don't want to say that breeders lie, but breeders lie. And a good breeder should have already told you that if it's not something simple and curable, they will take the pup back and give you another from a future litter. I realise you're probably already in love with your furbaby, but a breeder who is actually dedicated to the right reasons - improving the breed - will be willing to do the right thing.

carefullycautious

Vets ASAP!!!

Aranyani

OP says that they were due at the vets today.  I hope the problem is something that they can help with, poor pup. 

Clouds88

Yes we went to vets. I'll update incase anyone else searches with a similar problem. We got referred to small vet hospital and he had bloods and saw a neuro specialist. They think he has got a degenerative cerebellum disease with poor prognosis. We can do further investigations like MRI and CSF to rule other stuff out but I've opted just to wait and see how he goes for now. We are so heart broken.

Aranyani

I'm so sorry, you must be absolutely devastated.   

thorsoak

I am so so sorry to read this - have you notified the breeder?    S/he will want to know - I know that if anything like this had happened with any puppy that I had bred, I would most certainly want to know - and discuss the costs of diagnosis, and the prognosis, going forward.   Thinking of you x

donnac2558

I am so sorry poor puppy.  Agree you need to let the breeder know asap

Sky_

At 8 weeks a healthy lab/retriever puppy should have been steady on his feet, so the breeder must have known that something could be wrong with him, unless they're a very inexperienced breeder. 

All of my retrievers have been trying to jump and climb when we got them at 7 weeks old and have been able to walk and run very steadily, so I can't see how the breeder didn't notice the problem.  I'm so sorry you're going through this and agree that you should contact the breeder as soon as possible!  Hopefully you have a puppy contract that obliges them to refund your money in this situation. 

If you decide to get another I'd consider waiting until after Covid, when prices should return to normal (we paid £1000 for our KC retriever a year ago).  We're considering breeding our !!!!!! (pending health tests and once she's at least 2 years old) because we want another like her (she's so lovely that we already have several interested purchasers, including her breeder), but we'll wait until after Covid because I can't see how anyone can properly socialise a litter of puppies at the moment and good socialisation is essential to them becoming well-rounded dogs. I also couldn't justify charging £3,000+ for each puppy!

Again, I'm so sorry that you're going through this and hope the diagnosis turns out to be wrong and that he starts to improve and pulls round.

Aranyani

Sky I agree with most of your post but please don’t join the ‘just one litter’ brigade.