Sacramento puppy with muscular syndrome learns to walk by playing tug-of-war

A sweet black Labrador puppy born with a muscular condition that left him unable to walk has taken his first steps. Veterinarians and a foster family harnessed his love of tug-of-war to create a custom physical therapy program for him, according to the Sacramento SPCA.

Duckie, a 7-week-old puppy, was born with a developmental deformity called Swimmer's Syndrome, so-named because the weakness it creates in a dog's legs makes the animal appear to be paddling when it tries to move.

Physical therapy for Swimmer's Syndrome usually involves finding something a dog loves to do and incorporating it into the therapy so the dog is motivated to move, according to Sarah Varanini, a spokeswoman for the SPCA.

Duckie the puppy was surrendered to the Sacramento SPCA when he was just a few weeks old. Duckie the puppy was surrendered to the Sacramento SPCA when he was just a few weeks old. Photo: Sacramento SPCA Photo: Sacramento SPCA Image 1 of / 63 Caption Close Sacramento puppy with muscular syndrome learns to walk by playing tug-of-war 1 / 63 Back to Gallery

"The main goal is trying to find something that they enjoy doing, then turn that into therapy that will help them use their muscles and start to orient their bodies in the right formation," she said. "For Duckie, that was a combination of playing 'tug o war' as well as using his love of other animals to get him up and moving."

"His foster parents also created a type of baby bouncer with wheels that kept him up on all fours and helped him learn to walk," she added.

After three weeks of physical therapy and the help of five friends to play with at his foster home —two Boxer mixes, a Chihuahua and a scruffy terrier — Duckie is now walking around, and the SPCA is calling it a holiday miracle.

In 2016, the SPCA took in another dog with the same condition, an abandoned bulldog named Bueller. Bueller ultimately needed water therapy to help with his Swimmer's Syndrome, but Duckie is improving so quickly that won't be necessary in his case, according to the SPCA.

Duckie is still slightly bow-legged, but staff believe that will change once he has a little more time to practice running and strengthening his legs, and he is expected to be up for adoption in the next few weeks.

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter