Thanks for the responses, and I agree with Hopeful4now that everyone on this board is great! I have been reading the blog about Abbey who had SM and the surgery (Abbey's mom says that she also has posted on cavaliertalk before), and I read that Abbey had identifiable signs back into young puppyhood. It got me thinking about how common it is for SM/CM signs and symptoms to appear at such a young age. It seems like symptoms often appear pretty early on based on your responses, and it is so helpful to hear all of your personal experiences. Kate, you point out a good point that SM symptoms can resemble other things, which I think are important to be aware of too. I haven't been able to identify any signs at this point in my guy, but with the high prevalence of SM I want to be prepared if he does develop symptoms later.