Anyone heard of a Hermaphrodite GSD??? - Page 2

Steph, I would call it a mutation and may or maynot be inherited. I dunno. If certain lines have a history I think it is a fault that should be addressed. But please.... lets not name names...that would be wrong.......keep those lines out there to improve the breed. Hows the weather Steph? Moons.

I have to check , but five cases from one dog wouldnot make it a fluke or mutation

Was the sire of the pups one himself?  Were the females different or only one dam??

Intersex conditions pop up in all manner of species.

Possibly more than we realize, because not all intersex conditions express themselves in genital abnormality.
Hell, even in humans, its not uncommon for someone to find out they have an intersex condition only after they are unable to have children and see a reproductive specialist.
We usually don't do that with infertile dogs, so who knows what possible conditions could be at work there.

There are a variety of reasons for intersex conditions.
If its occuring out of a specific sire, its clearly a genetic issue.

If its occuring out of a specific dam, it could be a genetic issue, or it could be that the dam has abnormal hormone levels in pregnancy that are wreaking havoc on the puppies in-utero development.

I'd have to imagine that if only one puppy in a litter was born with an intersex condition, the dam would likely reject it.

This thread raises all sorts of interesting academic questions in my mind.  Thanks Krazy!

Happens in all breeds, including mixed breed dogs.  Causes range from spontaneous mutation to incomplete split of a zygote to in utero exposure to gene-altering toxins.  As for a dam rejecting an intersexed pup if it was the only one in the litter, that's unlikey if the pup is normal in all other respects and has no difficulties with elimination of solid or liquid wastes.   I know of two different GSD rescue groups that each ended up with an intersex GSD pup in the past five years; there's an entire country between the two groups, so it's unlikely the pups were closely related.   The research at present indicates that these animals are not fertile.

Moons, sometimes it can't be detected without exploratory surgery, but more often than not it's evident from a physical examination of the genitalia. 

If the dog in question is already 5 years of age, it's unlikely that the intersex condition has had any adverse effect on it's life; in some cases, there are issues with waste elimination due to structural defects and incomplete development of one or more systems associated with the reproductive organs, but these are either identified early in the dog's life and are corrected, if they haven't caused the death of the affected pup within a day or two of birth.

 We just recently spayed a cat that was a hermaphrodite. Interesting to say the least. 

The hormone progestin, if given in high dosages, can cause male sex characteristics in females...though I am not sure if that would mean duality or not. Just something people should know.

-Melanie
vom Felsenhof German Shepherds

Odd.
I would think it backwards, since progesterone causes lactation in human males.