Health problems not addressed? - Page 2

DKiah: I raise my puppies on Royal Canin Babydog until 8 weeks, then switch them onto Royal Canin Maxi Junior and at ± 1 year to Royal Canin German Shepherd 24.

Since we are on the topic of health problems...anyone know about a very serious one...the heart??? I had a female diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy!!! It was found at age 14months!!! Of couse I am told it is not hereditary..blah blah...but not only do I have a great showline dog with high drive that can't workm but I now have a pet who can die at any moment. The vet says she is a "time bomb"!!!

wow, that's terrible.. I have heard of heart problems in the breed but don't know to what extent... it's fairly common in boxers.. I believe Neohaus, does the breeder of your dog know and what do they say about it?? That is something that they should know about, they can't fix it but it is a crucial piece of information to ones breeding plan.... EVERYONE needs to know... stud owner, bitch owner, littermate owners....

Neohaus, I had a 11 month old Ursus grand-daughter who died of HCM. She was fine and running around with my husband and the next moment she was gasping for air. My husband immediately put her in the truck and took her to the vet and upon arriving she died. The vet and hubby opened her up right there in the back of the truck and her heart was the size of a large mellon (cantaloupe in size) very hard too. The vet suspected she had Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. We just brought her home and buried her. Was a sad day as she was a beautiful dog. Birdy...

Geeze, you didn't think I could stay out of this one ! Over 25 years ago when we wanted to x-ray a bitch Hips AND ELBOWS - The vet said - why do you want to x-ray the elbows ? Shepherds have had ED for years !!! What kind of talk is that !! We said we wouldn't breed her if the elbows were not good !!! What's wrong with these people ? I believe that the allergies and immune issues are connected to the VACCINATIONS issues -- We've seen it in Cats also -- it seems like the more you overvaccinate the more problems you get -- and if you load up a puppy that's in a weakened position from some other ailment -look out - next thing you know, you've got ear infections for life !! among other things. We've seen pancreas problems in "lines" back when we knew more about Am. Show stuff - and had to put down a puppy at only around 6 months because the pancreas was shot - it's a crime - There are bunches of breeders of diferent breeds who calmly acccept the fact that there is Cancer in their breed, or Epilipsy even - and don't seem to do anything about it - at least GSD people - the serious ones - are gravely concerned and trying to make progress away from these issues. I also have an opinion that digestive issues (chronic diarrhea) etc., can be rooted in giving pups solid food too early -- many of my friends start their puppies on a "gruel" of something or other as early as 3 weeks -- You wouldn't feed a 5 month old child a hamburger, why give a puppy "solid" or semi solid food before it's ready to digest it properly -- Vets, again have this attitude that ALL SHEPHERDS have these problems, I guess because they see it so much -- Yet we don't feed anything but mothers milk or Goat Milk prior to 5 weeks. Lastly - there is a small group of people who believe theat the lighter the dog the greater possibility of skin allergies - Like blonds shouldn't go out in the sun -- the dogs with lots of tan and small black saddles are like "strawberry blonds" and could have more sensitivities -- I did have one that fit this category - and he had some allergies - but so did his father !!! There's a lot to consider --

Unfortunately, there are so many health issues in the German Shepherd Dog and like someone else said, nobody seems to want to admit there are problems in their lines. The big problem is that there are problems in ALL the lines. The best thing a breeder can do is to WANT to know what happens to their pups after they're placed in their new homes. If there is a problem *I* want to know about it! I want to know if something comes up so I can do research to find which lines they problems may be coming through. So far in my 9 years of breeding, I had one case of Pancreatic problems, 4 cases of known hip dysplasia, 3 cases of elbow dysplasia and 2 cases of cancer. Cardiac problems don't seem to pop up in my lines (not yet anyhow) but you just never know. That is why it is soo important to do your research when looking for a breeder to purchase from. It is so important to research any lines that you are bringing into your kennel or that you are thinking about bringing into your kennel. The best defense against these diseases is knowledge. Another thing brought up is the lack of nutrition and the immunity problems in the dogs. I do believe that humans are having the same problems. We do not get adequate nutrition and so are suffering from allergies, cancers, all sorts of awful problems! The issue here is; did our ancestors also have these same problems. Yes some of the issues can be corrected at least temporarily with diet and homeopathic remedies, but if we start using these other diets and remedies do the problems come right back? They do not 'correct' the problems, they just seems to help them. Just my 2 cents worth ;) Peggy

Not sure I buy into the-lighter-the-dog-the-greater-the-possiblity-of-allergies theory. My first GSD had horrendous allergy problems and he had a large black blanket, a predominately black face and mahogany red points. Most brreeders would have killed for a dog with his pigmentation. He was also a coat. You are right, Pineridge, a lot goes into the mix and IMO, it's all about genetics. Dogs that have inadequate immune systems get the allergy problems while their "normal" littermates don't. The upside is it is not life-threatening; the downside it is problematic for the dog and its owner. I like your theory on early feeding of puppies; makes a lot of sense to me. Having worked as a vet tech for many years, I have to say that, yes, most vets do not view this breed as one of the healthiest. Vacs are a problem too, the first thing the oncologist said about my dog with the lymphosarcoma was - under no circumstances should this dog ever have another vaccination. It's a quick and easy money-maker for the vet; buying a vac for well under a dollar and selling it for well over 20 and more is a good profit margin by any standard. That level of profit would delight even Donald Trump. Breeders need to say - no more vaccinations and, if they are concerned, do titers instead. More costly, but worth it. I like my vet, but I'm not of the notion that I should finance her trips to Cancun.

Wow, I am having flashacks... I remember talking to my boss (the vet) about my new girls pedigree and mentioning there was a dog in it (5th gen) who was written up by Willis as a known carrier of hemophilia and vWD and should we find out about testing.....and he said NAH! Well, she was bred and had 9 males in her first and only litter and 1 went on to sire a couple of litters, very nice dog.... one of his daughters urinated blood all the time from about 2 years on... tested her 3 times and always her vWD score was 69, borderline possibly a carrier. We tested her for everything under the sun and that was all we could comeup with, she was neg for hemophilia A. Another female out of that same male died after being spayed and her litter sister was vWD affected. We tested the mother, the brother and an uncle and all were clear but the owner of the sire was convinced we were looking for problems and there were none in his lines and so he refused to test him... Sound suspicious? I don't buy the lighter color, more allergy theory since 2 of the dogs I have come across recently with skin problems are both solid black and not related. I do believe the vaccination thing has a ton to do with it and I believe also it's important to vaccinate pups thru the series but after that first annual booster, all mine are on a 3 year schedule, along with their Rabies and once they get to be retired and couch potatoes and the least bit not healthy, we stop .... I don't believe in titers for Rabies because of the legal issues, but I will only do it every 3 years since it all comes from the same bottle. My vet drives a Mercedes and has opened 2 new annex wellness clinics and I have helped!!

I have a 6 year old female that is allergic to the world. We have done homeopathy, nutrition and you name it we try it. I had her doing very well until she needed another 3 year rabies shot and it sent her spiraling down badly. It's the shots and the genes. The best way to deal with these problems is to talk about it. I am so disgusted with some breeders that breed dogs they know produce serious health problems. They don't care. It is good to see this discussed here.

GSD4dogs, have you have your dog skin tested? If not, I'd urge you do think about doing that. The monthly shots do help most although it may take as long as a year to see an reduction in the scratching. The rule of thumb is - the allergic dog will only get worse as it ages. I honestly don't think changes in food, supplements, etc will much help a dog with inhalation allergies, but in most instances the monthly shots do and the antigens and syringes are relatively inexpensive. They are easy to give, anyone can do it. The less effective shots are those for flea bite allergies but controlling the fleas will curtail the scratching. The blood tests are not all that reliable; been there, done that 2 times and I can't recommend them, the skin tests are much more reliable. You may also want to buy the book "Skin and Haircoat Problems in Dogs" by Lowell Ackerman. If you want to have your dog skin tested, look to either the derm department at an area vet school or an accredited veterinary allergist. Some local general practioners will do it, but if they don't know about all the molds, mildews, pollens that are native to your area, they could miss something. My GSD ended up allergic to several molds and mildews in addition to all sorts of pollen, the reason his problems were year-round and not seasonal.