Health problems not addressed? - Page 4

Interesting you mention that Skorpio, about just flopping over and die. In Oktober of 1995, I had a litter by VA-Esko von der Wienerau out of a VA-Kevin vom Assault daughter. There were only three males (2 of them monorchids, but that is besides the point). One flopped over and was dead at 13 weeks of age. The vet performed an autopsy and could not find anything wrong with any organs, everything looked fine. I replaced the puppy at no charge because I felt so bad for this family. Any compassionate breeder would have done that. The "star" of the litter was sold to somebody in New Jersey who participated in show and Schutzhundfor a while and then kind of dropped out. After a couple of years, I asked a friend: Have you heard anything from so and so? She said: Funny you ask but I had met him by coincidence and he mentioned that his dog played in the yeard with his kids, came into the house to drink and dropped dead. Same scenario: Vet could not find anything wrong! 2 dogs out of the same litter! I checked on the third one and he was ok! But that was several years ago. The origninal owner had sold him, because he was "too much dog for her". So, who knows. Somebody had called this condition "Sudden Cardiac Death Syndrome" or something similar, no obvious reasons. Maybe Hexe could contribute to this subject. Chris

Wow, I'm glad you brought up heart problems. I had a yoschy dollenweise grandson drop dead at 2 for no apprent reason, but I suspect heart trouble. His littermate died at 7 months due heart failure. Does anyone know what genetic heart problems can be screened for prior to breeding?

so much great stuff here -- I agree very much with the food issues -- TOO MANY PRESERVATIVES -- ethoxiquin is a rubber stabalizer for crying out loud - what the heck is it doing in Dog Food (So it can sit in a warehouse for ONE YEAR and not spoil - that's why) I'm on mostly RAW MEAT -- and the meal has NO JUNKY PRESERVATIVES -- I've had mostly healthy dogs, thankfully, bought and bred, and several went past 13- those heart problems - devistating -- I don't think I could cope with that very well -- Rotties seem to do that a lot - run around and come in and drop dead - too sad -- We do the titers now on everybody - we have 3 bitches who haven't had SHOTS in 4 or is it 5 years !! Still protected !! And we never give rabies with any others (in pups that need both around the same time) - I know this isn't the cat pages but my stupid PUREBRED (York Chocolate) show kitten (very rare) got a rabies shot when she had a slight ear infection going on - and she was never right after that - About $1,000 later, and a trip to Tufts and making all her food from scratch == AND seeing a holistic vet with a GREAT REPUTATION - she scratched herself into oblivion - bleeding from the claw marks she made on her neck - and after about 4-5 months of this torture we couldnt' stand it any longer - The vet was not happy I put the cat down - He said "I have about 3000 remedies - something might have worked" - Like I as going to hang around and watch the poor thing suffer for about another $1,000 and months of pain - no way -- That was an easy call - Breeders gotta know when to cut bait -- if their line is weakening, and they know about the epilipsey, and the allergies -- then end it there - and move on to another - it's their EGO's that contribute to this too - How many supposed breeders told me - breed the bitch (who couldn't OFA) Breed her anyway - Her parents are okay, and you'll get SOME good hips out of her -- What the heck is that all about -- We spayed her and sold her - and she did wonderful Therapy work until she was almost 12 and died in her sleep -- God, I wish I could have just one do that!! See ya next week.

Here's the recipe for mange: These are essential oils: 1 part lavender oil 1 part garlic oil 1 part mullien oil (or you can use 2 parts of garlic/mullien ear oil) mix with 10 parts almond oil mix well and massage into affected areas several times a day. It's a little oily but totally non toxic

With Olie's help we could actually do some line research on these issues. He could simply add a category for health problems in individual dogs. The progeny lists are nice but face it these are only dogs that did well and are worth listing. The pups that were put down at 3 months never make it. This would even be a simple SV rule that health and causes of death must be recorded for each dog. Would be the best for the breed. Also, it is clear that a lack of genetic diversity causes many of these issues. I always spread out vaccinations over the year and do not give all of the shots at once. I only give the minimum,, I wonder what would happen to you if your body had to fight 12 different diseases at once. I also feed a preservative free Natural pet food supplemented with meat and veggies from the dinner table.

I think a requirement for cause of death is a great idea, but would be very difficult to enforce, and be sure the truth was being told. In a perfect world....

Hello Poopall, we have been discusiing stuff like this for ages!! You need to get out a bit more... Hope the retailing is going well, did you get the bedspread??? So now you want to be skorpio! Will you stand my dog for the survey in May? If she doesn't die of heart failure before then??LOL

I had a 13 month old puppy drop dead right in front of me while out for our morning walk two years ago. He came running towards me, collapsed at my feet and died instantly. This pup had endless energy, never stayed easy and was totally healthy or so I thought. He was an Ursus grandson and a total outcross. It broke my heart. I never found out what the cause was as I was totally devastated when it happened. Still miss him like crazy.

There is a certain amount of risk in life as in dying and there are certainly many unknown factors that can become part of the matrix. I am more worried about the recent influx of BLOAT. This horrible killer is taking our very best GSDs and before their time. We need to urge the organizations, vet science studies and the food industry to do everything in their power to promote research into what triggers this horrible death sentence. Please feel free to contact me privately for more details.

One of the biggest problems in this breed is not that which the dog produces, but the failure of some breeders to recognize a problem in any of their dogs. They are literally blind to any faults that their dogs might have, or which the breeder themselves might be causing. At least with responsible breeders, you see them WATCHING their lines, what they are producing, any faults, and trying to control what is bred to whom, to avoid problems in the future, if possible. Nobody's perfect, but someone who is unwilling to even SEE a problem can't correct it. It's very sad when you see this, and can do nothing about it. Until the breeder recognizes the problem (and sometimes it's too late!), there is no fix for it except in the extreme cases where government officials get involved. Just my thoughts....