other genetic problems - Page 2

Blitzen, can you please post the link for Heaven's Gate, All I can find is information on Mass suicide. By the way the dogs can be tested before revaccinate, to see is they actually need it. I am not sure how to spell it, "titor". I have my dogs tested prior. I to lost one due to vaccinations. This has been working for me and my furry friends.

Great post, Kas. I have wished many times over that I'd have not boarded my dog at a kennel that required ths kennel cough vac, who knows that he might have lived a few years longer. Only pharmaceutical companies that develope vaccines for pet animals would spend so much money to prevent a disease that is not lifethreatening and is self-curing. It truly is a matter of supply and demand brought about by the hype pet owners are being told - if you love your pet you'll be sure they get annual boosters. IMO, kennel owners need to rethink their requiring so many different types of annual vaccines too. An interesting sidenote to all of this is my daughter's Cocker was recently disgnosed with lymphosarcoma, this is a dog that the vet bombarded annually with every vaccine known to man all on the same day - distemper/parvo combo, rabies, lyme, kennel cough. Last year she had a reaction to all of this and now she has lymphosarc. A cooincidence? I wonder.

Blitzen - A little like the human MMR vaccine eh? Look at the hoha that produced with the suspect link to autism and bowel disease, and this without it being administered every year. A bitch I sold as a pet became really ill after her second booster (in the space of 2.5yrs she had been immunised 5 times. The mystifying illness caused full skeletal (bone) inflamation, a raging temperature, she could not stand or move a limb, all her joints swelled and she could not eat. She nearly died. Lots of tests were done for a variety of diseases, Lymphoma, arthritis, etc, etc, nothing was found. With careful nursing at home she recovered but the problem flared up again to a smaller degree the following year. This is where I came in, the owners had not contacted me on the previous occasion. On asking the relevent questions I assertained that the owners vet vet always administered boosters, wormers and flea spray all at the same time. IMO far too many toxins for any living thing to cope with all at once. I advised the owner to Stop All Boosters from that day on and to put her on a course of Echinusia (liquid form herbal product to help boost the immune system). For the first two weeks I recommended they gave double the dose, then for the next month the correct dose, then for the following month the correct dose every other day. The bitch has never suffered from the problem since. She grew a full coat for the first time in two years and she has never looked back. She is now 6yrs old and as fit as a fiddle and has not seen an immunisation needle for 3yrs.

The URL for Heaven's Gate is: http://www.mzjf.info/hgate/ Be sure to have a box of kleenex handly when you start to read it. Some entries were removed by the authors after receiving "threats" from the breeders of the dogs they talked about. The breeder of my dog wasn't overjoyed, but I didn't remove my information. The website was started by a friend who lost her beloved GSD to DM, she became interested in trying to discover the cause, treatment, and mode of inheritance for this terrible disease and it all lead to Heaven's Gate.

Kas, Very interesting story about that bitch, it's really frightening, isn't it? We learned to live with the allergies, gave monthly shots, made him a homemade diet and supplemented with all sort of fish oil, etc and it all helped. The sinusitis was a worse problem, but we learned to carry a towel everywhere we went. We went with chemo for the lymphosarc, but he only held a remission for 7 weeks, so we opted to not put him though anymore. Thinking of it still brings me to my knees and it's almost 3 years. I don't wish it on anyone.

I agree that immunizations are a very big issue. I also have a bitch suffering from the side effects of her immunizations. My hope is that as owners become more aware things will change and improve for my dogs. I titer my dogs and I hope that someday that will be the norm, even for rabies. I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. The more we share, the more we can learn from each other.

GSD4dogs, Have the results of the titers demonstrated a protective level and have you had to revaccinate any of your dogs? Thank you.

*****There are all MAJOR CONCERNS -- but only to SOME breeders. This is just part of the long list of why I wouldn't by a dog with American lines. The German dogs are not free of problems, themselves, but I consider them, as a group, much more healthy than most dogs here. yes, there are some American-bred dogs living past 12-13, but there are many more than are dropping dead between 3 and 5 also !! **** I have to disagree with some of that, with my own experience and my friends. out of the GSD in our Circle of friends, 7 of them German lines, 7 of them had the following: DM, HD, HD/ED, DM, DM, BAD TEMPERAMENT PUT DOWN, OK BITCH HEALTHY, The American lines 5 of them had the following: 1 TGS, UAP (no symptoms), ALLERGIES, 1 HEALTHY, 1 HEALTHY What i have noticed, there are more American dogs in Pet homes, than German (from what i have seen in my area so that may not be the norm) So it would seem like More Am Breds were sick/dying versus the few German lines... its because there are more Am Breds around. There are sure as heck many Am Breds with genetic crap, but there are genetic problems in German too..as you guys have shared. i used to think the working lines were healthier... but then i found 2 of the DMs above were from working lines so.. i found out they ALL get sick. Funny thing is the Americans were more honest about the genetics than i could find with the German lines. i have been trying to find out medical info on some of the dogs in my German line/bitches pedigree but no one talks... lol i had no problems from any of the breeders of my Am Bred male i thought it would be the opposite.. trust me, i have no problem saying i feel alot of the Am Bred breeders really need to get out there and do more proving of their lines through titling etc... i have no problem saying i cant stand hock walking, a$$ dragging Am Breds for those who have them.. but i also have no problem admitting that there are alot of Am Bred Breeders really focusing on genetic problems, they even have a little club/program going on... trying to get everyone to be honest and mark pedigrees of dogs with certain genetic problems. I am sure the German lines in the US have this type of "program" as well just not sure how to find it. The AKC is supposedly doing some sort of DNA marker thing to researching certain genetic/poly genetic diseases. As for vaccines ... personal topic. i HATE them... had a dog die from problems secondary to rabies and i titer ALL my dogs for DHPP. I haven't had to give it to them in 4 yrs and i trust the titer. i titer them often. I would titer for Rabies if they let us in MA. But they dont accept the results and will put your dog down if they hear someone say "your dog bit my child" people do lie about that stuff. If i had to choose, i would take UAP, ED over bloat, TGS ANY DAY of the week!!! i would rather NO PROBLEMS... but its true.. there i alot of focus on Hips and that is great but there is a BIG BIG problem with Bloat and TGS, Torsion and i fear this MORE than any thing! Breeders need to be honest about what is going on in their lines!!! There are soooo many dogs bloating in the German lines AND American... There are great German dogs producing bloat all over the place... the states lost a 4yr old VA male to bloat recently and the dog goes right back to a famous VA male in Germany who consistently produced bloat in the next generatin... i stay away from those lines.. great looking lines but i am afraid of bloat Great topic! Dawnmarie

I have a six year old female - her titers are still good. The only thing she's had since her reaction at 6 months was rabies because unfortunately the law requires it. My 3 year old male has not had any shots since he was 10 months and his titers are also still good.

Thanks, GSD4dogs.