Degenerative Myelopathy most common to the German - Page 2

Super-Dave, HDa6 is a fully accepted passing grade of the a-stamp system and has nothing to do with bad hips. The a6 is awarded to a dog that has submitted x-rays for an a-stamp from outside of Germany. Ausland means foreign country. Some countries submit according to the SV rules and a1s to a3s are awarded, such as submissions from the US. From other countries like Italy and Holland, the rating comes back as just a6 The a6 is a pass only and covers a1 to a3. Please be careful with such statements. Failing hip grades are a4 and a5 only.

I had a dog diagnosed with DM (Fire vom Zwillingbach, son of USA SchH Nal'l Ch, Asko Siegelgrund). Fire was treated with the supplements for 6 months as suggested for DM. He also receive accupunture treatments.Fire continued to get worse. I finally contacted the primary research doctor (R. Clemmons) at the Univ. of Florida, telling him of my dog's case and symptoms. He replied PERSONALLY to me. Dr. Clemmons wrote me that while DM IS a problem in the GSD, one he personally is working on, it is MIS-DIAGNOSED about 75% of the time! He says the only real diagnosis requires total sedation, a spinal tap,and have the spinal fluid tested for the protein that attachs the nerve sheath. Making a diagnosis on just neurological symptoms often leads to a mis-diagnosis of DM. Why does it matter? Because as in the case of my dog, it turned out to be arthiritic deposits closing in on the spine. (FIre was 8 years old and had worked hard in SchH.)During back surgery, the nerve sheath was clearly visible, and there was NO DM present. Please get the REAL DM test done if you want a chance to save your dog. DM is not helped by surgery, but arithritic deposits may be! Jackie Athon

The first link posted above on DM IMO is nothing but a scare tactic. If every year up to 42thousand GSD in the US are diagnosed with this, then you are talking nearly 100% of the anual GSD puppy crop the AKC produces. That number is supposed to be 3% of the overall US GSD population. That means 1.4 million GSD pups are produced in the US every year? Registered and unregistered. More than all AKC born dogs together? I find those numbers hard to believe. 1 to 3 percent of a given population, yes, that I believe. But not expressed in those numbers. Give or take a difference of 28thousand GSD every year... ? How can there be such a huge divergence? But lets assume the 3% figure and apply it to SV bred dogs in Germany. 3% of the German SV registered anual puppy crop would mean 600 SV pups a year could be affected by it. 1% would be 200 pups. About 1/3 of the anual puppy crop gets a-stamped and could therefore possibly enter the SV breeding pool. Which not all of them will. Out of the a-stamped dogs at the most half will be used for breeding. That means that the active breeding population of SV GSDs that could be affected by DM is at the most half of one percent of the anually produced dogs. That means that in theory roughly between 33 and at the most 100 dogs a year could possibly pass this on, out of a possible 20thousand produced that same year. In the overall scheme of things the impact is rather small. When you consider that this disease is supposed to be most prevalent in GSD, then for the general canine population it is minor issue. But as stated above, if we include the number of dogs that may be misdiagnosed, the problem may be far smaller still. Not for the owner who has a dog that is affected by it of course. The possibility of disease is and always will be part of owning a dog. There are hundreds of genetic diseases in dogs. "The sum of all diseases within a population will always remain the same." You try to eliminate one problem by selective breeding and thus will bring others to the surface. All living beings come with a full load of genetics, with good and bad that has manifested itself over millenia. Trying to breed for an overall balance is a far more sensible breeding practise than to try to force out one fad factor at a time. We will never be able to breed trouble and maintenance free dogs, aiming for a generally healthy population is best that can be achieved. Simple as that. Accepting that is also far more realistic than trying to chase down the dragon that cannot be slain.

---- > We will never be able to breed trouble and maintenance free dogs, aiming for a generally healthy population is best that can be achieved. Simple as that. Accepting that is also far more realistic than trying to chase down the dragon that cannot be slain. OMG- I just stumbled across this thread..So, we should just give up and accept our fate? A dragon cannot be slain if no one tries to slay it! Why go to a dr? People all die anyway- no one lives forever! Why do any medical research? In the end, once again, no one ever lives forever. Your reasoning is what is very scary, to me! We would still be in the dark ages, with your kind of reasoning..

Hello, Hi D.H., as usual you hit the nail right on the head ...always enjoy reading your comments. Majorie, No one should just give in, and no responsible breeder will just do that. Even with the most selective breeding, the best care for our beloved animals, you will encounter bad things happening. I am not sure what to call that, is it faith or maybe bad luck ? No matter what it is, it always hurts when it happens. Humans have a tendency to try to find somebody or something that is responsible for this bad thing, blaming or accusing, making their own life and the life of others miserable. When i started in the paramedic field, old peopel died because of old age .... today, there always has to be a reason found. Medical research is great, and we do see that peopel live longer and healthier. But sometimes these achievements can be a burden aswell. I thought about this a lot, there is a conclusion that i tend to use, when i am stuck with my thoughts ; What is bound to happen, will happen, because it is allready written in the big book of life ! There is only one thing 100% certain in a life, no matter if in nature or human beeings, that is death ! Sorry, didnt mean to paint a dark picture, but surely wanted to point out that i believe, most breeders that i know, and many of the ones here on the database, strive to do their best, to rule genetic aswell as healthissues out. Kind Regards Ulli Dresbach

I lost my GSD to DM last year, New Years eve, it nearly destroyed me, the most awful illness to see as it takes a noble beast & reduces it to a pathetic shadow, eating away at the dog & there is nothing you can do to stop it. D.H says the impact of D.M is rather small, but if its your best friend who has it the impact is enormous. I think the illness is more widespread than we realise. In my years of owning GSD's I have met countless people who have told me they used to have one, but its back legs went. Many times in the past it has been wrongly attributed to HD, especially in younger dogs. My dog was just 7 1/2yrs when we noticed the signs & for anyone who says it is not genetic, please note, his brother owned by a friend & raised differently got it a few months later & his sister, in a different home again, got it 3mths after this. All three dogs were dead within 18mths. We had found out a few yrs earlier that they're grandsire had died of DM, before his death his breeder, believing it was not hereditary mated him. Don't know how the pups turned out. My friend has lost three dogs in all to DM & will not have another GSD as she can't bear to go through it again. I think a lot of people feel the same as the breed does seem to be falling in popularity in the UK (now 4th popular breed registered). I think many breeders don't care about DM enough as it strikes once the dog has past breeding & showing age so is a quite convenient way to get rid of a dog that is no longer useful, and they can get their moneys worth in the dogs lifetime, unlike HD, where it is taboo to breed from a dog that has not been scored, or has a high score. Until we can find away to prove carriers, or affected dogs in early life, I don't think breeders will worry too much about using stock with DM sufferers in their lines. I pray for the day when a cure is found. Anyone who underestimates the devastation this illness causes or the extent of it in the breed should visit one of the many associated websites & read the heartbreaking stories.

Hi Lily, I agree with your opinion the DM is probably more widespread in the breed than we realize. How are things with your puppy?

I think Lily has hit the nail on the head - these dogs are peoples best friends and if something like that happens to your best friend it is devastating especially when with a little planning and research it can be avoided. I think many of us can look at pedigrees and pin point the possible links to DM it can be traced quite easily. Breeders should be aware of these defects and at least make some attempt to avoid known lines producing these faults. Unfortuately there are many litters bred that just by looking at the pedigree you can see in the first generation the problems likely to be encountered by the pups. No need to slay the dragon just use the information that is available to avoid the pitfalls. Nikki Nikonis GSD

Too right Nikki. This is especially true in a breed still used for work. There is little point in breeding & raising & training a dog for work if it gets DM at 5yrs old, especially in a breed that is not often fully mature until 3yrs. This was an illness of old age, it's such a worry that so many dogs are getting it at an increasingly young age. Blitzen-the puppy is much better. Now she has been on the tablets a while her neurological symptoms are not so bad & her bouts of rage have disapeared. It has been hard work, but she is now really loving & getting less posessive with other dogs,etc. It is looking more likely that the fits are not caused by epilepsy but are the inflammatory disease of the nervous system, although i have heard of several dogs related to her that may have epilepsy. Our only worry now is that she keeps picking up campylobacter & is probably a carrier. I think that bearing in mind her other problems there is something more going on & her immune system is maybe not very good (the DM link worries me again, will it appear later?!!) She was lucky to have come to us & all I can do is continue to try my best to sort her out. She's very well loved & incredibly happy despite all. Hope my next dogs a bit easier!!! Thanks for asking after her.

Hi Lily, I so glad to hear she she's improved so much. We do what we have to do to give these special dogs the extra attention they need, don't we? Been there myself, I know what it's like. I hope she continues to do well for you. I only had 7 1/2 years with my special dog, but I still cherish that time and am grateful to have had it. Take care......