Need advice- Have 4 1/2 Month GSD with Moderate Aortic Stenosis - Page 1

Synopsis:

Bought a puppy that was imported from Czech Rep (Health Check Cleared) then shipped from Colorado to Louisiana (Health Check Cleared). Day one home, I immediately take to vet and get health check. The vet asked me if the breeder mentioned anything about heart murmur (said no). Informed me that pup had stage 2/3 heart murmur. Asked to bring him back in couple weeks. Got 3 more opionions from different vets and they all confirmed heart murmur.  Next phase was echocardiogram which confirmed my worst fears a moderate aortic stenosis with prognosis to worsen due potential size of this dog. Recommended he get rechecked 12-24 months. All along, breeder was wanting to wait until 6 months do recheck or do the echocardiogram.

My initial concerns were how can a pup that has been health checked twice miss a heart murmur when I had 3 vets pick up right away. But, now here I am with a dog with AS that I must monitor for fainting, could worsten, not be breed, not overexert, watch weight, and could shorten his life span due to condition. Does anyone have any experience with this? Should I return to breeder or am I simply overreacting? I have already gotten attached to him but the dog I paid for is not what I recieved.

Unless the breeder chooses to make some arrangement with you to compensate for the pup's condition, I suspect you're out of luck, my friend, since you are in the US and the breeder is in Europe, so legal recourse would be difficult and costly. If the latter turns out to be the case, the best you can do is love the dog, give him the best life possible given the restrictions, and chalk it up to a lesson learned with not only a financial loss, but an emotional one as well.

If you're comfortable with doing so, it would be helpful to other breeders and buyers if you'd share the pedigree info with other European GSD-fanciers, so there is a record that a particular combination of Sire X bred to Dam Y produced a pup with this condition--which is not to say the either parent is an awful animal or is not breedworthy, but does send up red flags that a repeat of that same pairing would be unwise.

Sorry about your pup...it's hard not to become attached once you've got them in your arms, worse yet when there's been much anticipation and arrangements needed just to get the dog to you. Here's hoping that he will outgrow it, but the odds are not in his [or your] favor; even if he does outgrow it, he should not be a breeding candidate.

So I presume this is the same as SAS in Goldens??  Most with SAS did not have a very good lifespan;  however, am sorry for your puppy.  Goldens were known to just drop dead ususally before 2 years of age??  Pretty devastating and in Goldens hereditary problem.  Best of luck for your little guy  Nan

Nans- Yep, same thing...

Very sorry, I had a Mastiff with moderate AS. As a young puppy she also cleared her health screening at 6-7 weeks old. But my vet pick up possible heart murmur during routine vet check at 10 weeks. My vet told me it's common to miss heart in young puppies if the breeder takes in a group of puppies all at once & it's loud in the examin room. So I didn't get upset over it. 

But then at next vet examin the vet became very concern & took pup to a specialist & Eco which revealed AS. She was only given 2-4 years to live at the most.

Well, I took some of their advise. I kept her lean working weight, fed high quality diet. But I did exercise her off leash daily. The exercise strength her heart, but you need to be very careful & watch for any signs of stress or the dog over doing it. Plus gave her fish oil capsules. She became very fit & lived to be 14 years old. She passed away due to cancer & her heart was still going strong, that is old for any Mastiff. 

I've done the same / gave advise to many rescues which it did help their quality of life. But it also comes down to genetics so sometimes no matter what you do you can't stop the genetic fate.

best of luck 

One of the bad things about SAS is that it continues to worsen usually over the first 18 months of life. You should definitely contact the breeder. Even if you have no recourse in regards to your financial losses, the breeder has to be aware that they are breeding this particular defect. Both parents should be screened and this particular breeding should not be attempted again, even if the parents are auscultation clear. 

Dogs with moderate disease could go either way. Meaning he could live for some time, could potentially go into heart failure later in life, or have a sudden death event. Most dogs that have a sudden event will do so by the age of 3.  I hate this defect because nothing has been shown to change the outcome (ie no surgery available, no change in outcome with meds). I hope your puppy can be one that lives happy for some time. 

We have made the difficult decision to return him. If it was dertermined to be mild, we would have reconsidered. The cardiologist worried he would take a turn for the worst due to his potential size. Just didnt want to take a chance on a dog that I wanted to be really active. Thanks for everyones help!

My sympathies to you, as I know it couldn't have been an easy decision to reach. That the breeder is working with you to make things right speaks well of them--it's not the usual result in situations such as this, when a dog has been shipped internationally.  Here's hoping things work out better with your next pup.