[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: health issues and honesty
- From: "myjoygs@xxxxxxx" <myjoygs@xxxxxxx>
- To: shereemosesgsd@xxxxxxxxxxx, showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:30:03 -0500 (EST)
Nice email Sheree, I agree and I always say if people were more honest with
what problems are in their lines, it allows the person who is looking for lines
to breed to from doubling or tripling up on problems, like you said below.
This is the only way in my opinion (short of not breeding at all) that we are
going to breed out the health issues. There is no line out there that is free
from health problems, some lines have more then others. The knowledge of the
health issues is crucial when breeding.
Being truly honest
/each other is the only way we will fix the problems we have, it doesn't mean
ou have to throw the baby out with the bath water, but it would keep us from
oubling (or tripling) up on the issues.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sheree Moses <shereemosesgsd@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: showgsd-l <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Mon, Jan 23, 2012 12:02 pm
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] health issues and honesty
This is going to be a little scattered, sorry, just came in to warm up from
oing dogs. Was reading some of the posts regarding health issues with some
nterest and have a few comments to make.
e used to tack some of our dogs, we are on the road alot and it seemed like
etter safe than sorry. We don't anymore. While there are many issues that can
recipitate bloat that are not necessarily genetic there are too many litters
ut there where more than 50% are dead at relatively young ages from bloat or
esenteric torsion (which seems to me to be a totally separate issue). When you
tart seeing pedigrees where you can't go a single generation w/o a first degree
elative who is dead from a gastric issue I think we need to ask ourselves how
t could NOT be genetic. There are other breeds out there where tacking is the
orm, but now bloat is endemic in the breed. I don't think we want that for our
reed, nor is it a fair practice for pet buyers, which is where most of our
uppies go. More than 50% is not normal, or coincidence. Anyone who says it is
ot genetic either has their head in the sand or something to hide, IMHO. The
ame goes for hip/elbow issues, seizure
disorder, EPI, and dentition, to name a few.
nother issue that's gotten alot of recent play is DM. In over 32 years of
reeding shepherds I have never had a dog that I knew had DM. I did have a
o-bred/co-owned bitch about 15 years ago, whose father I thought for sure had a
fixed" tail....when she was about 3 I realized that her tail was starting to
ook "fixed" too, so maybe there was something else going on. We quit showing
er and placed her, she died at about 10 (still w/a dead tail, dragging her toes
little) from something else. Last year a German dog I adore was diagnosed at
w/DM by two reputable veterinarians. We started calling people who had his
rogeny and suggested testing. A few daughters got spayed and placed as pets.
he dog has such a heart and personality we were devastated, and we have tried a
umber of therapies. The most recent involved stem cell therapy, but the
reating DVM wanted a positive genetic test before they started treatment.
urprise....he is CLEAR. I talked at some length to
the director of OFA (who used to have GSDs and now breeds Labs), and she told
e that DM is a disease of old age, and that many of the dogs who are diagnosed
/DM actually have one of several other problems that have the same
ymptoms....so that's not much help....The Labrador people are at the forefront
f genetic testing, and have managed to virtually eliminate a variety of
roblems w/genetic testing and careful breeding, allowing them to preserve the
ood while eliminating the bad......People, we have so much information (both
esting and easy communication via the Internet) available to us today that it
s shame on us if we don't work to better the health of our breed. I just rec'd
bout $1000 worth of DM test kits from OFA and am testing every dog I plan to
reed on my property (plus a couple of well-known geriatrics just so we know)
nd I will make the results public. On that note, perhaps we should re-visit
he definition of "honesty" as a couple of the posts I rea
d from people who don't think these issues are genetic and haven't had these
roblems don't seem to understand the word.... I have dispensed alot of Gas-X
ver the years, hauled out the bloat tube quite a few times, and have driven
ore than one dog to the vet in the middle of the night...funny thing, honesty.
am always happy to talk about dogs we've bred or own, am hard to get on the
hone as I am usually out w/the dogs but email is easy. Being truly honest
/each other is the only way we will fix the problems we have, it doesn't mean
ou have to throw the baby out with the bath water, but it would keep us from
oubling (or tripling) up on the issues. Sheree
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POST is Copyrighted 2011. All material remains the property of the original
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind
are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its
administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in
any post.
ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE
PROSECUTED.
For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx
VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org
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