The Sorrow of DM and other inheritable diseases - Page 10

It is the hardest thing for us to do but Xena Angel is playing with her buddies now until she see you again. My poochies and me send you loads of licks and love Julie.

There are no easy answers it seems. I want to link this thread with the current ongoing debate here:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/forum.read?mnr=169816&pagen=3#171197

Today, another beautiful girl was lost to DM. She belonged to a very good friend of mine, and was not far from her 14th birthday. I want to include her here to honor her.

It's been a sad day Taz having to say goodbye to you, we knew it was coming, we know the signs only too well, but we thought we had longer. The gods decided otherwise, and we had to let you go. It hurt, it hurt a lot, but you went peacefully. You were the kindest, sweetest girl and didn't deserve this, like all the others here that didn't deserve it either. At least you still felt 10ft tall and bulletproof, you were only down for one day. Godspeed dear Taz.

This disease is so tragic.

Starrchar, my girl was an LC also. I am so sorry for the journey you and others will be taking. I miss her tonight most likely why I am on the board. My Rott is still looking for her and is so depressed. I also have seen to much in the breed and thinking of a change. Looking at the cattle dog, they are also very versatile like the Gsd and can do sch to therapy. I really thought she would be my forever dog. My rott has a spine issue and the vet told me I would be lucky if I got 2 more years, that was 5 years ago and he is still going strong. I use to baby him and stopped most activities, we have gone back to doing some of them (quality of life and I let him tell me what he is up for). This thread does bring comfort in knowing you are not alone. They sure do get into your blood. She was so flippen smart and so gental. She never showed any agession to anyone or other dogs, unless you went into my office, had one heck of a dog fight over that one. One day she decided she did not like this guy and was climbing over a 4 foot chain link fence and showing her displeasure, to get to this guy standing next to me, should have seen the look on my rotts face, to this day I laugh ( he is my protection dog), since I have never seen agression in her, 1 time over the years, I got him away from me and out of the house. I trusted her enough to take her word for it. She never climbed the fence before or after. She did one day show me she could open it and then she sat down. To funny, showing me she could leave the dog run if she chose to. She also stepped on the trash can for the lid to go up so the rott could get in it and steal left overs, she could not manage to do both, she did it 2 times, since he would not share the spoils, she would not do it again. My plumber came over drunk one day to fix something, she would not let him in the house, I was confused she liked him. Stepped closer to him, smelled it. Thought it best he fix my plumbing another day. Was she not the smartest dog.................

Abby, I'm so sorry you've had to endure losing another beloved dog with DM to the Bridge. I know she wasn't your personal dog, but still the pain runs deep when we lose those we are close to and love. Godspeed cherished Taz...

1doggie2, I love the stories about your girl. I didn't know she was a coatie! She was quite a special girl. She will live in your heart and be a part of you always.

And the sadness continues to reverberate...while breeders who care more for their egos and their wallets continue to produce litters from dogs with no testing for heritable disorders, simply because they *can*.

Thx Abby for letting us know about Miss Taz, she looks like such a sweet girl.  My Xena has been gone for 2 months now, still miss her everyday.  But the brightest star I see at night brings me comfort.  Please pass a hug from me to her owner, tell her Taz will always be with her in spirit.
Hugss tight

Thank you XenaGSDCKC. She is still very, very deeply missed and always will be, as is your beautiful girl. Play well dearest Taz with all who love you who went on before, and know that those who must remain behind miss you dreadfully every day, but know that one day we will see that beautiful loving face once more.

wow.....i think two days of non-stop crying this thread has helped me! i posted my first one here earlier today "grieving my 12 yr old gsd" he had this disease...the best statement thats helped me is knowing their dignity and letting them go to doggie heaven before their dignity was lost....i could have been selfish and kept him here with me but i felt in his eyes he was ready. Smokey was 12 years old and put to rest 2 days ago....his pain came and left but mostly because he didnt want to leave my side. he is my guardian angel now. i love smokey and miss him sooo much!!!!!! those were his cushioned socks to help

correct information would be helpful, BeeTree

You wrote:

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beetree on 13 January 2012 - 00:01

beetree Posts: 669 Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2007 04:40 pm

Carrier (A/N) This dog is heterozygous A/N, with one mutated copy of the gene and one normal copy of the gene, and is classified as a carrier. In the breeds studied at the University of Missouri in depth so far, dogs with test results of A/N have never been confirmed to have DM. While it is highly unlikely this dog will ever develop DM, this dog can transmit either the normal gene or the mutated gene to its offspring. http://www.offa.org/dnatesting/dmexplanation.html  < ----   However, due to new developments coming to light, regarding 6 carriers that have been found to have DM, as well as dogs that have been declared clear that have been found to also have had DM, upon necropsy, the wording now states, under carrier, that Carrier (A/N) This dog is heterozygous A/N, with one mutated copy of the gene and one normal copy of the gene, and is classified as a carrier. Carriers are far less likely to develop DM, but we have confirmed DM in a few carrier dogs.  Now, how many people necropsy their tested dogs? How many people necropsy their dogs, all togehter? Not many!  However, , in the few that have been necropsied, quite a few  necropsied have been shown to have had actual results quite different than their test designation status. Kile it or not, those are the facts, which is why the OFA has had to change the wording on their site, and i fear this is the tip of the iceberg. How many more cases are going unreported, due to the small numbers of dogs that are being necropsied.... I am done here- just had to educate you regarding what the OFA actually has written upon their page.... The truth is always good to know...