Sudden Death 4 year old German Shepherd - Page 1

We recently lost our beautiful, very happy, and seemingly healthy four year old German Shepherd to sudden death. During an evening walk last Sunday he literally died in his tracks. It was heart wrenching to witness and unfathomable to comprehend. There was no warning, no illness, no symptoms, and no reason this much loved dog should go from tail wagging to motionless in a split second and yet he did. A necropsy was done, tissue samples of major organs were sent to Texas A&M. Vet consults point to one very likely explanation that he was taken by tachycardia, an electrical short circuiting of the heart. There is a genetic component to this issue and breeders should be more aware and more diligent in weeding it from the gene pool. As we have learned in our grief stricken research many large breeds do carry a gene for heart issues that could lead to sudden death and only one parent needs to have the gene for it to be passed on and active. We urge all dog breeders to be more aware of the health and well being of the puppies they produce even after they leave for new homes and to work to eliminate genetic issues while informing owners of potential health problems. Sudden death may be more likely to occur in young puppies or dogs under one year old but as we have experienced that is not always the case. Often a dog will die in the night leaving owner's perplexed and confused, without the ability to do a necropsy or find any answers that would point to breeding.

How odd it is to think we were fortunate to have witnessed the events. We have a 24 vet hospital close by so the window to try and learn a cause was available to us. Breeders need to be more aware and concerned with the health of the dogs they produce all the way into adulthood. It is too easy to assume the responsibility stops at the sale and then families go home with a pet believing it will live a long and happy life especially if it was a big investment of time and money and then they discover that in reality the life expectancy of their dog is 1/3 of what they believed it to be. But how do we get breeders to understand when the money is made at 8 weeks old?

Our grief is flooded with the list of would haves, should haves, if only, and what ifs. Every toy is a reminder, as is the empty dog bed, the left over food, the all too quiet yard, the shedded fur remaining to be swept up, the leashes, the drool on the car windows, and of course the void on our walks. It is hard to lose any much loved family member or friend; human, furred, or feathered........but sudden death is especially cruel and for now we see the world through tears as we come upon the many and frequent reminders of what should be only to realize there will be no response when we call for our dog to come.

The thought of not having a German Shepherd in the house is overwhelming but the thought of going through the process of trying to find a responsible breeder and having any confidence that the health and genetics are what we would wish for is also overwhelming. How do we get that German Shepherd that will be a healthy companion for over 13 years like the one I grew up with? My hope was my daughter would have that experience when we brought home our German Shepherd puppy 4 years ago and now she is completely heartbroken at the sudden death of her best friend.

I am very sorry to hear of your loss. Yes, most often these sudden deaths are caused by heart issues, and as far as I know, these issues are most common in American show line dogs. Was your dog from these lines?

Sorry your dog is gone at such a young age. Unlike your vets I am not comfortable with the guess that the cause was genetic. More likely a clot from a recent injury or vet visit treatment. Vets like to blame genetics for their unexplainables because it absolves them or the owners of any responsibility. Genetics was the cause of lung cancer in humans as long as cigarette companies and doctors paid by them could blame lung cancer on genetics. Plenty of cases of human athletes young and healthy dropping dead ... nobody claims those cases are genetic.
A sudden death such as that which took your GSD is rare but present in all mammals. I am not aware that GSD have a heart problem such as you described nor that it has a genetic cause and I think blaming breeders for what happened to your GSD is neither warranted or scientific.

The genetic component is not just an easy excuse used by vets but it is backed up by much research and genetic testing. Sudden death is not as rare as people would assume. The idea that it is rare or unpredictable or unpreventable is what allows it to continue in the genetics by giving breeders a reason to ignore the issue.

http://www.thegermanshepherd.org/health-issues/inherited-ventricular-arrhythmias.html

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2009.0265.x/pdf

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/96/4/1337

Our dog was not American Showline in case the debate gets into front. The parents were German Showline with the mom imported and pink papered.

Last week marked a year ago for the beginning of the end for my Vaxx (he's my profle pic, he was a runner, would just go full out for the sheer joy of it). A year ago I took him into the local vet, telling them there was something wrong, I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew something was off. They scoffed, couldn't find anything. He started slipping/having small spills, we thought he was tripping over dog toys or just being clumsy. Made several trips to the local vets, still could find nothing..

He started collapsing/falling over 4x one night, we rushed him to the emerg vet (she said his heart was stopping/skipping beats, he was fainting, not falling, he was at risk of sudden death), rushed him to NC State, they put in a pacemaker, said it was a fluke, nothing wrong with his heart. He never really bounced back. 2-1/2 months later in Oct he was having trouble breathing, rushed him to NC State..this time they found a heart infection, which has irreparably damaged his valves, nothing they could do, it was too late. We had to let him go. He had just turned 3 years old.

A few days before he left us, he was playing in the pasture, I took videos that day of him with my phone, not a clue in the world it would be the last video I ever took of him. In the last few frames, he looks right at the camera with a happy smile on his face, tongue hanging out, running past me. He so loved the big pasture and his ball chasing and frisbee catching time. It's like "Remember me like this Mom, always like this". 2 days later, he was gone.

Peace to you and your family. I know how heartbreaking this is for you to lose them so young, it seems so unfair.

In the OP there was no defined link to heart caused sudden death, just a presumption. In humans 95% of sudden heart related deaths have little or no identfiable genetic cause. In the remainder of cases there is a genetic component but it is involved with environmental causes as are most diseases and syndromes. In a very few individual of both human and canine heart related sudden death there is a more clear link to genetics but those individuals have early onset of symptoms and early death which limits their genetic contribution to the genepool. If you would like a presumed contributor to heart related sudden death in dogs let's look at the insecticides used in dogs that cause nerve paralysis ( heartworms, ticks, fleas ). These pesticides are tolerated by many dogs but for some diseased and dogs with genetic mutations they can kill. It is likely that these pesticides which affect nerve firing and function are also involved in cardiac nerve malfunction in dogs with diseased hearts or a genetic mutation making their heart nerves more sensitive to them. It is difficult to breed out drug and pesticide reactions to all drugs and pesticides presently marketed or that will be marketed in the future. The excuse of using genetics as an excuse for environmental poisoning, lack of proper exercise ( walking on a leash is not proper exercise for a GSD ) or species appropriate diet serves the animal industry's profit hunger and nothing else.

I am so sorry for your loss. I haven't heard much about heart related illnesses in German shepherds, but I also have Dobermans and unfortunately they have a very large occurance of heart disease (dilated cardiomyopathy). Many dogs show no symptoms as your dog did, but suddenly collapse and die. It's estimated that 50% or more will die from this disease. It is most definitely a genetic issue in Dobermans, but unfortunately it is one that does not usually show up until mid to late life, so dogs have already reproduced by the time they are diagnosed. It is also in all bloodlines and I have yet to find a dog that hasn't had an ancestor with DCM. This obviously makes it next to impossible to breed away from.

I know its a totally different breed and may be a different heart condition than what your dog had (usually DCM is fairly easy to see when a necropsy is performed as the heart becomes enlarged, but not always), but I just wanted to share the information.

PositiveK9 I am so sorry for your loss and again such a young dog who should have been in the prime of life.

anawd Thank you for your post. In the grief stricken research we did learn of the issue in Dobermans as it seems there may have been more research on this breed or the issue has gotten so widespread that it has become more difficult to ignore. It is a genetic issue with many breeds even though many people choose to believe it is not. As you said when it occurs later in life then the breeding pairs who have carried the gene have by that time passed it on many times over. I wish there was attention to following the offspring produced through adulthood and to end life so that there was a more complete health history and/or cooperation to share information rather than assume sudden death is an acceptable risk with owning the breeds at risk.

Jesus; so sorry...

 

SAS

You're not alone, that's for sure. Most of us here in N. America know artist Linda Shaw, creator of The Illustrated Standard of the German Shepherd Dog. She lost one of her dogs at the age of 2:

A year later, two year old Brynn bounced into the kitchen for her cookie, slumped to the floor and died. Her heart had stopped. Not long after, I discovered that her sire, Cobert’s Sirocco of Windigail, had sported a heart pacer so he could continue with his breeding career, and had just died prematurely because of it. His owner, Sprock, assured me it wasn’t hereditary. The pathologist rolled his eyes. Whatever faith I had that breeders, judges and breed clubs in North America were committed to breed improvement evaporated right then.

http://www.shawlein.com/about/

 

There are several different heart problems that can cause sudden death. One of the most common ones is referred to as German Shephered Dog Inherited Ventricular Arrhythmia. It can ONLY be properly diagnosed when the dog is a puppy, using a Holter monitor.

 

One breed that is trying to fix this problem is the Shiloh Shepherd (International Shiloh Shepherd Registry.) They are trying to make sure alll their breeding stock is tested by Holter monitor before one year of age:http://http://thegracieinitiative.com/

 

(The Shiloh is not a recognized breed, although it does have its own breed standard and stud book.)