German Shepherd dog

I wouldn't breed a 20 month old dog, period. Luckily you have another 4 months to research bloat and get the dog's OFA. I would probably base my decision on the dog's other attributes.

I personally have no idea whether tendency to bloat can be genetic. I suppose if a particular body type, for example, a longer midsection, would make a dog more prone to bloat, then of course structure is genetic. This is of course all hypothetical on my part, so I'd love to see some responces from people who have studied it more thoroughly.

 thedogtrainer is someone who can justify anything apparently. Your explanation of the incident is absolutely ridiculous. Why come here and ask for opinions when you already have your mind made up? And what does he have to contribute, other than to your pocket book? He is too young to breed and given a serious incident like this, reputable breeders would not be making excuses as to what happened and realize that regardless of the fact that no one knows for sure why bloat occurs, at the bottom line, EVERYTHING short of injury (or sucking air LOL) is genetic. If you breed him, be sure to tell prospective pup buyers that their father bloated at a young age. See how many suckers you can talk into buying a dog with that type of history in the sire.

  If you think bloat is not genetically based,  you are only kidding yourself. There are a number of "families" that have documented cases of Grt.Grandsire, Grandsire, and son, dying from the exact same thing, bloat.  Does that not tell you anything?

Don't try to kid yourself and make excuses to breed this dog and continue to perpetuate the problem.. Thats not helping the breed.

thedogtrainer,

Bloat is "Typical" in GSDs in case that fact had passed you by. Since you are the one likely do disregard whatever anyone says, why don't YOU go do some reading yourself or go talk to a group of vets (none of whom are likely to know a lot about genetics in GSDs anyway) and not waste time here. Like many health problems in GSDs, until multiple scientific studies can be done, no one can prove anything. But common sense should prevail. It is a well known fact that bloat is not uncommon in GSDs. That should be all you need to make a proper decision. It is no different than breed a dog one knows to have pannus at an early age. Do you think one should do that simply because there is no "proof" it is genetic?

It appears that you are looking for the answer you want to hear to make yourself comfortable with breeding a young dog that has already had a problem with bloat.  I think you're looking for someone, anyone to tell you there is absolutely nothing to indicate bloat is genetic.  You're gonna get different opinnions on this from different people.  Studies have been done, but different medical experts have different thoughts on it.  I myself personally feel it can be genetic and also can just happen environmentally BUT either way it's not a good thing to take a chance on reproducing IF in fact you're dog has a gentic problem you may not be aware of.  Perhaps research his history to begin you're own study.  It's not worth taking a chance that your dog may pass this on to it's offspring.  Just had a friend barely keep her 6yr old Great Dane alive from Bloat and it cost her about $4500.  She's convinced it was a genetic reason this happend as she has always been very careful when it came to bloat because her breed is prone to it.  If you're looking for a guarantee so you can have the blessing to breed this dog I don't think anyone is gonna give that to you; at least not in writting.

Laramie has it right.  Bloat culminating in gastric torsion or splenic torsion are both highly heritable and easily traced back to certain sires.  One for example is Scot Deodatus who allegedly died of it.

Bloat and/or GDV is common in a number of breeds; the actual triggers can be myriad and specific to individuals; however the Purdue study did find a familial tendency in some lines although its transmission is still not understood.

Making a decision based on ONE incident is insufficient, more research needs to be done on siblings of the dam and sire etc.

Lots of luck finding any studies on the bloat/torsion syndrome in this breed.  If you are holding out for documented proof positive that GSD's are genetically predisposed to bloat, you are  asking for the impossible and are not going to find it. You may as well just breed the dog and hope for the best. Most who lose dogs to this disease either don't report it to the GSDCA web site http://www.gsdbbr.org or they lie about what happened to the dog.  Oh, he just died suddenly we never did figure out why..........If you log on to this web site you will see a grand total of less than 20 GSD's listed as dying from bloat/torsion. One an import, the rest Am lines. I myself know of one very well known top producing Am line GSD that died very young from bloat. It was said he ran off and was lost or hit by a car, I've forgotten which. Some of his progeny also suffered attacks of bloat, some surviving, some not. One of the dirty little secrets of the American lines GSD world.

Studies in other breeds seem to indicate that there is a genetic component involved. My own experience bears that out. I lost a 4  year old male to bloat/torsion. Not a GSD, another large working breed prone to this disease. I learned that 2 others from his litter has also bloated and his sire survived 3 episodes of bloat and was still being used at stud after he was tacked.  Had I known that I'd never have taken a dog from that breeder. Another kennel I know routinely tacks every single puppy before selling it. They have had that much bloat in their lines. I'd never use a dog for breeding after it had bloat or torsion period. In fact, IMO a dog 20 months old is very young to be bloating, I'd be giving him Gas x or a similar product everyday to try to stave off another attack. I'm sure you know that the majority of dogs with bloat will also  develop torsion if they are not decompressed in time. Fortunately you caught your dog in time. 

A stud fee is the cheapest money any breeder will ever spend. Use another dog, preferably one that has not bloated that is owned by a breeder who would tell  you if he did.