DM and breeding. - Page 9

Mine was 7 1/2 yrs when he developed DM , Yes it’s true you can’t be for sure that’s what they had without tests done after death, But for one it was hard enough to go through all what he and us went through that year have to say goodbye to him in my arms , Knowing this could have prevented through breeding , Did I want them cutting or sticking big needles into him after he passed to see if that’s what if really had? No at that point he Needed to RIP , He went through a lot that year after and faught  to stand up, fall over , and couldn’t walk after 10 months , he gave it his best Dragging himself with his front legs , He couldn’t figure out what was going on with him, With his test at Risk and him having all symptoms and the specialist looking at him , they were 99.9% sure that’s what he had , didn’t need after death testing . They said disc decease or slip disc will cause the same thing but will happen and will be more noticeable quicker , This happen with him much slower but noticeable but the last 3-4 month it increase , very horrible decease and not fair to the pup at 7-8 yrs old that they cant play and run or stand anymore with other dogs , I bought wheels, built ramps, put rugs through out the house , tests, Physical therapy , I did everything I could for my sweet boy , But there’s no stopping this decease once it starts , You might be able to prolong it , But it’s there for good , Worst experience ever for the owner and pet Breeders need stop breeding DM dogs

the bottom line is that when DM affects the bottom line severely enough (profits) then it will be addressed universally. this happened when HD became such a problem that it was affecting sales from Germany and the SV added it to the requirements for proofing. later they added ED. and imo, created about as good a system as can be had at this point.

and again I ask, who are these breeders producing dogs without regard to DM? the ones I know are now paying attention to it and making decisions that give them the best opportunity to avoid it. I'm noticing now even breeders in Europe are starting to test their dogs.

I would not breed to an at risk male and certainly not pay money to do so. are there examples of responsible breeders doing this? responsible breeders (the ones breeding with a goal other than supplying the pet market) hope that they will get one, maybe 2 pups that they keep and the others have to go to other owners/homes. not too many are stupid enough to make this process more difficult.

The thing about DM is that you can only say that it was a 100% DM if it has been confirmed by a necropsy.

Like I said in my last post , I wasn’t doing a necropsy on my boy after I put him down , I wanted him to RIP , It’s pretty much a no brainer he tested at risk , Carrier both the genes , had all the symptoms, and the time line from when he was diagnosed, to the time he couldn’t walk anymore , he probably could have made it longer , But didn’t want get to the point where it effected his breathing , stroke , his front legs still worked , but he was struggling , They say DM is painless , But it effects their minds Psychologically, and their organs can shut down , No animal deserves to suffer like that and I wasn’t going to let my Baby suffer ,

the bottom line is that there are still some breeders who have both the knowledge and experience to contribute to the original vision of the GSD. they know how to weigh the risks and rewards and act responsibility.

they also know that there is no way to get 100% perfection.

there came a point that I realized what I was doing contributed nothing, and I was just being selfish in continuing just to have a  hobby, so I stopped.

and, also, there will always be people who have and will never contribute anything but an opinion. never anything with hair, pointy ears and a bushy tail on it .

just an undying belief that they are the true keepers of the breed.

jmo,

Rik

and just for the record and any that think I do not take this matter seriously here is the results of my last one, before I made the decision to breed her.

DNA: GS-DM2592/48F-PI Normal (n/n clear degererative myelopathy)

 

there came a point that I realized what I was doing contributed nothing, and I was just being selfish in continuing just to have a  hobby, so I stopped.

Thanks, Rik, for your conscious decision to stop just 'making puppies'.    IMO, a breeder should be trying to IMPROVE the breed, not just make puppies for the sake of it, or for the sake of their pocket-book.    A TRUE breeder passionately CARES about their breed, and will seek out individual examples of it to thoughtfully put together to increase the chances of making an excellent litter of dogs that will contribute something to the gene pool.

 

With DM, there is still enough controversy about genetic testing that people can argue it is not an effective tool for trying to eliminate the disease.   But, until the testing improves, the conscientious breeders will use existing methods to help determine dogs worthy of contributing their genetic material for the betterment of the breed.

 

My prospective sport dog's results from Embark:   Icon z Canczech does not have the variant we tested 

Gene name  SOD1                                 Inheritance type  Recessive

 

A lot said that test not reliable and more said about those that don t utilize the test.
I myself cannot b believe how many would breed to a known carrier (or so the test said). I would not. I don t care how exceptional a dog is. There also are exceptional dogs that are not carriers.
It's inevitable someone going to get one of them pups or their pups pups and breed to another carrier. And there you go. Your fault for producing dogs born to suffer. It's just not worth it.
Big deal if you paid for a pup not knowing but found out later. We throw away that money in so many other ways that money is just not a reason to breed in DM.(or any health problems for that matter)

KitKat

That’s my saying all through these post, I understand a lot think it’s ok to breed a Carrier with a non carrier as the pups might come out carriers and some won’t , But will never be at risk for DM , As they will only be carriers , To keep the Generations going in the Breed they keep breeding , Claiming it’s not for the money but to keep it going . But really are they keeping the Generation going ? Or the spread of DM in future Pups That’s the Question .. .

Personally (and I'm only speaking for myself here), yes. I'm keeping the generations going. It's the sole purpose of keeping the legacy going. If I can breed clear dogs, that's what I'm going to do. It's my goal to breed dogs that are "healthy and without fault".
But I couldn't wash my male because he was the last existing male out of my parents bloodline. A single male (carrier) and female (dm clear) out of a 40 year old legacy. You don't wash that. You make sure you breed selectively to the right female.

My goal will always be to breed clear dogs. That should be everyones goal. That being said, I have no issues breeding to a carrier if I need to. It would be unwise to toss them out of the genepool. It's hard enough to come by good males. If we further restrict the genepool, it will create an even tighter bottleneck than we already have.

Just try and find Fero, Tom, Mink or Ellute free dogs these days. Say you find that one dog that has zero Fero, Mink, Tom and Ellute, and he's actually a super nice dog and you really like him. He's had a few litters with overall good hip and elbow results, dogs are solid. But shoot, he's a DM carrier. Would you seriously forgo that breeding? It'd be stupid to do so! This dog is genetically super valuable, and being a DM carrier doesn't diminish that value. We need these dogs.

>Its not a money loss we are talking about. Its a genetic loss! You cant toss out carriers just yet!

In that case the breed is a net loss, let it die out, it can no longer produce good healthy working dogs.