Elbow dysplasia in slovakian GSD - Page 1

I have a 15 month old that was shipped from slovakia.  He is a beautiful, smart and well tempered dog.  He developed a limp around 10 months of age.  His right front paw bows outward like a duck foot and the bone has a curve in it.  Its very obvious.  After multiple opinions from top specialists, I decided to go ahead and have surgery on his right front elbow.  The doc did an oblique ulnar osteotomy and I am in the process of rehabilitating him now.  
  The breeder's policy is that I would have to return a "defective" dog for a new one. A couple of breeders here(Milwaukee area) have told me this problem is genetic.  Should the breeder owe me anything?  He said that I could have another dog for half price since I refused to give my dog back.  Should he issue me a coupon of some sort?  The dog is Dayl di Dranel and i found that he is registered in the database.  In an effort to apease me, the trainer who arranged the purchase graciously refunded $1,000 of the purchase price, which was $6000 with shipping.  The plane ticket was $1200 of that. The surgery cost me $2000. Xrays and opinions and now rehab have topped another $1000. 

What should/can I do??

Elbow dysplasia is genetic and is suspected of being more heritable than hip dysplasia, Elbows schemes in Second world countries are in their infancy so its difficult to have depth of good elbows. I would see if the parents were deemed ''normal''  Was he a little puppy when you got him? there is always risk involved when investing in a puppy sometimes its better to buy young adults that have been x-rayed The guy should replace the dog by virtue of the fact elbow dysplasia is a genetic ''defect'' and a costly one, but it may be difficult considering how far away he is

I got him at 8 months.  first symptoms showed up fast but stayed away for weeks. 

what form of elbow dysplasia was it?

I'm not sure what you're dealing with it necessarily genetic. I had a dog w/that and while it's techinically considered a form of ED, it's caused by things other than genetics. In my dog's case, it was caused by climbing up on a very tall fence and landing hard on both front legs. Growth plates were damaged enough that they closed in their attempts to heal. One bone in each leg was growing, and the other one not. This twists the leg, bowing the foot outward, and subsequently causes the elbow to become dysplastic.

Sure, if you xray the elbow it looks dysplastic, but it's the result of a previous injury and not a genetic problem. Breeders are often too quick to say things about other breeders without knowing the full story. Having said that, I hate the @ssholes who make you return your dog to get a new one. Crappy way of avoiding replacing dogs. I never do that. I only ask for papers back.

I'm not saying this is necessarily the same thing, but it sounds like it. While it's natural to want money back from the breeder , I'm not convinced this is actually genetic. Keep in mind, most genetic dysplasia is bilateral, though it may have varying degrees of severity. How is his other elbow? I would xray it if you have the money. If it's fine, I would guess the poor guy hurt himself. Sucks, but that's life. This form is most often seen in dogs who have suffered traumas- puppies who are dropped, hit by cars, etc. I did tons and tons of research and ended up not blaming the breeder. I spent well over $5000 when all was said and done. And my pup was born in the states! I know how you feel. FWIW, this dog is the fastest dog I've ever owned and has no residual effects from the surgery.

why would you put slovakian GSD , when he is a full westline dog?

it depends what you agreed on when buying the dog , if 8 months old , you could have xrays taken to see how it looks
I thought everybody new by now , what possible problems are in gsd , and put it in the contract of sale/buy
if nothing agreed on before you are left with what the seller offers you

I for one , fully guarantee my dogs , if it is in writing or not , but on the other hand you can be taken by the puppybuyer also

duke1965, i call him a slovakian gsd because i bought him from slovakia.  What do you mean by full westline?  Although i grew up with big dogs and also have a great dane and had a female gsd as a teenager who i put down at 16 years old, I just have no clue of what the acronyms and such mean in his background paperwork.  Can you explain it?  There was no written guarentee, it was a chance to take and beside the leg problem, which i was told by others could be from trauma, he is an amazing dog.  Luckily, the person who arranged the deal was very very nice about it and we made arrangements that pleased me.

Elbow dysplasia is not caused by trauma you have to be extremely careless to allow a dog to hurt itself that badly and dogs would be ''aquiring'' elbow dysplasia right and left so to speak there are people that think hip dysplasia is caused by trauma too

Lief, LMAO. I could link you to countless articles explaining the many ways trauma can cause ED (or HD for that matter) but I gather from your post that you have a complete lack of understanding of the dynamics of dysplasia (and punctuation for that matter), so I would be wasting my time. Since you're the authority on all things dysplastic, Lief, why don't you enlighten us as to how, if HD and ED is purely genetic, we haven't eradicated it yet?

DaylsDad, if you link me to the pedigree I can try to help you understand it. Sounds like you got a nice dog. Sometimes s*** happens, unfortunately.

Although trauma may play a role in the occurrence of FCP along the split lines in possibly young skeleton with delayed modelling, the preventive or causative influence of physical activity or over-use on elbow joint development in dogs is still largely unknown.
When the animal is not genetic at-risk, these environmental factors (like diet and micro-trauma) will not play a significant role in the occurrence of ED. 23rd annual meeting IEWG, Dublin, August 20th 2008, p 11
Whenever a dog with Grade II or Grade III elbow dysplasia is identified, it is usual to find several close relatives with Grade I elbow dysplasia.
Although Trauma may account for certain cases of FCP it doesnt account for other forms of ED