Autopsy of Indiana's hip - Page 1

I wish to offer part of the post mortem examination of my own dog "Indiana vom Wildsteiger Land" to this community. I have been liabeled and slandered for being a murderer. I have taken good notice of the comforting words of many (I will come back to each and everyone of them individually, as soon as I can). Please give me some time, we are still in grief. For the others, who accused me and would have wanted to "take care of him", I offer the evaluation in Indiana's Picure Gallery. Do go ahead and SAVE it for future reference. With kind regards, Jan

Jantie, Ignore the jerks who called you theses maddness names. Indy is now pain free and up in doggy heaven with his brother, Ice. Sometimes the truth just hurts... people cannot accept that the fact that their famous breeders that they worship like gods selling puppies whom got diagnosed of having HD at a later age from a genetic condition and that the breeder wont do a damn thing irritates the fans and the hackles goes up and the teeth starts showing to the owners of theses dogs who has balls to go out into public and to complain about this and explain how the breeder gets nasty and starts blaming the owners and wont take the responsibility. I give you 2 thumbs up :)

Jantie, You have done the right thing. I think anyone who breeds on this Database look long and hard at these pics. The picture does not lie! It is fine that the dog is beautiful when gaiting, can do the work, is from Working or Show lines, but if the dog is crippled, it means NOTHING but heartache for the owner and dog! So.... are a few breeders breeding for betterment of the breed, or betterment of the dollar in their pocket? This pic is a good example of the money in the pocket and the breed be damned! Dawn Bonome

Jantie I must say that those pictures nearly turned my stomach over. However, seeing those pics made it absolutely clear to me that Indi didn't have a "quality" life at all! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, you did the only thing that was right for your Indi. Youv'e given him the chance to be painfree, eventhough it meant that he would have to leave you and your family. I wish you all the strength in the world. It takes time, but you've still got him in your heart. Isabelle

YIKES! I wasn't expecting to see such graphic photos. Why I wasn't is beyond me, your descritpion is accurate enough, certainly. I haven't caught the gossip mill's take on this, but a decision to put a dog down is between vet and owner. Noone should be 2nd guessed or need to prove anything to anyone with use of post mortem photos. How awful for everyone. Hip displasia is present in the breed. It does rear up on any breeder who breeds long enough regardless of how hard one works to eradicate it. Making good breeding decisions helps one see less of it, but please. We all will see it eventually. No criticism of the breeder please. At least not for producing it. What a breeder does to support the owner of a dog experiencing such tragedy obviously is what sets the best breeders apart. This heroic saga rarely is talked about since most breeders prefer to pretend things like this just don't happen. Ignore the owner if it does happen, pretend it's ok. Or, honor an agreement but never admit it to anyone?! As for Indiana himself, the xrays didn't look like a crippled dog. I've seen a dog with SEVERE hips (bone spurs on both hips and hips out of sockets) never experience symptoms throughout her entire life...jumping for frisbees and having a great time. What the xrays for Indiana look like is irrelevant to his level of pain. His hips were clearly displastic, but very mild in comparison to the frisbee nut. Indiana's xrays to me look like a dog who would experience minor discomfort. Obviously what he experienced was very different from what one might expect. Pain is subjective to the bearer. An owner who has to decide euthanasia is an option for poor hip conformation must labor the decision to the point no other option exists. I'm so sorry for your loss Jantie. Indiana was clearly loved. G*d Bless.

I agree with Sue-Ann - can't see much by the autopsy pictures - but my opinion of the x-rays, is one bad hip, one good hip - the bad hip was definately remodeled, deformed, but still not the worst I've ever seen. I also have known some "severe" dogs whose hips weren't even near the socket, sockets were flat - who lived a full long life and only started being "stiff" in their older years. One was Schh3 multiple times (OFA Severe both hips, no surgury). I would have thought this dogs' hip could have been corrected with surgury IF he were umcomfortable - but anyway too late for that now. Sorry for the loss of a beautiful dog. molly

I highly support Jantie's decision of euthanising Indiana as that was the best thing for her! Jantie has relieved Indiana of all her worries and troubles which she could've faced in future due to her severely displastic hips! You have shown mercy by putting your dog to sleep as to relieve her from this chronic disease which would've made her life a living hell if she had to continue living on! Hats off to Jantie for being able to conjure up the guts to put her beloved dog down! She will rest in peace and be ever so greatful to jantie for all her help and support!

Reading what the "experts" say.... What stands out to me is that things were "torn apart" or crumbled etc. This, to me, points to and injury early in life. Say maybe the mother stepping on the puppy? I think in the original exray it also could be seen that there are what looks like healed fracture lines? This line of hypothisis would say that it was no one's fault. Although, because of the previlency of bad hips in this particular breeding, I hope they will never repeat it. On the other hand..... I really get tired of people condeming breeders so quickly. ANY breeder, no matter how careful they are, if they breed with any kind of volume, WILL HAVE SOME BAD OR NOT SO GOOD HIPS!!! The goal is to better the breed and strive for perfection. Unfortunatly we will never get all the way there. Even breeding 2 OFA excellent dogs have produced bad hips! Don't get me wrong... there are bad breeders out there! One stands out very strongly in my mind and shall remain nameless... but when someone wants such extreem drive, that they then purposely breeds 2 dogs with known bad hips to get it.... thinking that they will keep the litter until 6 months... xray them and then cull the bad ones.... THAT IS WHAT TURNS MY STOMACH!!! DEBBY

DJC, I am not condemming all breeders. As I stated in my post, A FEW BREEDERS are in it for money only!! I am not putting ALL BREEDERS in one basket. I just think that this is a wake up call for all who breed. Dawn

Dawn, There are MANY of us that DO NOT NEED a "wake up call" and are trying very hard to improve the breed. Most of us know full well the emotional devestation that the owner goes through and do our utmost best to bring the chances of that as low as possible. I am devestated at just the though of it!!! Like, SUE_ANN stated above, when the unfortunate situation occurs, it is the support and standing by their guarantee that makes a huge difference. As opposed to back peddleing and making excuses and blameing the owner. I am constantly in touch with my puppy owners as they grow and through out their lives...encouraging them, answering questions and giving advice. I also encourage even pet owners to get hips OFA'd at 2yrs, by giving them a "rebate" to be redemed when they send xrays in. This helps me keep track of ALL of my puppies, so that I can better know how I am doing in hip production. That is one of the very hard things to do when only a small amount of your owner's xray the dogs. A dog can hide signs of having bad hips, so no one will ever know if owners are not encouraged to xray. I don't think that I am alone in this endevor either! Your attitude needs some adjusting, Dawn!