Ltiger773

Another idea, there are a heap of facebook pages advertising things for sale. I look through a couple regularly. Usually they are called (town name) buy swap or sell or there are pages up just for animals aka animals for free, sale or stud NSW. I'll see if i can put the link or share the fbook page in the ones i go on.

Im just personally not ready for that yet. I know that sounds mean to my boy but he goes to the dog park to see his pals nearly every day and I still cry over my girl all the time. She was my pride and joy, i owned her mum and I picked her out the moment she was born. I am still getting used to not having her around No worries. It doesnt sound mean. Everyone copes differently. I know how you feel, my partner and i lost our 8month old german shepherd three weeks ago. I wrote about it in the health forum under 8 month old GSD died. Im working nightshift overseas at the moment and lucky im mostly in the office on my own cos i cry most nights over her. My partner vowed we were never ever getting another dog ever...and after three weeks, he drove to the pound and picked up two dogs from there because he missed her so much and probly more because im not home to help him deal with losing her. My thoughts are with you and i hope you and your best mate are feeling better soon

You were with us such a short time Eva girl but you sure made your mark on our little family and it will never be the same without you. After taking up a position working overseas for 8 months on a fifo roster back to Australia, i decided it would be a good idea to get my partner a doggy companion for the 28 days i was at work. He wanted a german shepherd. Miss Eva was the result. We drove 4hrs to get you miss Eva and you were so much smaller than i expected for a german shepherd puppy. You slept almost the whole 4hrs home on my knee. You refused to sleep on your bed in the laundry but as soon as you were put on our bed, fast asleep in seconds. You refused to eat and would only eat if handfed . You carried around your squeaky duck like it was the best thing going (and still had squeaky duck until the day you died). You were the laziest and most least destructive puppy i have ever had. I still remember when we introduced you to my sisters dog, Chopper. Chopper had a bone sneakily buried in the garden and you got too close and he flew at you. Ive never heard a puppy scream and run as fast as you did that day. The day you discovered that you were big enough to get on the couch and into our bed all on your own there was no turning back. You used to thump around the house like a 10tonne elephant with those big unco paws of yours and then the house would go really quiet and 9/10 times you were curled up in our bed (even though you were really not allowed). You would sleep happily in your own bed until we went to bed and then straight up on the couch. Anytime we walked back out into the lounge room, you would always give us this sheepish look and you ears would flop down as if to say dratts they saw me and hopefully they wont send me back to my bed. And everytime you needed to go outside, and the screen dog would shut on you, you used to grab the door gently with your teeth and open it yourself Everytime we went anywhere without you, you used to jump on the fence so you could watch us go down the street with those big bat ears poking over the fence, you looked so comical. Then i bought you squeaky monkey and you just couldnt figure out what was going on with his legs, they kept tripping you over and getting in the way of our fetch games, bad monkey!! I'll never forget the day we tied you on the back of the ute for the first time. We thought you were going to freak out but as soon as we were moving you were way too busy looking around at what was going on. You really didnt handle those corners too well on those unco legs of yours and everytime a truck went past you ducked. And dips really just wern't your idea of fun. Once we got out to the farm, you refused to let any other dogs near me for pats and got all protective. And i dont think either of our cats have climbed a tree the entire time we've had them but you sure reminded them that they were capable. You were determined to work out how water could possibly come out the end of a hose or sprinkler and tried for hours getting soaked in the process. And you always used to attack the water foutain in the fish pond. However you hating being bathed and made such a racket that i decided not to bother because i thought the neighbours would think i was murdering you from the horrible howling noises you made. I was so looking forward to taking you out to the dam but now i'll never get the chance. We miss you everyday baby girl and we love you so much. Hope that you are happy in heaven with duck and monkey. One day we will meet again precious girl.

Just an idea, you might not be interested but would it be easier to get another dog so he's less stressed out. I follow the rescue forum on here and i know that german shepherd rescue has picked up 4 older shepherds in the last two months.

Thanks ososwift and staranais. I will definitly post an update on the new pups. With pics of course. Excited to meet them. Yeh im sure there was nothing we did and probly nothing we could have done differently. She knew she was well loved. She died in my partners arms and she kept looking up at him to make sure he was still there. She was much loved and a beautiful dog. Staranais - yeh im overseas at the moment and i havent seen the vet reports etc but i did get my mum to send some info i found on the web and they said it was possible that it was mesenteric torsion but i will get more info once i get home. They had never seen anything like it before and i dont think theyd heard of it. There was four vets that said theyd never seen anything like eva. I'll keep you all updated on what i find out when i get home.

Yeh the eggs were a total winner. Put some on their biscuits and see how they go. Sad story unfortunatly she died three weeks ago at eight months old. I wrote about it in the health forum "8 month old GSD died". I wont write about it here but were not sure what killed her. Really devestated. But yeh up until she died she was eating well, everything you fed her. She always was a slow eater, i would say she definitly ate like a lady.

I had a few issues when i first got my GSD puppy, she would eat things for a while and then stop and id change tactics. She used to get the most complex hand made meals, better than we would eat. Things i tried - mince with grated vegies with advance which you literally had to sit there and handfeed her. - advance soaked in puppy milk - absolutly loved liver!! Would eat all the liver out of the meal and nothing else. So naturally used to chop it up so fine that she couldnt pick it out (ps it really stinks and feels gross) - Absolutly loved anything that you cracked an egg over. Didnt matter if it was mince, kibble. Anything. She would eat the entire bowl of kibble if you cracked an egg over it. Definitly try the egg. - and she also always ate chicken necks, went through a stage where that was all she would eat and me being terrified would feed her as many as she would take because she was looking really skinny. - also chicken hearts she liked them too. - also if you are getting really worried and are worried that something is really wrong try a BBQ chicken (meat and skin only obviously). I was told by my breeder, if they dont take BBQ chicken then you can be worried. When i was worried i also used to shred the darker meat from the chicken legs/wings (which i hate) and mix it though her meal to help boost her appetite. But dont let them get into this habit lol. BBQ chicken isnt cheap. Good luck....let me know how the egg goes.

Thanks Woofen. Im sure she will be sympathetic, im sure all breeders go through horrible stuff like this. I dont know about take my time, apparently ive got two new dogs to meet when i get home. Which i am happy about (always been a believer of getting a new one asap to help deal with pain of losing one). My partner was missing Eva so much, he drove to the pound and picked up two young dogs from there. Which im sure being rescue dogs will live to a ripe old age. Trust my luck, buy your first ever purebred and she dies at 8 months old. The new ones will be at a different house so dont worry for those concerned about environmental factors. Alyosha - Thanks also, yeh it really suck when something crappy like this happens and theres no one that can give you a hug. Actually the last two months have probly been the worst two of my life. My grandpa died, the helicopter at work crashed killing 10 people, my other grandpa fell and had to get another hip replacement, Eva died and the mum emailed me the other day to say our childhood jack russell had died (she was 16 so had a pretty good run). Generally just crap!!!!! I thought this sort of thing happened in threes!! Im not sure what tests the vet did. I will check when i get home. Im not sure, i dont think so. Its a small town and the neighbours generally look out for each other and all have dogs also. But also a possibility i suppose. There are some horrid people out there. Yeh i still dont think it was snake. Ive never heard of there being tiger snakes in our area. Mostly common brown snakes. I havent seen any around the house before even in summer. Plus theres two other small, "annoying" dogs and a cat that live at the same house and none of them have been affected. I think she went under the house because she was in huge amounts of pain and was trying to hide, it was 10.30 at night and the only way we found her was because the other dogs were upset hanging around the gap under the house. My partner will look after me when i get home, plus the two new additions. I have no doubt that they will cheer me up. You cant be sad when you have two big fluffballs competing for your attention. Thanks for the hugs JulesP.

Thanks Woofen. Yeh i have had a bit of a look at Von W's factor. I also dont think it would be common as i think GSD have had a fairly strict testing program for it. And yeh i also thought that the males had it and the females carried it. (ah just wrote all this and then saw Scales of justice's post) Im still working overseas at the moment but i think i will give the breeder the vets number and they can talk about it because i dont really understand enough about it. Just sort of wanted to ask peoples opinions. I will check Eva's folder when i get home. I cant remember if the parents were tested for Von W factor or not. Poodle fan & Nekhbet - Thanks for your thoughts also. As i said, im still overseas and i havent seen the full vets report yet. I just wanted to see whether anyone else had anything similar happen to their dog and what their diagnosis was and any tips on ringing breeders when your much loved dog suddenly dies without showing any obvious symptoms of being ill before being found almost dead. I know that the results were inconclusive. I still think it was very similar to mesenteric torsion. This is a passage from a website on mesenteric torsion and the link it came from http://wsgenetics.org/mesenteric_torsion.htm What is Mesenteric Torsion? It is the twisting of the intestines around the mesenteric axis. The mesentery is the suspension system for the intestines. The many feet of the intestines are suspended by a pretty small mesenteric root that contains the attachment of the mesentery and the major blood vessels providing nutrients to the intestines. Mother Nature designed this amazing network and normally it all functions without problems. However, occasionally, something happens and all goes haywire. This condition is not to be confused with Gastric Bloat/Torsion or Toxic Gut Syndrome, which will be described later. The mortality rate is almost 100% and was once thought to be a rare condition, but evidence has brought to light the fact that this is occurring with ever increasing incidence and has been seen to occur more commonly in German Shepherds than any other breed. The symptoms of this condition are rapid onset of shock, abdominal pain and vomiting. The twisting stops the blood flowing to the intestines, causing tissues to necrotize (in other words: ROT) immediately. This condition causes a dilemma for veterinarians as the symptoms are obtuse and diagnosis is difficult. The dog is usually “down” – in shock, making any surgical options a tough decision. By the time the dog shows any symptoms and you get it to the vet, the torsion has caused the intestines to lose their blood/nutrient supply and also the blood vessels begin to rupture causing internal hemorrhaging. Any condition that predisposes the dog to abdominal pain and/or intestinal irritant can be a predisposing cause of mesenteric torsion. Another forum is this one http://shepherdcentral.com/viewtopic.php?t=2316 which talks more about bloat than torsion but they are similar. And this one (read the vet replys if your interested)All mention extremely quick death, limited symptoms, purple inflamed, necrotic intestines, internal hemorrhaging. I am 99.9% certain that it wasnt snake bite. I live in a town in central west NSW and lived nearby all my life. Its well known for being ridiculously cold with early august temps that range from about -3 over night to 9 degrees during the day. I have never seen a snake out any earlier than mid september. She also didnt have any other symptoms prior to dying which might suggest snake bite (headache, irritability, sensitivity to light, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, failure of blood to clot and physical collapse, weakness or unsteadiness in the back legs. In the second and third hours after a bite dogs may have dilated pupils, laboured breathing, stomach pain, erratic heartbeat and bleeding from orifices and wounds) The ones in bold are the only things she had. Also the vet said that her intestines were purple, inflamed and dying which doesnt really fit the snake bite theory. P.s im not trying to attack the idea, just giving reasons why i dont think this was the cause. Mouse bait maybe as i cant rule it out at this stage. I only meant by "dropped dead" that it was extremely sudden and unexpected as she had shown no obvious symptoms of being remotely ill and was dead in less than an hour. Dont worry i will go lightly when talking to the breeder, she was a really lovely lady who really loved her dogs. Im not going to accuse the breeder of selling me a dodgy puppy or anything. Im more worried about me bawling my eyes out and her not being able to understand what im saying. And Im more afraid to ring the breeder than anything else, theres just that niggling thought in my head that we didnt do enough to save her or that we did something wrong that caused this to happen to her. Part of the reason for me posting on here was to help remind myself that it wasnt something that we did to cause it. God i cant stop crying!! It sucks trying to hide it in the office : ( only 9 more days and i can go home and bawl to my partner.

Yeh the vets said there didnt appear to be anything that wasn't what they would call "normal" in her intestines. She hadnt had any food since breakfast and when they went out looking for her, it was for dinner. It couldnt have been a snake. The place where i live is lucky to reach 5 degrees during winter and they would be well and truely asleep. We didnt use any baits around the house because of the dogs. The only way she could have gotten rat bait is if one ran from a neighbours places and she managed to catch it (doubtful as she was pretty slow in terms of getting from a stop to full speed and extremely typical big puppy clumsy) Im really not sure what it was. Thanks for all your ideas and thoughts.

Well technically there was two other dogs living there. Housemates dogs. But Eva was my partners girl and best mate. And if anything one of the housemates dogs would have been morely likely to die from something environment related because she gets into everything, destroys plants, anything out doors that is chewable, digs holes, eats everything. Its an oldish corgi something cross and the most destructive dog ive ever laid eyes on. Needless to say we are looking to buy a house with a few acres at the moment so wont be a worry then anyway. Thanks for your thoughts : )

Yeh it was so devastating. My partner was so unhappy without her that he went to the pound and picked up two dogs so he had some doggy friends. Im sure they will thank us for it and probly live to a ripe old age. I havent met them yet. Sorry about your friend's lab too. Eva didnt even seem off colour, my partner was with her 20min before and she was her normal self. No vomit, no diarrhoea, no bloat nothing. I did see when i was researching that bloody diarrhoea can happen with mesenteric torsion so i wonder if the "pool of blood" they found was that. It is kinda good (though not really) hearing from someone else who went through this as there is always that part of you that thinks was there something i did wrong to make this happen. But really there is nothing you can do, i mean the lab was at the vets and she still died so there really isnt much chance of them surviving. How horrible having to tell the owners. I'll go and see the vet when i get home and ask for the report. Its hard because i was overseas when it happened so have had to get others to ring up for me and havent really had a first hand account except from my devastated partner who probably wasnt that clear headed at the time. Yeh i have read up about the bleeders too and no there shouldn't be any breeding in australia. Also i think that the females are usually carriers rather than haemophilliacs. Usually the males are the ones that get it. I will talk to the vet and they should agree to talking to the breeder. The breeder was really nice and really cared about the dogs so im sure she will want to talk to the vet. Thanks for writing up your experience Sylvia. It helps to hear that there wasnt anything i could do.

Well im not 100% sure but i doubt it. We didnt use snail or mouse bait and dont have much of a garden in general. And i think she died too quickly for that to have been it. She was exceptionally lazy and non destructive. She had a much loved sqeaky duck that she had since she was a baby puppy and it was still going after 8 months (i buried it with her so she could have it in heaven). Not the sort of dog who ate anything out of the garden or dug holes even. If anything one of the other dogs she was with would have gotten sick because she destroys everything.

Thanks for your condolences. Im glad i've found this site. Its good to talk to other people who are dog lovers and might be able to help. I will be back in australia in 10 days time and will ring the breeder then. Im not permanently overseas but work a 28 on/14 day off roster fly back to australia. Im not a fan of using email for those sort of things because i really want to discuss it with the breeder and email feels a little impersonal even though im sure email would be easier than me bawling my eyes out over the phone. It was so sudden, probly 30 to 40 min from when they realised she was missing and her dying. Of course it was later at night too and they had to wait for the vet to get to the clinic but i doubt there would have been much the vet could have done anyway. Its devastating because it was so sudden and unexpected at only 8 months old. And i know it would have been a horrible painful death. Poor girl, even thou i wasnt home with her all the time, i know she wont be there when i get back and i miss her.

Recently i bought a purebred german shepherd dog from a good breeder as a companion for my partner while i work overseas. The breeder had many dogs who all looked extremely healthy and beautiful. I looked at the mother dog who also looked lovely and i have copies of the hip/elbow scores which were all good. The breeder also provided contined assitance when i had any questions about feeding etc. I wasn't overly keen on getting a shepherd as i had no experience with the breed and wasnt sure what to expect but thats what my partner wanted. Anyways the resulting puppy was the most lovely dog i have ever owned. Her name was Eva and she was beautiful with a lovely temperament and a massive couch potato. Three weeks ago, at 8 months old she literally dropped dead. My partner was with her and then went back outside 20min and couldn't find her, she had crawled under the house (which she never did) to die. They found her in a pool of blood. They tried to get her to a vet but 10min later she was dead. The vet opened her up and said that her intestines looked quite purple and inflamed, like they were dying. She had some small bones in her intestines which is fairly normal i think, she had some fresh chicken necks earlier. She was fed a very variable diet, biscuits, wet food, mince, chicken necks, fresh bones, leftovers (no onions, no chocolate, no cooked bones). She lived with two other small dogs who had the same diet. She didn’t gobble her food but always ate it slowly like a lady. She did love playing and snapping at water though. She was not an overly excitable dog and wasnt fed directly before or after exercise. Has anyone else had an experience like this. The vets were unsure of what killed her. They thought maybe a blood disorder since she appeared to bleed out. But I thought maybe mesenteric torsion, hence the purple, inflamed intestines. Can a dog get mesenteric torsion without any signs of bloat?? Could this have been a hereditry problem?? My partner and i are absoltely devastated. Everytime i think of her, i bawl my eyes out. She died in my partner arms. He said he never ever wants another shepherd because he is so devestated by the loss of his companion. There were so many things we were going to do together and couldnt wait until summer to take her out to the ski dam and now wel never get the chance. I am going to ring the breeder once i get back to australia. Im not sure what to say. Please help, need opinions if you have had a similar thing happen or on what to say to the breeder. Think i will also post this in the breed forum in case its something that happens more frequently in shepherds. Ive attached a photo of Eva, from about a month before she died to show how healthy and happy she looks.