Very Young Dogs That Go To Rainbow Bridge

[dancinbcs]

In this case the condition - although not common in Australia, and as a result not routinely tested for over here (yet) - is a known genetic condition of the breed overseas and is routinely tested for in breeding stock in other countries. If I had a puppy buyer come to me and tell me that I produced a pup with this condition, there is no way known I would dismiss the condition offhand and go ahead and repeat the mating.

Ok, if it is a known problem in the breed, the breeder is an idiot if they do not start testing immediately and try to get on top of the problem.

[Allerzeit]

Hmmm, I have just reviewed my PM's and noticed that the person I was speaking to recently about her Rotty girl with the heart condition has a different name to furballs - so if it's not the same person, then I retract my comments in this thread, which I made knowing the background story of who I *thought* was the same person.

[Gemelo]

Yes, Ive had a very special girl recently head off to the bridge way before her time was due

At 2.5 years I walked into my backyard, and found my precious puggy had passed.. I was home at the time and had checked her 20-30 minutes beforehand :rolleyes:

Actually, I don't know if I'll ever come to terms with it

Ditto

[Wazzat Xolo]

Hmmm, I have just reviewed my PM's and noticed that the person I was speaking to recently about her Rotty girl with the heart condition has a different name to furballs - so if it's not the same person, then I retract my comments in this thread, which I made knowing the background story of who I *thought* was the same person.

Shame Furballs isnt still in this topic, I read through a few posts and wanted to suggest maybe she should keep her Roty quiet and not let it get too excited with all the foster pups she has, just to make sure the Rotty with the heart "condition" doesnt get too stressed.

[Greytmate]

How can you tell if your dog has a heart defect?

What are the signs?

Various, depending of the defect. Some might go a bit blue, some will cough a lot.

We had a litter of four young adult dogs to rehome where two of the dogs had the same heart defect, but we were told by a vet that it was not a genetic condition but perhaps a result of a problem during pregnancy.

[lanabanana]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I thought it was quite common for pups to have heart murmers when young which they often grew out of?

We got a pup at 9 weeks who had a heart murmur and byt he time he was 5 months old it was gone.

Yes, it is reasonably common in all dogs and many do correct with age, but without very expensive specialist testing (sometimes more than the value of the puppy) and diagnosis there is no way to tell what is causing the murmur or if there is a chance it will improve. For this reason I always advise breeders to keep puppies with murmurs until they grow out of the problem before rehoming them.

Some breeders can afford the diagnosis and for some conditions, the surgery to fix them, before placing a puppy. For others the cost is prohibitive and the best option is to run the puppy on and see what happens. If they are not prepared to do that then the puppy should be euthanised, not passed on to an unsuspecting buyer.

Heart murmurs are pretty rare in my breed but if they have not disappeared by 12 weeks they usually indicate a serious problem. The sound of the murmur also doesn't seem to be any indication to how bad the problem is. Dogs with very mild murmurs can in fact have very bad defects. I know of one breeder with a dog that had a very mild murmur as a puppy. When the murmur hadn't gone by 12 months, they investigated and discovered a completely malformed heart. It is not any sort of genetic problem the specialist has ever seen but the heart has formed completely wrong and surgery to correct it is not possible. The prognosis is not good and it is just a case of sheer bad luck but so lucky for the breeder that they never sold this puppy.

Thanks for that - very informative.

Also, in regards to the person who said soemtimes they turn blue - how do you see they have gone blue under say, thick black fur?

[Greytmate]

Also, in regards to the person who said soemtimes they turn blue - how do you see they have gone blue under say, thick black fur?

In their mouth.

[lanabanana]

Also, in regards to the person who said soemtimes they turn blue - how do you see they have gone blue under say, thick black fur?

In their mouth.

OMG lOL duh!

[mr.mister]

I am so sorry to hear that furballs.

I lost my BC at the tender age of 23 months and it was utterly heartbreaking, particularly as we had no idea what was wrong until it was too late. I hope you have many precious days left with your beautiful girl.

[corvus]

We lost one of our babies just 10 weeks ago to a tiger snake. Drifter was only 15 months old. My heart is still breaking and I'm still struggling to come to terms with losing him so young.

I'm so sorry to hear. I didn't know. I remember seeing pics of him when you first got him.

I don't have any advice. The thought of losing one of my boys who are both young is enough to take my breath away. It's painful to even think about. I do know a breeder that was breeding from a dog with a persistent cough. She insisted it wasn't genetic, although how she could know I wasn't sure. Not knowing half of what we do now, we got a puppy sired by him, who developed the same cough. He was x-rayed and the vet said the cough was caused by an elongate soft palate.

I think there are serious welfare issues in breeding from dogs with what may be genetic conditions.

[W Sibs]

I know what you're going through furball :rolleyes:

Everyday with Charlie for me is a gift. I know that Charlie isn't going to have a long life (despite me telling myself that he is)... he has really really good days, but those bad days are really really awful. We take everything one day at a time. We enjoy every minute of a good day, and we struggle every minute through the bad days.

This weekend was a bad weekend. He refused to get out of his crate or bed, he squealed in pain every time he tried to move... takes him a while for him to settle down, and once he does, he is ok. It breaks my heart each time, and when the boyfriend or I want to take Emmy for a walk... he will sit and cry so hard that his body shakes because he wants to go for a walk but can't.

[Cosmolo]

We have an 18 month old with hip and elbow dysplasia in all 4 joints. He has good weeks and then will go through terrible patches- these are getting more frequent and more severe when they happen but they are unpredictable- we can't work out reliable triggers. When he used to be a bit stiff, a half day of rest would be absolutely fine but now he needs at least 2 days of pain relief.

He has the highest pain threshold of any dog i know so to hear him cry when he tries to walk is awful. :rolleyes:

[aussielover]

I'm so sorry to hear about you rottie :rolleyes:

We lost our first dog at 2 years to an anaesthetic.