I'm worried

Linnea · 05-15-2008, 07:54 PM

We bought Skwisgaar from a breeder, based off of the recommendation of a friend who had three dogs from this breeder (who put up some red flags that my dumb ass ignored due to puppy blindness.) All were healthy sweet dobies, as far as I knew when I bought mine.

R was 5 years old, sire to Skwisgaar's mother (a wonderful, sweet mellow service dog.)
B was a littermate with Skwisgaar's mother.
T is a 1/2 sib to Skwisgaar's mother.

Recently, she made the choice to have B put down due to her escalating dog aggression (after about a year of training, and trying to keep her separate from the other dogs.)

Today I got a call that R died from a heart attack at age 5. Went to sleep healthy, never woke up.

T is still ok.

While I'm mostly worried about my friend being ok, I'm also concerned about the possibility that my baby Skwisgaar is genetically screwed. I'm not too worried about the aggression aspect, since he doesn't display any tendencies, is well socialized, and I never plan on having 2 males together. What scares me is that he'll meet the same fate as his grandfather.

Are there any warning signs I need to watch out for? Anything known lifestyle changes that could prevent this from happening to my pup?

**lyngr** · 05-15-2008, 08:01 PM

I'm sorry but I can't get past the fact that your friend had a dog put down for dog aggression.. wasn't there a better alternative, like rehoming?

Linnea · 05-15-2008, 08:08 PM

It was actually F-F aggression, not that that makes any difference. We had found an only-dog home for her, but I guess she decided that she felt it was more humane to have her put down with tons of treats and kisses with people she loved, then risk re-homing her, and having her attack another dog while on a walk. I know it wasn't a lightly made decision on her part, and it was made after a final incident with her breaking through her crate, and badly hurting their other female dobe and their lab.

Dobes&Hounds · 05-15-2008, 10:01 PM

All you can really do is have yearly cardiac testing done. Cardiac ultrasound and 24 hour holter. Then you hope to catch the disease early so you can medicate and extend life. However, your dog may never get cardio. It's kinda a roll of the dice.

natdobe · 05-16-2008, 10:06 AM

Well, all you can do is what Dobes&Hounds said. There is some cardio in each line. It is just one of the major problems with dobies. There are no guarantees that any doberman won't get DCM.

gracieface · 05-16-2008, 10:21 AM

how old is Skwisgaar? we start annual cardiac tests at age 2. like dobes & hounds says, that is your only option, it's worth the cost not to lose a dog when medication could have extended thier life. so sorry to hear what your friend is going through!