Puppies?

Usual hormone hell for the last couple of weeks while Nina has been in season. Good in one way as it meant Max was really keen to go round the garden 20 times a day sniffing where she's weed. Nasty habit except when it keeps an old dog mobile.

I had to spend 2 nights sleeping on the breakfast room table as the only way to keep Max quiet.

Then, last Tuesday, I took Nina to Jay Horgan's in Staffs to visit Bracco her boyf (Nina's, not Jay's) and the usual deed was done. I took her back Thursday to be on the safe side, but nothing doing. She sat in the back of the car and curled her lip at him.

Fingers crossed. Due on 17 Jan if she's preggie. Bracco has never stopped still long enough for me to get a really good look before, but this time I did and, goodness, Satchmo has his Daddy's head.

Good luck, bad luck

I've had some serious bad luck in recent years. It's almost as if I used up all the good luck and then it ran out big time. So ... I've lived in Wheelwright Cottage for almost 15 years and during that time, my kitchen cupboards have been organised the same all the time (bear with me, this is going somewhere). So why is it that, having had a metal hob for almost all that time, as soon as I buy a nice halogen one to replace it, a honey jar falls out and smashes it? Never happened in the first 14 years when it wouldn't have done any damage. Never happened when I was flush with money. Just had to spend a couple of hours online (very annoying when a site says they have it in stock, then you get almost all the way through the purchase before you find they haven't) and £200 to get a new one ordered. Fortunately the delivery is for Weds. But then again, perhaps all my luck these days goes into having dogs with lovely temperaments including a 14-year-old who's recovering pretty well from his spinal stroke. If so, I'll stick with that deal.

Magic Max - daily bulletin

Felt foolishly disappointed yesterday because I coudn't see a specific improvement in Max, but for heaven's sake, he'll be doing backward somersaults if he makes a leap forward in improvement EVERY day. However, today, he's really walking around whenever he wants, wobbly, falls over occasionally, but OK. And he managed to get outdoors on his own, so I followed him and just steadied him from time to time for a minute or two, before using the towel sling again. He's definitely not going to be confined to the sitting room today - wants to have the freedom of the house, and I'm letting him. I'm letting the other dogs do their own thing too. I was worried about Satchmo being too boisterous and knocking him over, but he's being very respectful so far. Now that Nina's around agaain, Max is silently sending Satchmo out of the room again. Wish I could get Satch to do my bidding so easily!

Very trying week

It's been an incredibly difficult week, but thank God things are looking up now. Last Wednesday Max collapsed while out walking. He lost the use of his back end completely - didn't know where it was. I managed to get him to a neighbour's, and they (bless them) helped me get him back home and then take him to the vet. They sent us home for the night and said they would arrange an MRI for first thing in the morning. It's when you're on your own all night with 33kg of helpless dog that being on your own feels especially hard. I stayed up all night with him. I tried to get him out for a pee at 3.30, but just couldn't. At 5 am, I managed to get him out with a makeshift sling under his waist, but he was too stressed and unstable to do anything. I spent the night convinced he was in his last day. At 7.30 my neighbour helped me get him out and he peed. He lifted Max into the car and I set off to Bristol. They had to carry him in and I hated leaving him there for his MRI.

They didn't find anything on the MRI (eg slipped disc) and the assumed diagnosis was therefore a spinal stroke. Never heard of it before and was amazed to hear that most dogs recover well from this. Of course, Max is 14, so tougher. He came home Saturday with a sling. I was worried whether I would be able to look after him, esp peeing and pooping, but I managed OK with the sling. I put him in the sitting room so he had the carpet for grip and could get outdoors through the patio doors. We sat out in the garden for a while as the weather was lovely. I slept on the settee Saturday night.

On Sunday, he was dashing round the garden with me supporting him. He still couldn't stand up unaided, but when I let Nina in to see him, he leapt up and ran round the room after her! He wobbled a lot and fell over a bit, but nonetheless... The physio came and took me through the exercises I need to do. He did pretty well though.

By Monday he could get up unaided and walk about the room a bit. This was much faster progress than I expected, and I was thrilled. He even got up 8 stairs to try and find me ... and then got back down with minimal aid from me when the cleaner arrived and was greeted by the other two.

More of the same today. Expecting the physio again tomorrow. Can't rightly say how relieved I am. Long may it continue. God is definitely in my good books!

And Satchmo follows up Darlington...

with another BOB at Stafford open, plus Working Group 2. My boy! Thanks to judges Colin Gillanders and Alan Brown.

Satch gets BOB at Darlington

Satchmo (Grafmax Louis Armstrong) has just won his first Championship show Best of Breed at Darlington Show. V proud! Thanks to judge Nigel Morgan. Have been meaning for several years to make the 600 mile round trip to see friends near Newcastle and take in Darlington and NECDS. Finally did it. Great but emotional to see Gerry's best friends after so many years - very conscious of the empty seat at the dining table, but good to see them nonetheless.

Came back via Peterlee for NECDS dobe champ show. As expected, Amazon Russian Ice won limit and a Supeta was 2nd, but Satch came 3rd, so fairly content with that, what with so many professionals there. Lovely atmosphere, lovely people and so many came up to compliment me on Satchmo and tell me they were rooting for us. Long 4.5 hours back from there in heavy traffic and rain.

As these are Satch's first two shows in Limit Dog, I was pretty pleased.

New heart tests for Dobermanns

The Dobermann Breed Council (1) has announced new tests for early detection of heart disease in dobermanns. Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) can occur at any age, but is more common in older dogs. One of the challenges, therefore, is to identify young dogs that are at risk of developing the disease before they are used as breeding stock.

Troponin I is a protein that is present in cardiac muscle tissue. Increased levels of Troponin I can indicate heart muscle cell injury, as researched by Gerhard Wess and colleagues (2). This could be caused by a number of problems, not just by DCM, but a raised level of Troponin I indicates that echo and Holter testing are needed to test more specifically for the presence of DCM. As the tests only identify whether there is any heart damage at that time, it is important to retest regularly throughout the dog’s life. The Troponin I test is a simple blood test, so it is clearly more feasible to start young and repeat regularly than with echo and Holter testing.

Another possible marker, but with less clear evidence at present, is lactate levels. Lactate is a form of lactic acid, which is produced naturally by animals and increases during exercise or severe illness. If lactate is produced at a faster rate than it is being cleared from the dog’s body, even when it is not being exercised, there is some evidence from Bitten Jönsson’s work in Denmark that this may be a very early marker indeed of the dog’s potential to develop DCM later in life. At present, this assay is for research more than for diagnosis.

The Dobermann Breed Council (DBC) is working with Dr Jo Dukes-McEwan at Liverpool University to carry out Troponin I and lactate assays and the DBC will pay up to £50 towards costs for breeders who are member of a breed club affiliated to the DBC.

© Sue Thorn 2011

(with thanks to Dr Jo Dukes-McEwan and Rebecca Barber)

References

1. Dobermann Breed Council announcement, http://dobermannbreedcouncil.co.uk/troponin.html

2. Wess, Gerhard et al, 20I0, Cardiac Troponin I in Doberman Pinschers with Cardiomyopathy, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, vol 24, pp 843-849 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/204I2436