Continued from PART 1 GENETIC EVIDENCE The finding of CDRM in several littermate pairs, combined with the acknowledged high incidence of the disease in the German shepherd breed in general suggested that a genetic factor may well be involved in the aetiology of the disease, as previously suggested (Clemmons, 1989). Due to this unusually high …
INTRODUCTION Before we get into the meat of the matter, let’s review the OFA-type definitions of canine hip dysplasia, referred to here as HD. Mild HD: Significant subluxation, only partial coverage by the acetabular rim, and usually no arthritic changes (yet). A fairly recent development in OFA’s operating rules is that if a dog rated …
December 2011. The modern dog is to a great extent a manufactured product. That is, most breeds had been developed originally for specific purposes, but more recently have been changed via selective breeding to suit personal ideas of aesthetics (beauty). Utility has largely taken a back seat, but even in those circles where certain job …
Revised November 2011 This article originally appeared in The SENNtinel, official publication of the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America, because elbow dysplasias (ED) are at a high incidence in the breed. Besides clearing up minor errors or misconceptions, I would like to give some additional information on the disorders in the elbow. Please …
Revised 2012. As the author of “Canine Hip Dysplasia,” and an international lecturer on orthopedic disorders, as well as a dog show judge, I am frequently asked to comment on similarities and differences in the procedures used and information obtained when radiographs are taken for OFA and other leg-extended positions as compared to the PennHIP …
There are two pastern disorders that are often confused until one actually has seen the “extreme” type. The severity of “weak-by-genetic-neglect” wrists seen in many German Shepherds can approach the other type at first impression. In addition to these two, there are cases of retained cartilage and the unequal or asynchronous growth of the two …
Revised 2012. INTRODUCTION Although I am mostly a German Shepherd Dog breeder, I have much all-breed experience in breeding, handling, judging, and consulting; as a scientist I also have been drawn to certain medical aspects of cynology (dog science). In this article, we will look primarily at the endocrine system. True endocrine glands are the …
© Copyright June, 1998, 2004 by FRED LANTING and LELAND CARMICHAEL, DVM, PhD, (Professor at Cornell) Reprinted with permission from Fred Lanting and PureBred Dogs/American Kennel Gazette, August 1988; pp. 88-93. Copyright owner: Fred Lanting Breeders’ responses to early puppy deaths vary. Some expend a great deal of effort, while others “let nature take its …
Sometimes an advance in knowledge is unfortunately brought on by problems. A decade or so after the new Century dawned, we started hypothesizing about the alarming increase in failures in the dog breeding community that we had been hearing about for the past 10 or 15 years. I know I was not the only one …
Hypocalcemia is defined as an insufficient level of calcium in the blood. Eclampsia, once also called puerperal tetany, is one of the results — in fact, the most important one. In cattle, eclampsia has been known in some areas as “grass staggers” but it occurs in non-grass-eating animals such as dogs and cats, also. Homeostasis …