All of our Champion Doberman Pinschers are Fully Health Tested
Disclaimer: TESTING NEGATIVE DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOUR DOBERMAN WILL NOT DEVELOP DCM
What is a DCM 2 linkage test?
DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome tend to be inherited together. Because of this, we can use genetic variation surrounding a specific variant (i.e. "linked" to it) to infer the presence or absence of a variant that is associated with a health condition or trait.
Linkage tests are not as predictive of your dog’s true genotype as direct assays, which we use on most other genetic conditions we test for.
Source: Embarkvet.com
DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome tend to be inherited together. Because of this, we can use genetic variation surrounding a specific variant (i.e. "linked" to it) to infer the presence or absence of a variant that is associated with a health condition or trait.
Linkage tests are not as predictive of your dog’s true genotype as direct assays, which we use on most other genetic conditions we test for.
Source: Embarkvet.com
“Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help. Only if we help, we shall be saved.” Jane Goodall
PLEASE SCREEN YOUR DOBERMAN PINSCHER EVERY YEAR FOR SIGNS OF EARLY DCM AT THEIR SECOND BIRTHDAY. SCHEDULE A 24 HR HOLTER AND ECHO TO CATCH ANY PROBLEMS EARLY.
The sleek and athletic looking Doberman Pinscher is a favorite for many dog owners. Unfortunately, a large number of this wonderful breed will develop a serious heart condition, called dilated cardiomyopathy. This is a very serious medical problem, so if you have a Doberman Pinscher it's important to understand how to identify and treat this medical condition. Doing so could extend the length of your wonderful dog's life.
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most common cardiac disease in large breed dogs and is thought to be inherited in Doberman Pinschers with a high prevalence of nearly 60%.
Read that again... "60 percent of all Dobermans world-wide will develop DCM".
UNIQUE DOBERMANS RECOMMENDS A HOLTER AT 24 MONTHS use a Holter monitoring and if irregularities are discovered then you should schedule an echocardiography. Yearly screening over the life of the dog is recommended, we holter our dobermans each year on their birthday to help us remember. Yearly is necessary as a one-time screening is not sufficient to rule out future development of DCM. The preferred echocardiographic method is the measurement of the left ventricular volume by Simpson's method of discs (SMOD). Less than 50 single ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) in 24 h are considered to be normal in Dobermans, although detection of any number of VPCs is cause for concern. Greater than 300 VPCs in 24 h or two subsequent recordings within a year showing between 50 and 300 VPCs in 24 h is considered diagnostic of occult DCM in Dobermans regardless of the concurrent echocardiographic findings. The guidelines also provide recommendations concerning ancillary tests, that are not included in the standard screening protocol, but which may have some utility when recommended tests are not available or financially untenable on an annual basis. These tests include assay of cardiac biomarkers (Troponin I and N-Terminal pro-B-type Natriuretic Peptide) as well as a 5-min resting electrocardiogram (ECG).
Treating Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Method
Identifying Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Method
Identifying and Treating Other Heart Conditions
PLEASE SCREEN YOUR DOBERMAN PINSCHER EVERY YEAR FOR SIGNS OF EARLY DCM AT THEIR SECOND BIRTHDAY. SCHEDULE A 24 HR HOLTER AND ECHO TO CATCH ANY PROBLEMS EARLY.
The sleek and athletic looking Doberman Pinscher is a favorite for many dog owners. Unfortunately, a large number of this wonderful breed will develop a serious heart condition, called dilated cardiomyopathy. This is a very serious medical problem, so if you have a Doberman Pinscher it's important to understand how to identify and treat this medical condition. Doing so could extend the length of your wonderful dog's life.
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most common cardiac disease in large breed dogs and is thought to be inherited in Doberman Pinschers with a high prevalence of nearly 60%.
Read that again... "60 percent of all Dobermans world-wide will develop DCM".
UNIQUE DOBERMANS RECOMMENDS A HOLTER AT 24 MONTHS use a Holter monitoring and if irregularities are discovered then you should schedule an echocardiography. Yearly screening over the life of the dog is recommended, we holter our dobermans each year on their birthday to help us remember. Yearly is necessary as a one-time screening is not sufficient to rule out future development of DCM. The preferred echocardiographic method is the measurement of the left ventricular volume by Simpson's method of discs (SMOD). Less than 50 single ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) in 24 h are considered to be normal in Dobermans, although detection of any number of VPCs is cause for concern. Greater than 300 VPCs in 24 h or two subsequent recordings within a year showing between 50 and 300 VPCs in 24 h is considered diagnostic of occult DCM in Dobermans regardless of the concurrent echocardiographic findings. The guidelines also provide recommendations concerning ancillary tests, that are not included in the standard screening protocol, but which may have some utility when recommended tests are not available or financially untenable on an annual basis. These tests include assay of cardiac biomarkers (Troponin I and N-Terminal pro-B-type Natriuretic Peptide) as well as a 5-min resting electrocardiogram (ECG).
Treating Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Get your doberman screened for the condition. DCM affects young to middle aged dogs. It is now known that early treatment with a drug called pimobendan before symptoms develop can protect the heart in dogs that have DCM. Therefore it's important to screen your Doberman for the condition even if they show no signs. (SCREENING MEANS A 24 HR HOLTER AND ECHO BEGINNING AT 2 YRS)- Pimobendan is proven to increase survival times by improving the ability of the heart to contract. Pimobendan needs to be given on an empty stomach, an hour before food. Two doses, 12 hours apart are given on a daily basis.
Consider medicine to decrease the amount of work the heart needs to do. Treatment helps improve the way the heart works, usually through the administration of drugs. Drugs work in a number of ways, including improving the strength of contraction of the heart muscle. A family of drugs, called ACE inhibitors, are often given to dogs with heart failure. Basically, these medicines dilate the blood vessels in the dog's body to remove resistance to blood flow. Discuss these as an option with your veterinarian.- Less resistance means the heart has less work to do to push blood around the body.
Discuss the need for medicine that regulates the heartbeat. Some medicines slow a racing heart or control an irregular heart beat if present. These can be very important for decreasing the chances of sudden death, due to overexertion. Like the other medicines used to control a doberman's heart issues, talk to your veterinarian about the best treatment for your specific dog.- Even with these medications, it is sensible not to over exert a Doberman with DCM, especially if it is showing clinical signs of the illness. Extreme exertion could overload the heart and cause sudden death.
Administer drugs to ease suffering. For example, diuretics may be given as your dog deteriorates to help to shift the accumulation of fluid in the lungs and belly. This will help the dog to breathe.- The dog will drink more and urinate more while on diuretics. Even while it drinks more fluid, this will have the effect of shifting fluid out of body compartments.
Limit your expectations. Unfortunately, once dogs start to show signs of heart disease, their life is often limited to days, weeks or months, rather than years. Give your dog good end of life care by feeding it foods it loves, showering it with affection, and ending its suffering when necessary.
Method
Identifying Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Understand what dilated cardiomyopathy is. The name of this condition describes what it's about. Taken literally "dilated" means stretched, "cardiac" means heart, "myo" means muscle, and "pathy" means abnormal. Thus, dilated cardiomyopathy is an abnormal stretching of the heart muscle.- Think of a balloon that you blow up and let down several times. The balloon walls become baggy and stretched, and the empty balloon is saggy rather than tight. This is what happens with the heart muscle. It loses its elastic recoil and the heart behaves like a saggy balloon.
Pay attention to signs of exhaustion. This condition means the heart doesn't contract with normal force and each heart beat is weaker and less efficient. The dog may be able to cope at rest but when the heart needs to respond during exercise, it is unable to meet the demands and the dog becomes weak or even faints.- Signs that a Doberman may have a heart problem include persistent tiredness, lethargy, and weakness.
Notice if your doberman is having trouble breathing. Changes in the dynamics of the blood flow means that blood can pool downstream of the heart. This causes symptoms such as congested lungs and fluid build up.- When the lungs become congested this causes the dog to cough. It may have labored breathing or use its abdominal muscles to aid its breathing.
- Such dogs are often reluctant to exercise, as they can't breath when they do.
Look for an enlarged belly. A further sign is build up of fluid in the abdomen is that the belly begins to swell. This can be distinguished from obesity by the fact that the ribs and backbone are clearly visible through the skin due to weight loss.
Take your dog to a BOARD CERTIFIED CARDIOLOGIST Veterinarian if you suspect DCM. I can't count the number of times a regular veterinarian ran all sorts of expensive tests, x-rays etc just to tell the owner whose Doberman was coughing and couldn't breath that they had PNEUMONIA! DCM is SO prevelent in the Doberman breed that it is shameful that a veterinarian wouldn't consider it as the first problem. A competent cardiologist veterinarian will most likely use an ultrasound examination where the clinician measures the thickness of the walls of the ventricles (the main pumping chambers in the heart) and the force with which they contract. This will be assessed to see if it is normal or abnormal.- Alternatively, a 24 hour Holter monitor harness can pick up abnormal heartbeats that occur erratically as a result of DCM.
- Both these tests help identify dogs in the very earliest stages of the condition so that medication can be started. However, the timing of onset of the disease varies between dogs with the DCM gene. Because of this, regular yearly screening is advised in order to catch dogs that have deteriorated since a normal screening.
Method
Identifying and Treating Other Heart Conditions
Look for the general signs of heart problems. While DCM is by far the most common heart condition in dobermans, these dogs can have other heart issues. The signs of congestive heart failure, and other health problems related to heart disease, include:- Coughing: If your dog is coughing regularly for an extended period of time, for example more than three days, then it should be looked at by a veterinarian.
- Problems Breathing: This could be while the dog is at rest or if it gets winded after very mild exercise.
- Changes in Behavior: If your dog becomes withdrawn, less energetic, and tired all the time, then that could be a sign of a health condition affecting its quality of life.
- Weight Loss or Gain: A heart condition could affect your doberman's appetite, whether increasing it or decreasing it. This is also a symptom of a variety of health problems, so any extreme change in appetite or weight should be checked out by a veterinarian.
- Fainting and Collapsing: This is a sign that your dog may have a serious health problem, one of which could be a heart condition. If your dog faints or collapses, get it seen by a veterinarian immediately.
Take your dog to a board certified Cardiologist veterinarian. If you suspect a heart condition, or some other serious health problem, the best thing you can do is get your dog checked out by a veterinarian. The veterinarian will be able to assess the physical health of your dog and give you some indication about what is going on.- Your dog's illness may be very obvious to the veterinarian or it may take some testing and sleuthing on your veterinarian's part. Be open to your veterinarian running multiple tests on your dog to help them figure out what the problem is. These could include an echocardiogram, a blood test, a Holter monitor, or electrocardiogram, among others.
Get your dog appropriate treatment. Depending on the seriousness and exact diagnosis, treatment for different heart conditions varies. Some diseases can be treated with medication, even forms of heart failure, while others need surgery to correct. Discuss the options with your veterinarian and decide what is best for your dog and you.- You need to take your dog's quality of life, its age, and your financial stability into account when deciding on what treatment to go forward with. For example, older dogs with heart failure may just need palliative care, as opposed to treatment that seeks to fix the problem.
Every Doberman puppy for sale at Unique Dobermans has been thoughtfully and carefully planned and considered long before the breeding has taken place. Your new Unique Doberman puppy (if you are so lucky to be chosen as one of our elite Doberman puppy owners) comes with a pedigree sporting German, Russian and European Dobermans full of world champion show dogs plus each one has been worked to at least a BH in Schutzhund, IPO, IGP, Family Personal Protection dogs, Therapy dogs, French Ring sports and competitions. What do all of these Doberman working titles and Doberman show titles actually mean to you as a "pet owner" that doesn't plan on showing or titling your Doberman puppy? EVERYTHING! Your new Doberman Puppy's parents have passed strict temperament testing, tracking trials to test their nose and scent capabilities and personal protection courage testing of their character and most importantly their nerves.
The genetics behind your Unique Doberman puppy shows that his genes are free of hip dysplasia, eye diseases, bad temperament and poor conformation.
A Doberman dog that cannot hold up to the extreme athleticism that is required to obtain working titles is a poorly conformed dog and will break down, a Doberman dog that is not readily and willing to immediately obey with a strong desire to please it's master is not a pleasant Doberman to live with inside the home and certainly will never be able to obtain these working titles.
If you have been looking for the best Doberman Family Guard Dogs, with a World Champion pedigree, Schutzhund, IPO, IGP, VPG and ZTP Working Titles in Personal Protection, Tracking, Obedience and Agility with Beauty and Brawn to match then give us a call, text, email or Facebook message.
The genetics behind your Unique Doberman puppy shows that his genes are free of hip dysplasia, eye diseases, bad temperament and poor conformation.
A Doberman dog that cannot hold up to the extreme athleticism that is required to obtain working titles is a poorly conformed dog and will break down, a Doberman dog that is not readily and willing to immediately obey with a strong desire to please it's master is not a pleasant Doberman to live with inside the home and certainly will never be able to obtain these working titles.
If you have been looking for the best Doberman Family Guard Dogs, with a World Champion pedigree, Schutzhund, IPO, IGP, VPG and ZTP Working Titles in Personal Protection, Tracking, Obedience and Agility with Beauty and Brawn to match then give us a call, text, email or Facebook message.
