Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer Discussions

Hi

Could Indy possibly be Grey's littermate if they are both 2 years old?

Sounds worrying that a couple of Slovaks have had this problem (or similar). :?

Indy is a Stormdancer puppy, his dad is Clooney and his mum is Roo and he was born on the 31st March 2008.

It doesn't sound good at all and I will be emailing the specialist tomorrow to see if there could be any connection and will let you now what he says.

Hi Tatty!

OMG! I'm so glad you got in touch. I saw that litter which is a couple of weeks older than Grey's. There was a lady on this thread 2 years ago who had a bitch puppy called Freya from your litter. She rehomed Freya at about 5 months old if I recall. She had terrible problems with dire rear as well. At the time I advised testing for infections because we had just had run a fecal test on Grey at 13 weeks (that was 5 weeks of liquid poo to clean up!) and he had had campylobacter and giardia. We were advised by the vet to contact the breeder with the information so that other owners of pups could be contacted and obviously appropriate measures taken with the kennels because of the risk of contamination. We did this.

Grey's brother gunner is having an MRI today because he has suspected epilepsy. They had thought it Exercise Induced Collapse, but now we have heard from people with a dog 3 years older who is also having seizures (same sire) the vet has raised the possibility of epilepsy. But have to wait for the results from today's tests. We are obviously worried for Gunner, but also for Grey, because Gunner had the exact same condition you describe that Indy had: undiagnosed infection of the urine which spread to blood and then got into the spine.

We're going to the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket tomorrow to see a neurologist and for an MRI too. I wasn't happy to leave his condition as not investigated further given the huge suffering that his brother had. The main problem being that if you just manage the pain and don't test and treat for specific infections that you can make the condition worse.

Are the breed club and breeder aware of the pain issues you have had?

We now have a face book slovak group where some of the owners are coming together to discuss things. The slovak breeders I have spoken to said they don't have pain issues in slovakia. There are big problems with teeth and coat. They have undertaken a big programme of crossing in other breeds to widen the gene pool. They are the only ones allowed to do this.

I'm so glad that Indy is better. But my lord, what an awful stress for you and your young dog.

Lou

A Great Breed Of Dog



Anya & Mishka






Anya

A few photos for Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer Lovers

Lovely to see some pictures of Anya, Dawn! she is a hairy gal isn't she?

I'll put some pictures of Bo up I took the other day. Anya looks bigger than Bo but that might just be the photos...how much does she weigh now? has she had her first season?

Hiya, yeh get some pics of Bo up-Great
Anya is HUGE bigger than male Slovaks and your right much bigger than Mishka. I need to weigh her soon and will let you know.

She has had her 1st season a few months ago just after Mishka finished hers, wonderful...not LOL.

She is, as they are, so easy to train and a joy to live with. I love this breed and would recomend it to all the right people/homes. Up the Slovaks XXX

Looking rather manic in this one!


With her big bruvver

Interesting...

Bo is tall, maybe 25" at the withers? just a guess...she is bigger than my Labrador by a good couple of inches; almost a whole head above him. But, she is a really skinny minnie...28kgs the last time she was weighed, possibly a bit more now as that was a couple of months ago. She eats a ton but burns everything off when she is out and about.

She is a beautiful girl lovely long legs. Anya has quite a thick set body. All your photos are lovely the 3rd photo is my favo & is excellent.
Anya is around 27"-28" at the withers.

I'll measure Bo tomorrow.

Anya definately looks more thick set than Bo. Interesting!!

Wow! Anya does look big, Dawn! Looks really well. Amazing how quick they grow up.

The pics of Bo lying down look really similar to Grey.

We have some good and bad news today. I took Grey to The Animal Health Trust today for his tests. The MRIs came back all clear along the spine which is fantastic news. What an amazing place is AHT! We just have to wait on the results from a further spinal tap. we don't know what caused his extreme pain issue, but if we did it would be from the environment and not from genetics. But obviously we know there are three of us with dogs that have had really bad issues with spinal pain and two of them were diagnosed with spinal infections on MRIs. So if any of you get anything like this get your vet to get it checked out by a specialist and take samples to test for infections before you start courses of anti-biotics.

The sad news is that Gunner, Grey's brother has officially been diagnosed with epilepsy. He'll now be on medication for life. It can start from 6 months to 6 years. A dog of 5 years of age with the same parents as Gunner and Grey has also been having fits for the last 12 months. Again, if you spot anything strange also while they are sleeping, let your vet know and the breed rep for the breed club.

That is excellent news about Grey! you must be thrilled.

I'm sorry to hear about Gunner though. I know of someone with an epileptic lurcher, but he doesn't seize often and they seem to manage it without medication. Of course, I don't much about the condition in dogs, but I hope Gunners condition becomes more manageable now they have a diagnosis and proper meds, etc.

Any idea of what Gunners & Greys breeder makes of two dogs from that breeding having epilepsy? :?

Right, well I've measured Bo. She is 25" at withers (although as she doesn't stand still and may have been 'crouched' slightly, this isn't 'exact'). So blimey, Anya is tall!

We're waiting to hear from the breeder/health rep for the breed club. The second dog hasn't been officially diagnosed yet. Just reported 6 seizures in 12 months. To investigate it takes lots of tenacity and costs money. Grey's day at AHT will cost either me or the insurer £2k. It was the same for Gunner's MRI. Not everyone has that.

It will have to be investigated where the gene possibly lies. These are repeat matings 3 years apart with the same sire and dam. Other UK matings with other breeders are obviously also affected. Close relations of either the sire and the dam are siblings of the dam and sire some of whom are with other breeders. Some will have used the sire at stud. It takes two dogs to make the pups, so the focus won't just be on one source.

The slovaks have more or less put a stop to breeding from existing lines in Slovakia and are concentrating on widening the gene pool to address problems of teeth and coat. But I don't think they have reported epilepsy at all. So this is a new one and a bit of a ****** as my vet told me this morning, that it can take a long time for it to show up in an affected dog. From 6 months to 6 years.

The advice that an specialist dental consultant we spoke to last year, was that while there are relatively small numbers in the breed so far, that the people involved with developing the breed should consult with a geneticist to work out a plan. The heartache of having a dog that has to be medicated for life on medication that have less than pleasant side effect is awful. I've already had to rely on my dog being insured and has had the risk of 6 general anaesthetics and he's only two years old.
He's a fantastic dog. Love him to bits. But being ill affects them, especially if it occurs during the critical period of when a puppy is very young.

The gene pool definitely needs expanding, especially over here. I can imagine that the gene pool is wider and a bit more diverse in Slovakia? I don't know. Obviously when the same few stud dogs are being used over and over, the breed technically isn't being moved forward.

I guess adding other breeds into the mix might be the way forward but I'm not sure how that would work over here. Or is that what they are doing in Slovakia now? it would be good to have some new imports into the UK.

Yup, that's what the slovakians are doing. They're the only ones in the breed allowed to do it. I hadn't realised when I got Grey that the gene pool was small over there too. Obviously epilepsy will have to be investigated. So far I've not heard of dogs with fits in slovakia though.

Any ideas what they are adding? more Weim I'd guess...

I think they're adding a few things! I think all three types of dogs in there. Interesting that it is openly discussed now the accepted problems with coat and teeth.

I'm really happy to have my boy home. Really hope to get him back out again soon. Today we just spent time doing bits on the lead.

What kind of terrain do you get your dogs out to?

Makes sense I guess!

What are the problems with coat? :?

Sorry Labradork not been on here for a while! Yes, Cheska had her first season in Mid March, i too couldn't wait for it to be over, she was a complete tart with every male dog in the Island that she met! We too have a neutered male (The Terrier) and he was up for it! Did get a fright when we met a large entire male doberman on the cliffs who had fallen in love with her, luckily one growl from the terrier and he did a runner! She's fine now, not sure about spaying, are you going to have Bo spayed?