Dynamics Of The Disease

Parvovirus is an extremely tough and resistant bug. The virus lives for long periods of time on floors, food containers and other household objects. Rugs are particularly difficult to sanitize. It is thought that household vermin such as cockroaches move the virus from place to place. The virus is both resistant to phenolic disinfectants and to heat. It can be inactivated, however, with ordinary household bleach used at a concentration of one part bleach to twenty parts water. Exposure to sunshine also kills the virus. For the bleach solution to work, any caked organic material must first be removed by washing.

Although it takes one or two weeks for the dog to develop signs of disease, the virus is shed in the feces from the third day of exposure onward. This means that dogs that appear healthy can already be shedding the virus and contaminating the home.

The Symptoms of Parvo

Parvovirus disease is remarkable in that symptoms can vary from none at all to a fatal disease. Four factors govern the severity of the disease: age at exposure, the size of the virus dose, the presence of maternal antibody, and the breed of dog involved.
Dogs receive transient maternal antibody from their mothers through their first milk or colostrum. This antibody gives the puppy resistance to the disease. Puppies that are housed in a parvo-filled environment rarely break with the disease until they reach 14-20 weeks of age. At that time their mother’s immunity no longer protects them and they may die of the disease.
Dogs over six month of age develop natural resistance to the effects of parvovirus. Many of these dogs show only transient diarrhea. By the time the dog reaches one or two years of age the disease can be so mild that it passes unnoticed by the owners.
For unknown reasons, Doberman Pinschers, Rottweilers and Pit Bull Terriers become more ill with this disease than other breeds.

The most common form of parvovirus infection is a sudden (acute) inflammation of the small intestine or enteritis. This is characterized by depression, vomiting, diarrhea and profound dehydration. Bloody stools and a drop in white blood cell numbers are common. Some puppies die as soon as diarrhea occurs but many linger on for 4-6 days. Those that survive eight days usually recover. The lack of white blood cells and ulceration of the lining of the small intestine lead to secondary bacterial infections. There are many other virus and bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea in dogs. This leads to misdiagnosis where not all cases of “Parvo” in puppies and adults are actually due to this virus.

Diagnosis

Although symptoms can be very suggestive of Parvo, true diagnosis requires an antibody test that detects the actual parvovirus in stool samples. The test is an ELISA test or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. You can read about the Idexx brand of that test here. Early in the disease, this test can be negative. Virus isolation is possible but the procedure is quite expensive and rarely done. In practice, the presence of an acute hemorrhagic diarrhea is usually all that is required for a tentative diagnosis of parvovirus.

Treatment

Treatment of parvovirus is directed at correcting the life-threatening dehydration that accompanies the diarrhea with intravenous fluids (lactated ringers solution with bicarbonate). Ten to forty milliliters per pound is given initially and then a slow intravenous drip may stabilize these dogs. Once the initial dehydration is corrected, maintenance fluids can also be given subcutaneously. We also give medicines that relax intestinal spasms such as metoclopramide (Reglan, 0.1-0.25mg/lb three or four times a day) and trimethobenzamide (Tigan, 1.5mg/lb three times a day). Besides this, the dogs are placed on antibiotics to prevent secondary bacterial infection through the damaged small intestine (cephalothin, Keflin @ 5-15mg/pound given four times a day intramuscularly or intravenously). Early in the disease dogs may run a short period of fever. But puppies’ temperatures often drop to subnormal a few days later. These dogs need additional sources of heat. It helps to sit with the dog, pet it and encourage its will to live. Many of the younger dogs have hookworm infestations that make the parvovirus disease more severe. As soon as these dogs can hold down liquids, I worm them with pyrantel pamoate (Strongid, Nemex, 2.5mg/pound).
Some veterinarians give the dogs small doses of butorphanol tar

I heard people say that the Consulate General of the Phils. must authenticate this document. But this is according to Philippine Embassy in the US. But the site for the Philippine Embassy in The Hague or Sydney say that it is not necessary.

I dont know what to do! Traveling all the way to New York is beyond impossible since I’m leaving…SOON.

You do not need to have the import permit authenticated.
I would recommend you bring the pets health record just in case.
Beware the customs crocodile at Manila airport. I was extorted for P49,000 to bring my chocolate lab into the country and he was neutered !

That said, Inbreeding is the breeding of two closely related dogs. Father to Daughter, Mother to Son, Half Brother to Half Sister, and Full Brother to Full Sister are all inbred breeding’s. And they are the only inbred breeding’s. Anything further away, is NOT inbreeding.

Because a dog is inbred, does NOT automatically make that dog a bad dog or of bad breeding practices or quality. Without careful inbreeding, by the founders of each breed, we would not have the breeds we have today. Inbreeding can be a valuable tool when used properly. On the other hand when used carelessly by backyard breeders or puppy mills and people just in it for the money, things can go terribly wrong.

When doing a breeding of this type, you are doubling up on the bad as well as the good. And something that may not be seen in one dog (usually referred to as a recessive gene or trait) may very well become the dominate gene or trait in the resulting offspring of such a breeding. That is not to say however that inbreeding is at the root of all the genetic problems and behavioral issues that we are seeing today. You can have those same issues arise from careless people breeding dogs together on a whim.

The problem lies in the fact that we unfortunately have genetic issues in dogs that we have no testing for. So yes, when doing ANY kind of breeding, you are taking your chances. Being a true breeder means striving for certain goals in your breeding and being willing to take the bad with the good.

LINE BREEDING

Line breeding is one of the best tools to use in breeding when trying to produce your own lines. Examples of line breeding are: Grandfather to Granddaughter, Grandmother to Grandson (these breeding’s are usually considered the best in line breeding), Aunt to Nephew, Uncle to Niece, Cousin to Cousin, and so on. Once again these types of breeding’s are NOT inbreeding. So just because you have the same dog more than once in your pedigree does NOT necessarily mean that your dog is inbred.

Line breeding is a way to double up on a line of dogs, increasing your ability to become consistent in producing a certain type. Many breeders use this method for producing their own lines.

If you are looking for just basics (spay/neuter and vaccinations), there are generally a variety of lower-cost options available to you. Cost to you will depend on your income level and ability to qualify for specific programs.

The "show" GSD is a frog dog. Its not even an option.
The only test I required when I got my last Doberman was vWD.

So short answer: No, the current standard of health testing means very little to me.
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Add: Here’s a detailed look at a Boxer Cardio protocal for testing (link attached) – you may have to choose "cached" version to read it. I’ve copy pasted the summary .

The health testing of any breeder (BYB or otherwise) is only valuable when viewed within a statistically large sample that spans at least 3 generations and this sample would have to expand outside of the breeders own stock to be credible.

If you health test your dam but do not disclose the results of her sibling what risk does your puppy have? In this cardio testing protocal – its 50%. I should also note that to my knowledge, no breeder of Dobermans (cardio is a common problem in the breed) health tests for this.

They find out when the dog drops dead at 5 years of age. By then the dog may have sired a few hundred puppies if its at stud – and those puppies carry the problem through to their offspring.

Until breeders (or breed clubs) agree to track all dogs history and publish their records, its the forest for the trees. Breeders can spend money, do health testing, claim to be responsible – but in the end, they contiue to produce sick dogs because they operate in secret silos.

No breeder can make an informed opinion about the health of sire or dam if they are not given all the facts.

Talk is cheap – results matter.
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Preliminary risk assessment

Before considering breeding control procedures the following points should be noted:

1. Animals at risk of developing and transmitting the disease are those with affected ancestors defined as either those that suffered BCM orthose known to transmit it.

2. The level of risk of an affected ancestor passing BCM on to its descendents depends upon the distance back in the pedigrees (see below).

3. Checking on the health of siblings of ‘in-line’ ancestors (those between the affected ancestor and the subject dog) can greatly aid assessment of risk to the individual.

Therefore, the first action should be screen relatives of risk animals in the pedigree.

Level of risk

When the sire or the dam are:

Proven transmitters or clinically affected animals 100% risk

Sibs of above 50%

1st generation progeny 50%

2nd generation progeny 25%

3rd generation progeny 12%

4th generation progeny 6%

5th generation progeny 3%

Breeding recommendations

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@ AnneB: Why? Because the AKC and CKC is the foundation which pure bred dogs is built on. It is the customer facing entity for all puppy buyers and breeders. It is the cement that binds us together. Right now, you can register any dog and I don`t think it even has to have a pulse.

The registry had value 100 years ago with a handful of breeders who got together and developed the breed. The world has changed. We are now breeding globally. Multiple registries don’t make sense. And for me, without health testing as a criterion for registration, the AKC/CKC is a source of embarrassment. It has no commercial value and its function is for the most part irrelevent.

It is a cash cow that has been milked past its prime.
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AnneB: You are technically correct, but I still dont concur, because the CKC mandate is the promotion of purebred dogs, through obedience trials and conformation show events. Why promote something then relinquish all control over its quality control to another party (breed clubs). I dont register my dog with the DPCC breed club – nor am I required to. So, breed clubs *for me* mean nothing. Until health checks are a prerequisite for registration, its more wasted space. Anyway, its an interesting problem and I appreciate your point of view.
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ETA: Just checked the Doberman Club of Canada website. Next to nill requirements to join – and only a handful of breeders registered. Nothing more than an old boyz club. If this is the future of Dobermans – we’re screwed.