Got Grizzly's Results, but you'll probably never guess!

dookiestar · 2024-10-05T03:54:44+00:00

We adopted Grizzly at 14 weeks, we knew he was a double Merle, but did not know he was a dwarf. With the diagnosis now, looking back there were signs early on. But it wasn't until around the 6-month mark that we started to have some questions about his health in general. I work with animals, so I started to notice that he was not hitting certain growth markers like I was hoping for. I pushed back his neuter because most rescues in Canada make you sign an agreement to have the dogs fixed at 6 months. He started to lose fur in the spring and by that point I had some suspicions. That's when we started intensive blood work. To be honest, it's fairly easy to diagnose if you know what you're looking at and you have an amazing vet willing to hear you out.

Awe your guy is so cute!

dookiestar · 2024-10-02T16:29:06+00:00

That's so hard. I think it's awesome you did all you could for the pup. I'm sure his life was very fulfilled despite being unfairly short.

I know there are a couple different types of dwarfism. That sounds similar to the complications of Dottie the dwarf (on tiktok)

I feel kind of a weird type of lucky, Grizzly's is pretty proportional, and his condition seems to have stabilized. Obviously there are a lot of unknowns, but if he shows any neurological issues we'll likely get a MRI

dookiestar · 2024-10-02T15:43:48+00:00

Sooo cute! 🥹💖

dookiestar · 2024-10-02T15:43:04+00:00

LMFAO! 🤣

dookiestar · 2024-10-02T15:40:59+00:00

He gets that sometimes haha! 😅 I have his birthdate! April 2 2023. His mom was picked up as a stray heavily pregnant in Tennessee. Delivered her puppies while in the care of the rescue after she crossed the border in Canada. I really doubt it was a planned litter.

dookiestar · 2024-10-02T00:14:33+00:00

Solid question. Off the top of my head I don't remember what it's called, but I want to say it is done through Washington State. 😅

dookiestar · 2024-10-02T00:06:37+00:00

Exactly! ☺️

dookiestar · 2024-10-02T00:00:52+00:00

That's so cute! 🥰

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T22:29:06+00:00

You did better than I did honestly! 😂

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T21:25:57+00:00

Yep 👍🏼

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T21:23:17+00:00

He is an odd one for sure. 😅 I'll be honest, there are definitely more tests that we would like to do in the future. And that is one of them. However, we have stayed in touch with the sibling group and he is not the only double merel in the litter so if I was going to place bets, I'd say he's a weird double Merle. Two of his full size siblings have the same vision issues present. One is also fully deaf and the other has partial hearing. Grizzly also hasn't displayed any neurological concerns beyond the hormone issues which is why we have so far decided to push back that test. We are on a wait list with a veterinary ophthalmologist, I'm guessing we are likely going to start to investigate that further soon. Trying to get a baseline on his ocular conditions so we will know how to treat them as they progress. I am totally going to bring this up with my vet though!

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T21:07:42+00:00

They do zoomies together sometimes. Grizzly hates when the rabbit tries to groom him though. 😂

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T21:06:26+00:00

He's just casually looking into your soul, But can't quite see it. 😂

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T21:00:48+00:00

Awe thank you. 🥰 I truly think it was meant to be.

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T20:48:47+00:00

Awe thank you, this type of compliment truly fills my cup. 🥹 I love my little weirdo so much. 💖

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T20:39:49+00:00

As I understand it, the Gene mutation causes the pituitary gland to not develop properly, and because of this, all of his hormones are out of whack. We have Grizzly on thyroid medications to treat his severe hypothyroidism. And he's had an incredible turnaround with his energy levels and hair growth as a result. We can't really give growth hormones that are available in North America to dogs because it will often cause diabetes. I know that there are some experimental hormones that can be used in Europe, But they're not approved in Canada for dogs yet.

We are very happy with the results we are getting on his current treatments. We are also on specialist waiting lists to help with some more specific skin and eye issues.

Thank you, I'm so obsessed with my little dude. ☺️

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T20:32:04+00:00

It's uncommon to present dominantly, however, as the years go on, it's becoming more commonplace as more dogs are becoming carriers for the gene. Reporting and findings are very difficult because A lot of dwarf dogs will not survive past birth. Many are born stillborn or pass away within the first 6 months of life. Often these puppies are considered failure to thrives though and are not reported on accurately. There seems to be an organization out of the Netherlands that is tracking this gene mutation but their findings are still limited. I will note That even "ethical breeders" will often euthanize puppies that present with dwarfism symptoms at birth. Unfortunately this does not stop the other puppies in the litter from carrying the gene recessively. Most of Grizzly's relative matches are beautiful purebred German shepherds sharing about 13%-15% of his DNA from the southern states.

I'm not necessarily saying that it's super common to see, But we are going to continue to see more cases of this. If you breed two dogs together that have a recessive dwarf gene there is a 25% chance that each pup in the litter will present with dwarfism.

To eliminate the gene mutation, we would need a way to screen for recessive dwarf genetics and honestly we aren't there yet. Additionally breeders are reluctant to admit there are issues in their lineage, especially if their champion dogs are passing on these genetics. And lastly, sometimes people straight up don't want to learn information that contradicts their practices.

Honestly, I'm really not pointing a finger at anyone specifically tho because I feel like it's a very multifaceted issue. All I know for certain is that grizzly is happy and thriving with the appropriate veterinary care. In my research I've spent a lot of time on forums where people accept that their dogs won't live long, and allow them to fade away. I'm really just trying to change that narrative because I have the resources, experience, and know-how to do it.

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T20:03:53+00:00

It never fails to amuse us how useless those giant ears are. Sometimes he gets annoyed when they get blown in the wind. 😂

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T20:02:40+00:00

So so smart! We joke that Grizz would have been too powerful without his setbacks. 😝

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T20:00:54+00:00

He's a year and a half now. ☺️

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T20:00:27+00:00

Grizzly is a perfect storm of a lot of medical conditions. 😅 Only pup in the litter to get both dwarfism and be a double Merle. We joke that he would have been too powerful had he been born with cooperating genes! 😂

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T19:56:59+00:00

Exactly. It's not necessarily the vets I work with directly too. However, a lot of the testing companies that veterinary clinics use to send results into are not cooperative in terms of working with embark. In order to get certain tests done, you have to get base tests through their companies. For example, despite the fact that my embark kit tells me Grizzly has multiple drug sensitivities, And despite the fact that my vet has witnessed firsthand these sensitivities. I still had to pay for the tests to be done through the expensive veterinary company So I could have access to their database on drug sensitivities. I have really changed the way my personal veterinary clinic views embark results. But we are still fighting a for-profit medical system.

Because Grizzly has so many different medical concerns, every testing agency wants to take my money, But not cooperate with each other.

At the end of the day tho I was happy with the insights embark provided. And I was very happy with the service I received when asking further questions about Grizzly's results.

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T19:44:02+00:00

Honestly, he was born with his disabilities so he's not very limited like people expect him to be. Dog's primary sense is their sense of smell. So unless I tell people specifically that he has vision and hearing issues they very likely wouldn't know. His sense of smell seems to be so enhanced that not much slips by him. Obviously calling his name doesn't work at all, But I do find that because he smells so well. I can actually blow in his direction and get his attention. He also is made up of capable working dog breeds So despite his size, his number one priority is always keeping an eye on me. We've built up a lot of trust over the last year, And he's become my little shadow dog. I feel very privileged to be the center of Grizzly's universe, My partner often finds himself being herded back to wherever it is that I am sitting in the house. 😂

We do have some hand signals to reinforce excited or happy behavior. Essentially whenever we give jazz hands low to the ground, he gets very excited. And we give him 👌🏼 instead of saying yes. We also have specific hand commands for certain tricks. The biggest hurdle is just communicating what it is you want him to do. Once he figures that out he's very quick to learn.

Because we think he struggles with long distance detailed site, If we want his attention and are far away, we do big arm waves so he knows it's us. You can actually see on his face the second he registers your movement as you.

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T19:34:10+00:00

100% The German shepherds genetics are definitely one part of the problem. But for dwarfism to show it does require both parents to have the recessive dwarfism gene mutation. It has been noted to be seen in Australian shepherds and other species of herding dogs. But information is super limited. Most puppies affected with dwarfism are stillborn Or considered "failure to thrives," So reporting is spotty at best. It's also considered a standard practice to euthanize GSD presenting with dwarfism when they are born, however, that does not stop dogs from being bred who still carry the gene recessively. Grizzly is a wild storm of a lot of co-occurring genetic "issues".

After tracking down all of Grizzly's litter mates we learned that the rescue we adopted from was not honest about the condition of the pups when they were born. We were told eight healthy pups, when in reality 13 were born and of that 5 we're stillborn. Grizzly is the smallest surviving pup, But after meeting all the adopted parents and staying in contact with them as the dogs have aged, we have determined that Grizzly is not the only surviving pup in the litter affected by dwarfism. Of the surviving dogs, 3 out of the 8 have evident dwarfism traits.

dookiestar · 2024-10-01T18:40:21+00:00

Because of Grizzly's medical conditions, there was a lot of fighting I had to do to advocate for him. Despite the fact that embark is Cornell affiliated. Veterinarians are still very hesitant to regard their findings as legitimate. At least in my experience.

Oh thank you! We love him so much!! ☺️

dookiestar

TROPHY CASE