Welcome to our site. We are hoping that our commitment to learning from our sad experience will be infectious, and that all Doberman lovers, and dog lovers of all stripes, will make their voices heard - that there needs to be pre-breeding health screening, and some sort of mandate from the AKC and other registering clubs, that untested or affected dogs can't have full registration, nor will their puppies be recognized. There are ways to weed out the terrible diseases from these wonderful dogs, and we should insist that this be the goal of every breeder, professional or home-based.
I am an RN by profession. David is a musician, and a talented home restoration hobbyist. He is semi-retired, and I became disabled by a work injury, so I no longer work. We live in Southern California, but are originally from New York. We have 2 grown sons, and David's mom lives with us, along with our dogs and 3 cats.
We've had dogs for most of our lives. While David had spaniels and hunting dogs, I had Dobermans, Boxers, German Shepherds, and a dear, wonderful GSP. During our married life, we've had a few mutts, plus fantastic German Shepherds, and loved them. But I always longed for those wonderful Dobermans again, and in 2002, David gave me Alex.
Over a year of research and care went into choosing just the right breeder. We wanted someone who loved and respected the breed, and whose life's work was the improvement and protection of the bloodlines from the types of genetic problems that inbreeding, over-breeding and greed produce.
We sincerely believed we'd found such a breeder, with very fine international credentials. But science and genetics aren't perfect, and even under such careful scrutiny, there can be undetected problems.
We were told our new puppies were very healthy, but Alex and Melody's bloodlines were apparently tainted - Alex with cardiac problems, Melody with von Willebrand genes, though not the actual disease. We don't know yet if she also has heart problems.
So now we have 3 more time bombs. Melody, whose clotting deficiency was discovered after she had puppies (no, they were not planned - we screwed up), and Willie and Rocky, 2 of the puppies from their clandestine union. None have vWD, but clearly they are all carriers, and are all neutered. Both boys have prolonged clotting times. Melody's is so prolonged that she needed several units of plasma before they would spay her.
And we don't know - and won't know - whether they have cardiomyopathies, until they start displaying symptoms. They'll probably have echocardiograms, now that we have lost Alex so unexpectedly, but even so - they can be clear, and then have sudden death. So the only thing we can do is try to spread the word, and make this tragedy stop.
Please share your stories on our forum, and join us in making our voices heard somehow - through letters, petitions, and information. And who we get our puppies from. Hopefully, interested breeders and veterinarians will support this effort, and we can make a difference. Then the tragically short life of our incredible Alex, and all the other Alexes of the world, will not have been for nothing.
