GSMDs - Living with the Health Problems
by Donald Schwartz - reprinted with permission

Thumpa, thumpa, thumpa is the sound we heard as Angus had another seizure on the carpet in the early morning hours on Monday. It lasted about 30 seconds I would imagine, and was followed by several minutes of disorientation and agitation. We had to give him a bath because his anal glands went off and he urinated on himself. We treated the carpet with "Natures Miracle" and went back to bed upset. He had another seizure earlier in March and one in February. He also had two last year. Our veterinarian feels the frequency is high enough to begin phenobarbital and suggested a starting dose of about 90 mg (1 1/2 grains) every twelve hours.

As most of you know, we are crazy about our Swissys. They are such great dogs and wonderful companions. Most of the time they act healthy, but we have never owned one that has not had problems. Sure, we heard stories about healthy Swissys, but you have to understand that we are a bit skeptical. I wonder what percentage of Swissys are free of health problems. Because of my strong advocacy role on behalf of Swissy health a group of breeders will not even talk to me or allow me to join their discussions, so I do have difficulty trying to find out if other dogs in the same litter have similar problems. This is not a breeder bashing either since we do not blame our breeder for any of the problems that have occurred. They were quite hospitable but in my opinion are not comfortable with the advocacy role I have assumed.

Our national club is too timid to get involved in tracking some of these important health problems like OCD, hip dysplasia, bloat, and epilepsy so all of us have absolutely no idea how many Swissys have these problems and if these problems can be traced to an individual line. Many breeders get rid of their Swissys once they are too old to breed or have health problems that interfere with the breeding program. This is understandable since they must make room for breedable dogs, but it makes some breeders the last ones we should be asking about long term health in our dogs. It is my personal opinion that some, but not all breeders, will keep their healthy dogs and "place" (a euphemism for "get rid of") their unhealthy dogs so that they can distort their kennel statistics and say that their dogs are healthy. I know that sounds rather skeptical, but with no information available to all of us about the health of all Swissys, we are left with suspicion, rumor and innuendo as our only source of information. Results of the recent health survey may focus attention on certain illnesses, but will not give us the ability to know the rate an illness affects the Swissy population.

Breeders in parts of Europe have well established documentation open to all so that decisions about breeding can be made with the information that is needed. I am sure it is not a perfect system either, but it is the availability of this information in European programs that is not available in American programs that makes it impossible for American breeders to duplicate the success of the European breeding programs by trying to mimic one particular aspect of the European programs.

If we remain complacent about this problem with insufficient health information in the States, then we will only reap the tragedy that is already being sown. To end on a positive note, I feel it best if we all join a "code of ethics" club while we encourage the national club to recognize the necessity of requiring all of us (breeders and pet owners) to fill out health surveys that are not anonymous. I realize this discussion makes some of us squirm, but the status quo will end in disaster for this breed.

Don Schwartz, Holiday, FL