Are our doods sicker?

[Tammy & Gracie]

Okay, just a theoretical question. I was up with Gracie during the night with tummy troubles. We spent the entire morning at the vet's office. We are, who knows how many hundreds of dollars into another illness, this time undefined. I am at home with antibiotics, stomach medicine, wet food and a dog with a huge bubble of fluids on her neck to absorb. We are resting the stomach today and will try to feed tomorrow. Blood and urine tests were ok. I have xrays and records to take to the emergency clinic if needed over the rest of the weekend. There is a tiny "something" in her stomach that should be small enough to pass, looks like no obstruction but when feeding I will add a little fiber to her food to aid in it's passing. If I had to guess, I would say that it is a tiny shred of nylabone.We will just wait it out and hope the rest of the weekend is uneventful.

Okay, my question is, are our doods sickly or is it just that we are very caring dood parents who check every little thing out??? It seems we have a huge share of health troubles although it may just be because we communicate about each moment of our doods lives...Any opinions out there?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are a lot of people who will tell you that our dogs are sicker because of vaccinations, but I don't agree with that entirely, because those vaccination cocktails have been around for a very long time; my last dog lived to be 16, and she got them. The cocktails are bad, no question, and i don't do them; I do titers instead. But I still don't think the vaccinations are solely to blame.
I think we hear more about the various illnesses because we participate in these forums, and the people who also participate with us are very involved dog owners. So there is that. But I also think that there are two other issues involved here with our doodles in particular.
One, there is a disproportionately high percentage of first time dog owners among doodle owners. I don't have exact statistics, but over and over we hear many people say this is their first dog, and there is an unfortunate reason for this. People want big dogs with retriever temperaments who don't shed/are "hypoallergenic". Prior to hearing about doodles, these people didn't want a dog because they didn't like poodles and didn't want dog hair all over. Then they heard about these "magic" new dogs, non-shedding retrievers, and they could "finally" get a dog that husband & wife agreed upon.
First time dog owners sometimes relate every little incident with their dogs just like new parents do...every bout of diarrhea, etc. So you hear about sickness more. I think there is also a possibility that first timers understandably make some mistakes & oversights which can lead to vet visits. So there's that.
The other reason, IMO, is more sinister. There are an awful lot of doodles and other mixed breed dogs being bred by puppy mills and BYBs. These dogs are naturally going to have more health problems than better bred dogs. The pet stores have nothing but the hybrid "designer" mixes...they don't even bother with purebred anymore, the poo-mixes & puggles are so much more profitable. And even the dogs from good breeders, let's face it, may have come from less-than-topnotch breeding stock, because it is still very hard for a doodle breeder to buy a quality breeding dog from a first-rate purebred breeder. Some of the genetic diseases can't be tested for, and you would have to know your Lab lines for generations back to know if atopy , for example, ran in your dogs. Doodle breeders don't always have that info.
I have given this issue a lot of thought, and these are a couple of the conclusions that I've reached, for what it's worth. I'm sure a lot of people will disagree, but that's my opinion.

[Tammy & Gracie]

Okay, you have many valid points. I have been a dog owner for my entire life, with many that lived to ripe old ages. I have 3 currently. I also am not hyper-vigilant about health. I mean, when one of my dogs vomits, I will ignore it as a rule, dogs eat things, dogs throw up things....I don't run to the vet each time this happens. But there is a line where I recognize some symptom that this is abnormal or more concerning and we rush off to the vet. I don't really study the vaccine issues, my dogs get shots each year and as far as I can tell they are ok. Maybe it is the "sinister" aspects sort of. Gracie came from a breeder I trusted with lots of health testing of the parents, etc. But how much of that do I know of for sure?

Anyway, I am just venting a little. It seems like Gracie has had an awful lot of trouble for a pup under 2 years. I would not trade her for anything in the world. And I have developed a super-sized case of ODD. So I guess it just seems like alot more since I read and talk of all of our troubles on a daily basis.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with everything you just said; I also have OCD where Jackdoodle is concerned. Obviously, we can't sit at work or at a concert and talk about these issues, so we pour it out here. It's probably the same on every other breed forum.

[Tammy & Gracie]

Absolutely, I find that I want to talk about Gracie all the time. That is not the dinner conversation preferred by my friends and family!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The sad thing though, Sara, is that Goldens have almost as many genetic health problems as labs do, and a lot of them are shared with standard poodles. Von Willebrands & HD, to name a couple of big ones, are shared by GRs and standard poodles. So being healthier due to two different breeds being bred together doesn't really work if the two breeds share a lot of the same genetic diseases. If cystic fibrosis runs in my family, and it runs in your family, it doesn't matter if our two families are completely unrelated. It's the same disease that is shared in our genes, and if a carrier from my family marries a carrier from your family, the odds of their offspring having CF is exactly the same as if two members of my family married each other.
It still boils down to breeding in my mind. My last dog, a miniature poodle who never had so much as a bout of diarrhea until her 16th year, was a purebred from show lines who was chosen for one thing and one thing only...her genetics. With all we hear about purebreds being unhealthy, I will say again, not if you go with the absolute best bloodlines you can find. It's true that we deal with what we get, and I wouldn't trade my genetically flawed guy for any dog in the world, but if I were going to pay a breeder $2500 for a puppy, I want the same kind of genetics that you'd be getting in a purebred for that price.

[Lori and Sadie]

Wow, I hadn't realized about VWB, I have had patients with that and didn't know it was also a K-9 disease. I worry about our puppy. We did not spend the $2500 for a breeder. We wanted to rescue a doggie who was already in this world and needed a loving home. We knew we'd have a bigger chance of health problems but wanted to be sure the pup was cared for. Ours was the littlest, most sluggish one complete with bowed legs but she loved each person that touched her and would walk up to and kiss any child/baby, that's when we knew we had to be her family. I didn't want to take the risk that another family who wasn't as adament about the breed and her care could possibly adopt her and not give her the best care or love she deserved.She does have trouble getting her hind end up at times. We hear clicking in her hips, but she never acts as though she has pain and she doesn't show any tenderness. We will have the vet keep checking her.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, and I hope Gracie is feeling better and will recover quickly without any incidents!

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

I think I have been very lucky with my two so far. The last year with Hannah has been great health wise, no major issues, and since Honey is off the 2 dose a month Revolution, she is doing great also. I have wondered also if some of the stomach issues we all seem to have or had at one time or another are not from the breeding of these dogs?

[Tammy & Gracie]

Curious, why 2 dose revolution? All my dogs are on that, but just once monthly.

[Kyoko]

What is Revolution?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's a spot-on product that supposedly works against both fleas and other parasites like heartworms & mites. It is often prescribed for dogs that have parasite issues, and in those cases, is given more frequently than once a month..usually three doses 2 weeks apart.
The problem with using it on a regular basis as a preventative for dogs who don't already have parasites is that it doesn't work as well as separate products for fleas/ticks and heartworm; i.e., it is more effective to give a dose of Heartgard and a separate dose of Frontline, than to rely upon the Revolution for all of it.

[Adina P]

I think that it has to do with being on a forum...large number of people discussing their dogs (people who are more attentive and 'into' dogs to begin with). As far as health tested parents...GI issues, allergies, cancer, etc...these don't have tests.