Thread: Wobblers Syndrome in Dogs...any experience?

Originally Posted by stevo68

G'day All,

As many of you will know, I lost my 4 legged mate "Benz" back in April. We now have 'Diesel" who came from the same blood line as "Benz" and has grown into quite a large pup . He is another Shepherd, 7mths now and weighing 36kilos, beautiful personality.

For a while I thought he may have been a bit wobbly with his legs ( Shepherds have a history of Hip Dysplasia) but was told all ok by vet, moreso he was gangly. About 3 weeks ago, poor buggar got nailed by a tick and into the vets. He came out the other side looking like a large rat . Pics of him below, one playing with the Bengal and the other shaved from head to toe .

During recovery, I noticed that the wobbliness in his rear legs was very noticeable. Bit like if you have been on the turps and your legs cross over as you try to walk, well that is what his rear legs are like. Mind you doesn't stop him running and playing with the kids and myself, or having a go at the neighbours dogs. Over a thousand dollars later for tick recovery, then Xrays for hip dysplasia, it seems he may have Wobblers Syndrome, which is a neurological disease. Definition as follows:

So has anybody else had experience with this for one of their animals. Apparently it is quite rare in Shepherds, but is linked to large breed dogs and apparently horses as well. Any feedback would be appreciated. At this stage it is back to vets on Monday to do the mylogram, so fingers crossed for a good outcome

Regards

Stevo

Nowdays it's rare but used to be very common in Shepards, it has been bred out of them, but there are still cases of it in some dogs that come from some dog breeders.

Inquire at your local vet, don't know if it can be fixed or not, he will know, i hope it turns out to be positive, i'm a dog lover too.

Baz.

Nowdays it's rare but used to be very common in Shepards, it has been bred out of them, but there are still cases of it in some dogs that come from some dog breeders.

Inquire at your local vet, don't know if it can be fixed or not, he will know, i hope it turns out to be positive, i'm a dog lover too.

Baz.

Thanks mate, most of the information on the net seems to relate the syndrome to mainly danes and dobermanns, then the larger type dogs. Vet concurred that rare now days in Shepherds. I know the breeding of the dog as my previous boy was via the same bloodline through top breeders. Another member on here is a vet and helping me with some information too.

Regards

Stevo

lol the pic of the poor fella shaved looks funny though

lol the pic of the poor fella shaved looks funny though

Yes, he does look like a huge rat, bit hard to get used to him, especially my 4 yr old. He wouldn't go near him at first , but I told him it was still our Diesy Boy, and we have to love him all the same,

Regards

Stevo

QUOTE:For a while I thought he may have been a bit wobbly with his legs ( Shepherds have a history of Hip Dysplasia) but was told all ok by vet, moreso he was gangly. About 3 weeks ago, poor buggar got nailed by a tick and into the vets. He came out the other side looking like a large rat . Pics of him below, one playing with the Bengal and the other shaved from head to toe .

A tip on Ticks, I live in a high tick area and we were always racing our dogs off to the vets every time they got a tick @ $80 a pop, had to go to a different Vet one day and he said not to remove the tick or go to a Vet and have him remove it and get a needle. his tip was leave the tick on for a couple of days and then remove it and unless the dog is falling over, DONT get the needle, as it removes any immunity that the dog may develop.
So I followed his instructions and after a few months my dogs aren't bothered by Ticks, if you leave them on for a few days (not long enough for the dog to get the staggers) and then remove them the dog tends to build up an immunity, started doing this 15 years ago and have not lost one dog to ticks, yet the neighbours that take their dog to the Vet, have the tick removed and get the needle have lost 3 or 4 dogs to ticks, I wouldn't do it to a very old or very young or feeble dog, anyway check it out with a Vet, I think there's some on this Forum, Regards Frank.

Stevo

There is not much you can do about it other than love him as a mate.

My Pug dog, came from the breeder as a companion for my Pug bitch. Over the next few weeks I noticed he was always falling over and wouldn't go down stairs. Off to the vet, then the vet specialist it turns out he has a similar nerve problem to wobbler's syndrome in the cerebellum and spine called a Chiari malformation. It affects his balance and the nerve conduction to his hind legs, he doesn't know where they are and hence an unusual gait and falling over. There is no treatment.

The option was to return him to the breeder where he would have been put down. He was a good friend to our other Pug and the separation would have caused fretting at least for a while, so we kept him. We made a ramp for him to run down to the back yard and he didn't die at around 12 months which was a risk.

The ramp went when he became more confident with the steps, in fact he does a superman impression, front legs out as if flying and waits till he lands. (Lets hope he doesn't try it on a staircase with more than 4 steps! )

Now 3 years later he is a happy feller who doesn't know he is disabled and although he occasionally falls over he just gets ups and keeps doing what ever his mind is set on doing. He is a bundle of laughs and a good and faithful friend. (That's him in my avatar)

Diana

A tip on Ticks, I live in a high tick area and we were always racing our dogs off to the vets every time they got a tick @ $80 a pop, had to go to a different Vet one day and he said not to remove the tick or go to a Vet and have him remove it and get a needle. his tip was leave the tick on for a couple of days and then remove it and unless the dog is falling over, DONT get the needle, as it removes any immunity that the dog may develop.
So I followed his instructions and after a few months my dogs aren't bothered by Ticks, if you leave them on for a few days (not long enough for the dog to get the staggers) and then remove them the dog tends to build up an immunity, started doing this 15 years ago and have not lost one dog to ticks, yet the neighbours that take their dog to the Vet, have the tick removed and get the needle have lost 3 or 4 dogs to ticks, I wouldn't do it to a very old or very young or feeble dog, anyway check it out with a Vet, I think there's some on this Forum, Regards Frank.

With Diesel he already had the wobblies and at 6mths old not worth the risk, interesting to know though.

Stevo

There is not much you can do about it other than love him as a mate.

My Pug dog, came from the breeder as a companion for my Pug bitch. Over the next few weeks I noticed he was always falling over and wouldn't go down stairs. Off to the vet, then the vet specialist it turns out he has a similar nerve problem to wobbler's syndrome in the cerebellum and spine called a Chiari malformation. It affects his balance and the nerve conduction to his hind legs, he doesn't know where they are and hence an unusual gait and falling over. There is no treatment.

The option was to return him to the breeder where he would have been put down. He was a good friend to our other Pug and the separation would have caused fretting at least for a while, so we kept him. We made a ramp for him to run down to the back yard and he didn't die at around 12 months which was a risk.

The ramp went when he became more confident with the steps, in fact he does a superman impression, front legs out as if flying and waits till he lands. (Lets hope he doesn't try it on a staircase with more than 4 steps! )

Now 3 years later he is a happy feller who doesn't know he is disabled and although he occasionally falls over he just gets ups and keeps doing what ever his mind is set on doing. He is a bundle of laughs and a good and faithful friend. (That's him in my avatar)

Diana

Great stuff, was just watching Diesel outside with my 4 yr old, where ever he goes, Diesel goes with him. When he saw me, he came running in his own current special way to say g'day then back off to "look" after my son . I have had some good advice from another member here ( a vet) so hopefully soon will know some outcomes. My main fear was if it were dysplasia, back when I was a child I had a shepherd who had it and in those days, the answer was the needle .

Regards

Stevo

Originally Posted by stevo68

My main fear was if it were dysplasia, back when I was a child I had a shepherd who had it and in those days, the answer was the needle .

Regards

Stevo

I have a Curlry Coat Retriever who is suffering from this (hip dysplasia) at the moment.
Upon vets advice, next week is looking very grim for him if he doesn't show much improvement.

Hope your mate gets better.

Dave.