Hello :)

[lorihd@comcast.net]

hello, stem cell therapy? well arent you a great mommy. tazer looks so happy in his pictures, good luck to you and tazer

[LuvMyTazer]

Thanks everyone!! Haha I think his ears are the main reason everyone loves him! They give him so much character

Yes stem cell therapy. He is only 3 years old and his arthritis was horrible. We saw 3 orthopedic surgeons in person, sent his x-rays off to several others, and they all said the same thing, that there wasn't anything they could do. They could try surgery but none of them were convinced it would help very much so they didn't want to put him through it.
We had tried other things, nothing was working. This poor dog would literally just lay on my bed all day, he wouldn't come to greet me, he wouldn't eat, he had to rock himself to stand up. It was horrible to watch. I've been through a lot and Tazer has helped me through all of it so of course I couldn't just sit there and not do anything, like I said, he's my baby. So we opted to try stem cell therapy.
I was shocked because the very next day after his treatment he was SO much better! He was up, and happy and starving, kept jumping around and wanting to play. Which was great but also sucked at the same time because they have to be on activity restrictions for 90 days after treatment. The first 30 days they are really restricted, pretty much just walking is all they can do, then you start increasing his activity after that. So here he is, feeling fantastic finally and I had to hide all his toys and be a boring mom. Obviously the stem cells didn't work that fast but there assuming just the extra fluid in the joint capsules was what made him feel better the next day.

[Pooka14]

He's so cute! I love the ears - Pooka has expressive floppy ears. Glad to hear he is doing so much better.

[Geeheim]

Welcome to the forum! Tazer is gorgeous. =)

Maybe it's just the pictures but, he doesn't really look like a liver to me.

[onyx'girl]

This is the first I've heard of a GSD with health problems due to the color. Welcome LuvMyTazer, do you have his pedigree? I'm curious to see his lineage.

[Daisy&Lucky's Mom]

Originally Posted by Emoore

oooooOOOOOOOooooohhhhhhhhhh he has soft ears! I LOVE soft ears!

Me too! He is a handsome boy.

[bruiser]

Welcome Tazer, you're one good looking dog

[ChancetheGSD]

Originally Posted by Emoore

It's a color mutation where the part that would be black on a normal colored GSD shows up rusty reddish brown. Google "liver German Shepherd" for pics, or just wait to see the ones of Tazer. I don't *believe* that the liver color causes health problems the way white does in Dobies, for example, but if someone tries to breed for blues or livers they often end up with health problems due to the extremely small gene pool.

^ THIS! Liver color in it's self doesn't cause any problems, it's the small gene pool when people specifically breed for it that problems start popping up. Livers and blues are "normal" colors, they can pop up in any litter regardless of the breeders reputation or the color of the parents. However, most good breeders wont repair dogs who throw off colors because they're not of standard. (Technically speaking, the colors are only FAULTS to the standards. They become disqualified because they are dilutes and genetically unable to have black noses which the standard calls for.) Some people like to make money off these dogs and pair them together specifically for their colors. This is where the problems come in. However, you can take any color dog and breed close together and end up with the problems your boy has. It's nothing specific to his color it's self. Blues in breeds such as Dobermans DO cause problems, in the German Shepherd, it doesn't. (Liver coloring isn't a problem in any breed that I know of?) Sadly Tazer was just dealt overall bad cards with his genes it seems. Even his soft ears are the result of poor breeding. But he's incredibly lucky to have a wonderful furparent like you!

Gotta say, I'm very fond of liver GSDs! My boy Chance was a liver and tan and call me biased but I think he was a handsome guy because of his misfit coloring. I think your guy is too, and those ears just add so much personality!!

[LuvMyTazer]

Thanks everyone!!
I actually don't have his pedigree sorry!
It must just be the pictures though because he's very much so a liver. He has the liver pigmented skin and all. I tend to stay out of the argument about livers and health problems, I've heard every side of the story multiple times and I don't really pay much attention to it. It is what it is, he's been dealt the cards he has and we just work with what we got .
Personally I do think the color is very neat, it's different, and between that and his ears it's impossible to take this dog anywhere! We're constantly being stopped; good thing he's extremely friendly lol.
He's my little faulty misfit in every way: diluted color, soft ears, curly tail.... health issues :-/... but I love him for all of it!