i think they can test for that

 

They can test for it. I spoke with her owner to see if she had considered the possibility, but she wasn't interested since it wouldn't change her current prognosis. She is heart broken at the moment, and doesn't want to worry about anything else.

I've ordered a test for my pup through Orivet. That way if she doesn't want to test, as I expect that she doesn't, then the information can still be figured out. If my pup is a carrier, I'd bet with her sister's symptoms that she does in fact have dwarfism.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your puppy's littermate. That must be heartbreaking for her family. I would probably let the breeder know about the heart defects right away and if anything else is discovered let them know about that also.

 

Her owner is devastated and heart broken. I feel so sad for her and the poor pup!

The breeder does know. The puppies owner and the breeder have been in contact. They are currently not on good terms.

The reason why I took the initiative to ask some questions is because I felt that the possibility of dwarfism was not considered by either of them. I know what the father of our puppies has sired many puppies, and I currently expect that likely hood that he is a carrier is very high. Since I do not believe that my puppies littermate's owner will test her for dwarfism, I figured that if I did my puppy then I could prove that if she is a carrier that that information should be taken into consideration when considering him for future stud work.

Another point to consider is that their mother has had three litters with the same sire, and all of which I believe had 5 puppies. With dwarfism from my understanding, most puppies are miscarried before birth or fall to 'fading puppy syndrome'. While that many puppies is considered rather normal it is still below average, which could indicate that when the ressive genes match up there are less puppies.

I ordered a dwarfism test for my puppy through orivet today. I won't have results for quite some time though.

 

Here's some information. The second article shows what to possibly expect as the dog ages.


What to do if you have a dwarf - German Shepherd Pituitary Dwarfism


https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/exmmen/tiger-is-a-three-year-old-german-shepherd-with-dwarfism

 

The article from about Tiger was posted to reddit a few times, which is why I know about the possibility in the breed to begin with.
The other article I read through earlier today. It helped solidify the idea in my mind that there is a strong correlation between the symptoms of the puppy and dwarfism.

The article I read today that lead me to asking for people's experiences on the matter is the one below:
GSD Pituitary Dwarfism - German Shepherd Pituitary Dwarfism

 

She got the defective puppy in the litter, that is all. In all likelihood, much more is wrong with the puppy than just the heart problems, and she is very likely to lose the dog.

If I were in her shoes, all I would want to hear is, “I am so sorry you are going through all of this,” and not much else. Especially from the lucky owner who got a normal pup from this litter.

 

That's basically all I've done is show sympathy. I still feel personally invested in figuring this out since I flipped a coin to pick between my pup and the sick puppy that she got. A coin toss determined their owners. I feel personally invested in my pup's sister, and if her owner doesn't want to look for answers then I'm feel the urge to ask a few questions here or there that's all.

 

The average sized litter is actually more like 5-6 and they can get smaller as the bitch ages.



Very sorry about the littermate.