Shrinking teams

[flowerpower]

Sorry, Scott Janssen. It was his dog.

[elsietee]

Sorry, Scott Janssen. It was his dog.

Well, small mercies at least, that it wasn't a second dog of Scott Smith's.
So sad for all the mushers/dog owners/dog handlers involved. It's so hard.

[fladogfan]

Aw Scott

[Di*]

This has to be a record year for dog deaths or does it just seem that way?

[mamamia]

I don't think it is a record year but after so many years without any this is rather shocking. It used to be that we would have 2, 3, 4 dog deaths each year from aspiration pneumonia related to stress ulcers. Then they got that under control with preventative meds and dog deaths went down to 0. Suddenly we are seeing more dogs die both in the Iditarod and the quest from sudden "collapse" later determines to be cardiac related and with an enlarged heart (see the report of Yukon Honda's dog necropsy that was released by the YQ a couple of days ago). It makes one wonder. There is quite a bit of related breeding among the racing kennels and you have to wonder if there are some unfortunate genetics being passed around. It will be interesting to see what comes from the necropsies of this year's dogs. What is hugely concerning to me is the dog deaths after after drop and while in the care of the ITC. That has only started happening in the last 5 years or so. You can't argue that it is becaue the race is bigger because it is not. Before the economic downturn there were years when we had nearly 100 teams signing up.

[mithious]

I think this might be a good time to bring this up. Lots of mushers, people involved in the race, and fans, have noticed the return of the "wobbly dogs" as they called it, lately. I haven't heard much about any "new" blood in AK sled dogs, in any significant way, since around when Swingley was racing and they tried adding the hounds...Well.... discussed it on another platform, and we came up with an idea. What about some kind of "Snickers like fund" for this? I mean research found the ulcer problem and fixed that, is anyone interesting in doing or helping with a research fund, maybe with Brent's name on it? I am, there is one other person in AK willing to work on a Fund for Research, can we raise some cash to help this research along? There have been leaps and bounds in sleddog genetic science lately. What do you all think? Can WE all do a fund to help the future of racing dogs? Who can, or wants to help? I will help behind the scenes, in any way I can or am needed, but would really like someone else to take the reins due to health concerns on my part.

[mamamia]

I know they are already doing research on a genetic disorder called Alaska Husky Encephalopathy (AHE) which is a horrible neurologic disease that causes problems with walking and seizures. The affected dogs do not live to be a year old. It has been identified in many of the kennels and there has been talk of some kennels where the incidence is extremely high but in typical mushr fashion no names are spoken out loud but only hinted at. To have the true expression of the disease the litter must have both parents that are carriers. Some genetic testing is being done but some mushers are also resistant. It is expensive to test 100 dogs. There is also discussion about whether or not it is ok to breed a carrier to a non carrier knowing that the disease wouldn't show up in the litter. It is something that is just begining to be understood but I have to wonder if the carriers don't have some mild or hidden effects of the gene and the dots aren't being connected. I have no scientific basis for that thought other than my own understanding of disease and genetics.

That said I have full confidence that the vets under the direction of Stu Nelson will spot a pattern if one is there and research it. It is just going to take some time like it did with the ulcer problem. The other issue will always the logistics and cost of testing the dogs. They already do EKG's at the vet check but that won't necessarily show up cardiomyopathy. That would require and ultrasound.

[elsietee]

...Suddenly we are seeing more dogs die both in the Iditarod and the quest from sudden "collapse" later determines to be cardiac related and with an enlarged heart ... There is quite a bit of related breeding among the racing kennels and you have to wonder if there are some unfortunate genetics being passed around.

You know, I was thinking about this last night - thinking about Brent's dogs - and then thinking about the two on Lance's team who dropped without warning during last year's race. I know Brent bred from one of Lance's dogs "Chicken" and admittedly have no idea what the genetics are of the two sets of dogs in question - and if they are even related to Chicken, but it does give you pause.

What is hugely concerning to me is the dog deaths after after drop and while in the care of the ITC. That has only started happening in the last 5 years or so. You can't argue that it is becaue the race is bigger because it is not. Before the economic downturn there were years when we had nearly 100 teams signing up.

Which others? The only other one I came up with was Paige's dog in Unk.

Considering how many dogs are being dropped (probably close to half the field ... says 70 teams x 16 dogs = 1,120 dogs... maybe 60% get dropped = 672 dogs...), and considering they are being handled in a stressful situation (both dogs and people out of home environment, potential weather issues [too hot/too cold, etc]) and being handled by people who don't intimately know those dogs and their specific idiosyncracies, on the whole the dogs seem to come out of it OK (correct me if I'm wrong - I'm not hearing any complaints of dogs arriving at their destinations in bad shape?).

[mamamia]

I know that the incidence of dog deaths after being dropped is statistically low but this year we had not only two deaths but another dog that ended up in the ER with a temp of 109. And then there was Paige's dog in Unalakleet a few years ago. Although this is statistically low it scares me more than the collapses on the trail and if I was a musher it would scare me too. Particularly since we had three dogs this year alone affected during transport. Memory is a funny thing. Although those three are not statistically significant the fact that they are recent makes me feel it more deeply. I'm posting a link to an ADN article that details the dog deaths over the last 10 years. They do mention a dog that died in 2006 after a particularly turbulent plane ride. I think it was after that they started using the transport bags.
https://www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/ ... st-decade/

After you read that one read this but have the tissues handy.
http://northwapiti.blogspot.com/

Of course facebook has plenty to say about about all this but what I found interesting is the discussion of sudden collapse during exercise like chasing a ball that has become a really bad problem in Boxers and Dobermans. I can't quote the numbers but it is hugely statistically significant and is decimating those breeds. The belief is that it is so deeply ingrained in their genetics that it can't be fixed. I know Exercise Induced Collapse exists in my breed and we are doing everything we can to test for it and breed it out. I'm hoping that the vets are putting this all together but genetics is a tricky thing and I'm not sure what can be done about it in the near future. At the very least identifying it will take some of the pressure off of the mushers who do have a dog collapse and have to suffer not only the self recrimination but the public flogging that seems to follow.

[mamamia]

After posting this I came upon an article about Dobermans. The article is very scientific but the introduction is worth quoting here.

The Doberman Pinscher is in serious trouble. About 60% of the breed is afflicted with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), with 13% affected by the time they are 6 years old and more than 40% by the age of 8. The disorder has an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance, but the causative genes are unknown.DCM is fatal. The heart fails, sometimes in the absence of any symptoms of a problem, and the dog simply drops dead - in the middle of a game of fetch, during a run on an agility course, or while the family is away during the day at work and school. Most dogs die in their prime and even younger.We have good data about the history of DCM in the breed. In 1990, the incidence was already quite high, with more than 25% of dogs affected. Since then, DCM has increased essentially linearly by about 1.5% per year. At this rate, by 2040, 100% of the Doberman breed will be afflicted with DCM.

If you want to read the whole thing it is here: http://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org ... n-pinscher