Little Bo Boop

My suggestion would be to start out by worming your dog, with fenbendazole and pyrantel pamoate. Parasites can def. cause periodic loose stool, and oft times this alone will remedy the problem. I'd also get him on a good probiotic. A b12 supplement wouldn't hurt and as I always suggest NAC. Giving pumpkin etc...might fix the immediate issue, it's only temporary, you need to address the the problem, what's causing the diarrhea. Another supplement I'm using now is berberine, it's excellent for gut health, but when you first get on it it can cause looseness and some gastric upset, that scares some folks, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you're willing to deal with a couple days of possible loose poop and a bit of a belly ache. All my dogs are on all of these supplements, and my husband and I take the same (to include the wormer!) I won't give my dog/s anything that I won't take. Good luck with the puppers!

Glad to hear he's doing better! I would still consider putting him on the NAC, you can get it at most health food stores or online on Amazon, Iherb, vitacost, even walmart. I recommend the Now brand. It's fairly inexpensive and def. worth it. Continued quiet nights to you guys!!

N-Acetylcysteine. Here is a quick rundown of some of the benefits of NAC. Myself, my husband and all my dogs are on it, as well as a good many of my sheepdog friends. It's a gamechanger. A friend of mine had an older dog that was slowing down, she put him on NAC and a couple other supplements I recommended and within 2 months she won her first Open trial at a pretty tough trial here in Texas. As an aside, my dogs and myself contracted bartonella, and NAC was crucial for our recovery. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nac-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_9

It sounds like a UTI. I had the same issue with my 15 yr old Bill a couple of years ago. In elderly humans UTI's can present as dementia, same goes for dogs. Acting disinterested, barking at night is a big one, staring at the door or other objects. The fact that your dog goes out and there is scant urine is also a clue. I would get him checked for a UTI, in the mean time make sure his teeth are good, bad teeth/gums equal kidney problems or heart problems. I would also consider putting him on NAC, it's an amazing hepatic and renal support and it does wonders with arthritic dogs (people too) at almost 16 my Bill can still jump up on the sofa, and if I'd let him he'd try to jump up in the truck. The NAC is also used for mental issues like anxiety OCD etc...my dogs get at least 2Kmgs a day. Also of note, I see he's on Gabapentin, there have been some studies that link gabapentin to UTI's in the elderly, so that might be something to look at as well. It might be all you need is a round of antibiotics to fix your kiddo. Luck!!

You are very welcome. If I can be of any help, feel free to pm me or email me. If it turns out it is biliary sludge, they will only prescribe a 'bandaid' in the form of synthetic bile (ursidiol) It's expensive and your dog will have to be on it for life. If indeed it is b sludge (which I have a pretty strong suspicion it is) I can share with you what I treated with, and it resolved it completely. Good luck with your puppers <3

"Wouldn't an infection of any internal organ show up in a CBC" No, not necessarily. My dog had the bacterial infection, Bartonella (pretty sure it caused the biliary sludge) and her blood work was pristine. There are a number of bugs out there that are what we call 'stealth pathogens'. What that means is these pathogens, be they bacterial, viral, fungal, basically go to an organ, or it can be tissue as well, but they set up shop, and shelter in either mucous or they encyst, and become encapsulated, the pathogen is then hidden from the immune system, also makes it difficult for ABX to get to them. I know the expense can get out of hand (trust me, I totally get that) but if I had a 12-13 yr. I would (and have) spring for the ultrasound. I paid about $300 a dog here in Texas, and they looked at everything. If you're going to be doing blood work every 3 to 4 months, well you do the math...seems it would be cheaper to get the ultrasound. All that being said, biliary sludge can cause pancreatitis, since your dog seems to be asymptomatic, your vet was calling pancreatitis going by blood work, correct? Biliary sludge is present in a lot of dogs, especially older dogs, it wasn't until they started ultrasounds on dogs as routine, that they started seeing it. Most dogs with biliary sludge are asymptomatic, until they aren't. Just like people who have gallbladder attacks, and end up having emergency surgery to remove the gallbladder, same thing happens with dogs. I would at least ask your vet about the possibility of b sludge, since she has no other explanation for the elevated enzymes...B sludge should be on her differential IMHO. I had to go to a specialist to get the b sludge diagnoses, so don't know if reg. vets look for that... I would urge you to look at a supplement called NAC. It's what I use on my dog/s (my husband and I are both on it as well) It resolved the b sludge in my young dog, and as it so happens it's also used for treatment of pancreatitis. It's also a very powerful liver support, and is used as treatment for Tylenol poisoning. I swear by this stuff. Here is just one abstract on NAC and pancreatitis. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51131605_N-acetylcysteine_in_acute_pancreatitis

Did he/she get an ultrasound? Billiary sludge will/can present as pancreatitis. It's basically an infection of the gallbladder. It's quite common in older dogs, I actually had it in a 3 yr old dog. They will prescribe synthetic bile, and eventual gallbladder surgery/removal. I opted for my own protocol and it was resolved in 3 months. I'd be happy to share my protocol with you if you like.

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Have your dog tested for Bartonella. Have the blood sent to https://cvm.ncsu.edu/research/labs/clinical-sciences/vector-borne-disease/. PM me or email me at boopster100@msn.com I'll give you my thoughts, for what it's worth :-)

My husband was an AF pilot, one day he was flying formation, when he got super disoriented, luckily he was in a 2 seat aircraft, and the other pilot landed the jet...he was taken off flying status for a year, while they tried to figure out what was going on with him. He suffered from nystagmus as well...he spent a lot of time at the aerospace hospital, where they did all sorts of tests on him, to include inducing nystagmus...they pour warm then cold water in your ear :-O. They never did find out what was going on, but it resolved itself, and he was able to fly again.

Yes, thanks, I saw that, the PTPRQ. It looks like the dobermans are born with the vestibular issues, and then they go deaf, that's why my vet suggested I get his hearing tested (I initially thought Hogan had a hearing problem, but I now attribute that to the vision issue) Pretty sure his hearing is ok. After thinking about this all night, I don't think congenital vestibular disease is the right diagnoses, at least I don't believe it to be the inheritable form (I'm assuming there is an idiopathic form?) If he had/has the inheritable form, then that would mean that both his sire and dam would be carriers for that gene as well, and I find that very hard to believe, I would imagine the odds of that happening would be slim to none. At this point I am at a loss...While I'm very happy that Hogan isn't in pain or suffering, very grateful for that!! It's very frustrating not knowing what or where this came from. I really would have liked to use him as a stock dog, but I don't think that's going to happen...the nystagmus really skews his vision (I believe) I'll still try him, maybe at some point his brain will adjust or adapt to the problem...

If you go back to the MDR1 thread, you will see that I posted about my pup that was suffering from nystagmus and what I thought to be some loss of vision. While I couldn't say nor did I know, if it could have something to do with the MDR1 issue, it concerned me, and I came here, hoping to get some answers. Well fast forward to today. after doing blood work, thyroid panels, and checking inner ears,(which all came back normal) I decided to take my 14 month old dog, Hogan, to an ophthalmologist. He did all the standard tests, ocular pressure, tear production etc...all tests were within normal perimeters. He didn't think Hogan had any vision loss, but rather, what I was seeing was his nystagmus, he thinks it probably makes it hard for him to focus, the nystagmus seems to be more pronounced when he's excited or nervous. The diagnoses is Congenital vestibular disease . Per vet: "There is no recommended course of action beyond examination of the ears and consideration of a neurology consultation. An underlying cause is unlikely to be determined in this case since thepatient is otherwise normal in every other way." We both agreed that a neurological consult would not really be warranted, as he suffers no other symptoms, neurological symptoms that you would normally associate with vestibular disease (thank god) no head tilt, ataxia, uncoordinated, nausea... So basically it is what it is...nothing we can do about this, no meds etc. to resolve this, hopefully he will adapt to this and maybe at some point I'll even be able to work him on stock (vet said it wasn't out of the question) regardless, he's got a home for life, and I'm just happy that he's not suffering or hurting from this condition. Now :-( this is something that is very concerning, "congenital vestibular disease has been determined to be an inherited autosomal recessive trait. " Now I have to ask, where did this come from? Have any of you come across such a thing in Border Collies? I've never heard of it...is there a DNA test for this? Sorry, but this is all kind of mind blowing for me... This is a vid. of Hogan, it was taken pre op for his neuter, no drugs had been admin. yet. This is the nystagmus, Nystagmus is defined as rapid, uncontrolled eye movement.

"Welcome to our sport, Mr. Drake. My strongest recommendation is to ignore the haters..." Totally off base with that remark. Nobody hates Steve and nobody hates TG. Steve is a very nice man, and 'on the right sheep' TG is a very nice dog. Although a novice handler, Steve actually handles TG quite well, the problem arises when the sheep are heavy, he can't lift or move the sheep...TG has a son running in TX right now, that is the same way...if the sheep are right he's golden, if they aren't, you're marching up the field to get your dog...The gentleman that ran TG at the BG owns that dog (the son of) he's also a very good handler, handling wasn't the issue with the dog not lifting the sheep, the issue was/is with the dog. My guess is in the UK, he'll probably clean up on the trial field, here in the US, on our sheep? not so much. I understand there are some TG pups out there right now, that were crossed on cattle dog lines, to put a little more juice in the mix...I hear the pups that a couple of friends have are doing quite well so far, but just yearlings... TG has been here for a while now, so it's not a matter of him just getting off the boat and not adjusting...I think it is a real issue, and I for one wish I had seen/known about it before I bought a pup from that line...Hey, nobody wants to hear negative things about their dog, but if you are putting your dog out there for stud, charging money, and people are putting their money and hopes on getting a nice working/trial dog, I think I think it only fair they have all the info. available, then they can assess, and make the determination on whether they want to get a pup from this line. I didn't know about any of these issues before I got my pup, had I known, I would most def. passed.

I give up. Thank you for your time. I said from the start I didn't intend to make a crusade out of this. I've said my piece, voiced my concerns, that's all I can do. I will however make my thoughts known within my own little sphere of influence, best I can do.

If you followed the thread, it was clear that Mark was referring to the the dog I was referencing, TG was the dog in question pretty much throughout the entire thread, and TG is an international champion, by way of winning the European nursery championship. As you said, I'm not being snarky, but do you know what dog we are talking about here? I fully admit to you that before all this came up, I thought all this DNA testing had gone way overboard, I have BC friends who are rabid about testing, they know every test, what they mean, all the tech. lingo LOL I knew CEA and that was about it...When this MDR1 thing popped up, I immediately thought oh, Ivomec sensitivity, no biggie, I always assumed you couldn't give Ivomec to Border Collies, no big life changer for me...well as it turns out, it's not just Ivomec, it's a myriad of other things, and from what I've read the list is growing, and the full impact of MDR1 is really still unknown. I think we need to be talking to the Aussie, Sheltie and Collie folks, see how they like having this mutation in their breed, and what kind of impact it has had on their dogs. From what I gather, the incidence of MDR1 in the US pop. of Border Collies, is/was very low, I believe it's higher in the UK. I'd be curious to see how many US dogs are MDR1 carriers. Also, keep in mind, this dog we are discussing, he was, at one time, I believe the 3rd leading sire in the world, they have bred the hell out of this dog. As a Border Collie owner, and as someone who LOVES the breed, this is what I would like to see from the ABCA, our steward of the breed. I would like, much like you did with the volume breeders list, information on the genetic defects that affect our breed. Yes, I know, we can always google things like that, but there's always the 'you don't know, what you don't know' . Give us a list of the issues, give us info. allow us to make informed decisions when purchasing a puppy. Had I known about this MDR1 stuff beforehand, I would not have purchased the pup I have now...and no way I would buy one in the future with that mutation. And as an aside, had I come on here, and read what Mark B. had to say, I would have merrily bought the pup, MDR1? not a problem!! Let us know! and don't talk over peoples heads, we aren't all science types, I don't know a heterozygote from a billy goat...explain things in terms we can understand, then we can make informed decisions. And lastly I would ask that you (not you personally) don't abuse or dismiss people that ask questions or bring up topics that maybe weren't on your radar, or that maybe you just don't think matter. Karen, might have been a bit abrasive in her approach, but she brought up a lot of good points, points that are worth looking into in my estimation, she tried to bring something to the board that she thought important, it impacted her, she has a pup from this line, she has a dog in the fight... I didn't always feel that way, but now I guess I have a dog in the fight as well... Final word, I don't know the impact of MDR1 on our dogs, it could be minimal could be nothing...but the thing is, we just don't know...I've seen enough to make me wonder, so if nothing else, IMHO it should be monitored, hell it doesn't cost anything, so what's the harm?