We took our crew to the big (100 + acres) off leash dog area of Cherry Creek State Park this afternoon. Torry, who suffered a fibrocartilagenous emboli (FCE) in June, using her 'wheels' always draws a lot of attention and a lot of questions. We had just arrived and were starting down the path when a young man came up pretty stressed. He was walking up to the parking lot to get his truck (vehicles are not normally allowed). His not-quite-year old Lab had suddenly gotten all wobbly on her hind legs and couldn't walk. He left his wife with her and was rushing to get the truck so he could rush the dog to the vet.

He pointed out which path they were on, and we headed down that direction. We visited with the lady for awhile and the husband arrived with the truck. By that time, the dog got up and was walking pretty normally. From what I have read, it seemed like a likely case of EIC. It was the first time they had seen anything like it in their dog. It was the first time out with their new Chuck-It toy.

We were able to 'educate' the couple about EIC and what they likely saw in their dog. We encouraged them to research it on line and call the breeder to let them know what had happened.

It was sad to see a young couple so stressed on what should have been a nice Saturday afternoon outing.

I hope that anyone that decides to breed a litter of pups ensures that they are not producing a pup that will put someone in such a stressful situation. Don't just stick your head in the sand and say 'I have never seen EIC, I don't think it's really an issue'.

Enough unpreventable things can happen.

A friend of mine has a lab that gets really excited to see her son when he comes home, he takes her out and throws for her and she gets revved up. One day she collapsed but kept trying to go. And then recovered quickly.
I told her to get the dog EIC tested.....came back positive
I agree DO NOT put your head in the sand....these are sporting dogs, supposed to be able to do the job and be athletic.......

Thank you for telling these stories. There are a lot of us who need to hear them. This is something that occurs more often than we think with pet owners who have no idea what it is and who take their dog to vets who also have no idea. Besides, by the time the dog is to the vet, they are usually fine.

I am begging all of you who are choosing to ignore or disregard this test, to please dig deep and think hard about your decision not to test. What is your true intention?

If you don't think it is definitive enough, please help by testing your dogs so that more can be learned.

These are our labradors. We are the caretakers. Our puppy buyers are counting on US to do what is best for them.

Careful all you budding vets. A suddenly warm afternoon in February is the classic time for dogs to overheat. If their owners stop the exercise quickly, it does not progress from wobbly legs to full blown heat exhaustion.

Not a budding vet but have read enough of the literature to know the difference between heat collapse and EIC. EIC signs quickly reverse, 5-15 minutes, up to 25 max. Heat exhaustion/stroke does not (usually at least a couple of hours). Read the U of MN site that describes this further. http://www.vdl.umn.edu/ourservices/canineneuromuscular/taylor2008/home.html

I now know two (2) folks who have lost dogs to what appears to be EIC.

NEITHER did posts. Both have pups from the bitches.

Unacceptable to me.

I sold a litter of puppies to a family with full disclosure that both parents were carriers (found out after the breeding had taken place). I tested all the puppies and the one they got was clear.

To help them understand I gave them the UMN website to read and see the video of the EIC collapse.

On his next visit he told me that his dog did what he saw in the picture. It would last a few minutes and then he's be fine.

I know the breeder of his dog (rest her soul!) and I KNOW the pedigree of that dog. I'm sure it would shock many of you to know what produced this affected puppy.

When this puppy was produced I'm sure the breeder never even heard of EIC. She would have been just in the early stages of x-raying elbows and the PRA DNA test was in the "maybe next year" stage. That was then and this is now. I just hope less of us here about stories like this with regards to our puppies in the future.

What causes a dog to die from EIC?

This was NOT a case of heat exhaustion. My husband IS a veterinarian. He knows what heat exhaustion looks like.

Sue

If your husband is a vet, he should no better than to
diagnose an illness based on a second hand description,
especially if the symptoms might cause death.
Even the people at UMN have struggled to clearly
define when EIC occurs and when something else
is causing the symptoms.

"I sold a litter of puppies to a family with full disclosure that both parents were carriers (found out after the breeding had taken place). I tested all the puppies and the one they got was clear.

On his next visit he told me that his dog did what he saw in the picture. It would last a few minutes and then he's be fine."

PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS - WHERE WAS THIS CLEAR PUP TESTED? WERE THE PUPS MICROCHIPPED TO BE SURE THE CORRECT PUPS WERE CLEAR/CARRIER/AFFECTED? THIS PUP SHOULD NOT HAVE A COLLAPSE IF IT TESTED CLEAR.

The case that I am talking about was a 20 degree day in Jan.

It's my understanding that two carriers CAN NOT produce a clear!

Two carriers would produce 25% affected, 25% clear and 50% carriers. Same as if you bred to By dogs. You'd get 25% yellow, 25% BB and 50% By.
As for the person with a clear puppy. I believe they were saying the family had a different puppy. Because she later says she knows the breeder of the dog that is collapsing! I think its two different dogs.

I had a field/show trainer friend who could not figure out why this dog would collaspe when the family got home. They thought for years it was having a slight siezure but could never tell that for sure. This was about 4 years ago before all this talk started. Now thinking back it does sound more like EIC. I think this look has been written off as something else or was never figured out until now. Sad.

An affected con not produce a clear only carriers and affecteds

Geez- no wonder I have avoided this forum. We did not automatically diagnois EIC, just let the people (typical puppy buyers who had done some basic research) know about something that many breeders are burying their heads in the sand about.

Another reason I hate forums is nobody has to sign their names!

Sue - who no longer wants to ever breed a Lab litter and is seriously questioning whether our next dog will even be a Lab.

I had a moment of confusion as well, but since she commented that the BREEDER of the collapsing dog was someone else, I had to infer that the couple had ANOTHER Labrador in addition to the pup she bred.

I need to stop typing so late at night.

The entire litter I bred WAS permanently identified prior to testing and every puppy was tested.

The dog that collapsed was one that was purchased from another breeder.

Sue, reading your first post, you most did certainly tell the couple that the most likely cause for their
dog's symptoms--which you never saw--was EIC. You also
told them that the breeders were putting their heads in
the sand about this illness. And who's the nasty one?