i am just interested in knowing just how common this problem is? i have done some research on it, and plan to do more.
the reason why i am asking about this is because my friends lab that she got free from a BYB pot. has this. when a person that owns a dog at my work goes on break they take their pet as well as everyone elses out to a large fenced in area to play.
anywho a girl at my works "yellow lab"(not really sure she is all lab) has been showing signs of this prob. the last couple weeks.its not consistent, other then today the last time that we noticed something was about two weeks ago, and the time before that was about a week before. so in all people at my work have noticed the prob three times total. each time that it happened it was a warmer day then the norm so we just assumed that she was just hot and such. today she started off limping and then kind of got into a drunk behavior.
after today we think it is in fact EIC, and are now going to change things around for her.mainly not have her out as many times throughout the day witht he other dogs, and when she does go out only take one or two dogs out with her and see if that is better for her.
i just looked in my 5in binder of research on labs and found some good stuff for her to try out like maybe higher fat foods or steriods. as well as maybe trying to tlak her into submittinger dogs bld,as well as try and call the "breeder" of her dog and get a pedigree on her to send in for testing and research info.

so after all that if anyone could answer my question on just how common this is in labs i would apreciate it. now i know its not a sure science yet but maybe some people have had dogs/litters with this prob, or at least know of dogs witht he prob. now i am not looking for names of people/dogs or anything i just want numbers. if you want to email me you cn do that too. sorry for the long post.
adam

also i plan to contact a local vet that has seen a handfull of dogs with it and see if she has any good info to share.
adam

I wonder if EIC is more common than we truly see or know. I have a boy that exhibits all the symtoms from time to time and only when we take him for walks. After about 20 minutes into the walk he begins to wobble in the rear and within minutes drags his back legs. We sit for about 15 min to 1/2 hour and we're back to normal. I don't take him too far anymore. But anyway, we have an 1-1/2 acre fenced in exercise area for the dogs and he never, never exhibits this when running in the exercise area or around our property and have really just wondered how common EIC is since if I didn't take him off property for runs, I would have never noticed this. I know many breeders just use exercise yards or runs and this could be concealed for the life of the dog. I do know he has produced this in one pup of a litter he sired before we saw the problem. His sire is a heavily used stud and his dam is from well known lines. So I do wonder how many dogs are bred from not knowing that EIC is present as it's just not been noticed.

thanks for the response. iam going to see if i can contact eh university of minn. to see if they have any updates on their research on the prob.
sorry to hear about your dog, thats to bad that he is an effect carrier of eic. now have you tred any of the things they mention to do like the steriods and such to see if it helps?
adam

No, haven't tried any meds as he lives a generally normal life and does not affect him all the time, only on occasion, so we just limit the long walks and all is well. It does seem the hotter weather does have more effect on him maybe because he tires more easily??? Please post if you find out any new info.

What is E.I.C.?? TIA

EIC stands for Exercise Induced Collapse. It is genetic and can be fatal if the dog has a severe attack in hot or hot and humid weather.

It is diagnosed more often in field dogs, I think most probably because they are exercised at a higher and more consistent level than pets or conformation dogs.

I would agree that some dogs may never exhibit the symptoms if they live a sheltered/controlled enough life.

MK

Tks! I have heard of this - just wasn't sure if what I was thinking of and EIC were the same thing.

Adam, here are some sites I've bookmarked about EIC that you may find interesting:

http://thelabradorclub.com/library/eicstudy.html

http://www.working-retriever.com/library/collapse.html

http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/ada_studies.php?col=study&val=239

thanks for the links.:)
i have the/some information printed off from thelabradorclub.com link, but i will def. check the other ones out. when i go to work today i will see about finding out the information i talked about earlier.
thanks again
adam

YW. I know trialers who have experienced this and are researching cause, effect, remedies, etc. but there are a lot of variables to deal with.

I'm afraid EIC is more common than people think.
It must be specifically diagnosed by a vet after multiple other tests have been run. I have not seen a case personally, but have been told by someone who has that it can look very much like heat exhaustion. However, with EIC one usually sees a dog who gets very excited in warmer weather collapse in the rear while the front of the dog continues to try to function normally. For example the dog goes out for a bumper or bird, collapses because the rear legs stop functioning, yet the dog is still trying to get to the mark by using it's front legs. It is still quite conscious of it's surroundings.
The sad part of this disease is that there is no test for it and dogs that have thrown it continue to be bred....
I would encourage your friend to contact the person in the link below to give a blood sample.
http://www.retrievertraining.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28093

Sherri, that's what I've heard too. Can't imagine it - how awful! I understand research is ongoing and here, one of the biggest contributors pushing for answers is from our various police canine units who use labs regularly in their work.

ya today i am going to talk to her about send out bld and contacting the lady who gave her the dog, or see if she could give me the contact info to see if she would do it too as well as give the animals ped.
adam

Not to mention that there are a dozen other diseases that present with the same symptoms.

We suspected my boy had it until we discovered a late-closing puppy murmur, which closed at some point between 24 and 36 months of age. (determined normal via color doppler.)

well i talked tot he girl at my work today aobut her dog and what she plans to do. she said that she isn't going to do anything serious about it. she said that she is just going to mon. the dogs exercise and stuff and make sure to not put her in sitchs where this could happen again, or at least try for this. i asked about the testing and sucha and she said that she did do some research on it through VIN but decided against it. she said that they needed muscle biops and stuff which would be painful, etc for the dog and that she didn't want to put her through that. i still plan to talk and get info on it from another coworker who has seen this in dogs at her last job. hopefully i can contact the vet that saw these dogs and ask questions. i will let you guys know how it goes.
adam