Lucas is the world's biggest moosh!  He's such a love bug and smart as a whip!

He was bought as a pet but I had hopes of showing him to his Canadian Championship.  This was not possible but Lucas is still a champion in my heart. 

His Story.....

Lucas has been diagnosed with Wobbler's disease.  In his case C4 and C5 are out of alignment and are protruding up into his spinal canal.

I have elected to treat Lucas with Chiropractic adjustments and a low dose of steroids to manage the disease.  I do not feel that surgery would be a good option for Lucas and my veterinarian concurs.

I had thought of trying the Gold Bead Implant procedure and may well do so in the future, but for now Lucas is doing FANTASTIC with Chiro and 10 mg of prednisone every other day.  He is able to go for short walks and play with his "sister" Zaire.

It's funny, to see him around the house you would never know there is anything wrong with him.  But when he get's tired he'll start to knuckle over and drag his feet.

In hindsight Lucas has been showing signs of the disease since he was 4 or 5 months old.  I remember being very concerned about the terrible hackney gait he had at that age.  His breeder and other's felt he would outgrow it eventually, which he ultimately did at around 11 months of age for the most part.  It does recur when he is tired.  He also paced from a very early age, only very rarely would he have a normal gait.  To watch him go from a walk to a trot to a run was painful to watch as she shuffled along until he got enough speed to bunny hop away.

His right front leg was also turned out quite dramatically, and it's interesting to note that this is the foot leg that he first started dragging and knuckling over on at 16 months old.  This leg has finally straightened out but Lucas will occasionally stand with it twisted a little to the side.

Lucas is one of 3 pups that I know of in his litter that have wobblers or are exhibiting wobblers-like symptoms.  There are also numerous half-siblings and cousins out of Lucas' father and paternal grandfather that have been diagnosed with wobblers or are exhibiting wobblers-like symptoms.  

I have spoken to the owners of 2 half siblings (same sire) that have had myleograms and subsequent surgery perfomed on thier danes.  They were very happy with the outcome of the surgery for their danes.  They also informed me of another half sibling that had GBI to treat it's wobblers.

It remains to be seen how many more pups out of his mother or this line will develop symptoms of the disease. 

Wobblers Study in the UK...

The Great Dane Breed Council along with the individual Great Dane Clubs and the Animal Health Trust  in the UK has been leading a campaign to fund the introduction of a DNA test within the breed for Wobblers. 

They are looking for blood samples of affected Danes.  To find out more information and how to submit your sample go to the following website http://danecouncil.org.uk/ click on Health on the left hand side.

Spring 2007

Lucas continues to live a full life in spite of his wobblers condition.  He is able to go for hour long walks and plays with his "sister" Zaire in the yard.

He was recently diagnosed with Hypothyroidism but it is under control now that he is on the correct medication dosage.