Degenerative myelopathy

Degenerative myelopathy also affects the poor German Shepherd. You might think that hip dysplasia wasn’t enough already, but no, there’s another disease that causes a lot of harm to many Shepherds out there.

Degenerative myelopathy is the kind of disease that dogs can’t even feel, and it describes the slow degeneration of the nerves of the spinal cord, which oftentimes causes weakness in the hindlimb.

This terrible disease is among an increasing number of congenital diseases in dogs. If you want to test your German Shepherd, you can ask for a blood test that can predict if the parents of your puppy are clear (meaning they don’t have any genes from either parent), carriers (which means they have genes that could be easily passed on to their offspring), or at risk (might have genes from one of their parents).

You can also mitigate the risk by buying a dog from a very reputable breeder with two “clear” parents.