# Please critique Pimg



## wildo

There seems to be a host of "critique my dog" threads lately, and well, I guess curiosity killed the cat. Turns out, I hate cats anyway! :rofl:

So here goes. I'd really like to get an honest critique on Pimg. You won't hurt my feelings- my dog is my world and there is nothing anyone could say to change my opinion of her. So feel free to offer an honest critique.

Pimg has pretty much never stood in a stack on her own. Even placing her into this position has never net good results. For whatever reason, she does not like standing this way, and often moves before I can snap the picture. However, I was able to get a few shots today with her in a stack (figures I didn't have my good camera with me!). Here are the stacked shots:



















And here are a few other shots that show various aspects of her structure. Here's a pseudo stack of her standing naturally:









I happen to think her rear end is really nicely structured- though I admittedly don't know much on the subject. But her legs are very straight, unlike a lot of what I would call "loose-legged" GSDs:









Oddly, I have _very few_ photos of Pimg sitting straight on. So here's a few shots showing her feet and chest:


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## blehmannwa

I love her face! Probably not the critique that you were looking for but I really like her feminine quality.


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## Msmart

Such a beautiful dog that you have there. Absolutely love the last few that are posted. My gsd does that stance on occasion but rarely do I have my camera available and the iPhone takes forever to load. But amazing photos.


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## wildo

Thanks Blehmannwa!

*I should have mentioned- Pimg is nearly 6 years old in most of those pictures.*


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## robk

She looks like a very happy dog!


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## wildo

Bump.

I know it's approaching a holiday weekend and all, but the forum in general seems to be busy. I'm still hoping someone can give a full critique.

If it helps, Pimg is 26" tall, 28" long, and 68.5 pounds. As mentioned above, she is 2 months shy of 6 years old.


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## lhczth

Flat withers, OK topline, very nice croup. Sufficient angulation front and rear. She is balanced. Good feet and she stands correct from the front and rear. Good head, nice dark eyes, but I would like to see better color, more black. Nice girl.

Sorry, I have been in and out today and didn't have time until now to get to your post.


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## wildo

Thanks Lisa, and everyone else who chimed in!


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## GSDGunner

I certainly don't have the qualification for a professional critique but I'll chime in.

She is PURTY!!!! :wub::wub::wub::wub:


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## carmspack

Hi Wildo , just getting around to it . Standing at 26 inches , for a female she is over sized according to standard which sets females at 22 - 24 inches . But she is strong and athletic looking and proportionate . Not "just big" and sloppy.
Nice head and expression . Bright intelligent eye . I can't decide on her feet -- in the first picture her foot is sort of pressed downward because she is not on a level surface - actually standing on a downward incline . So I don't know if her foot is slightly longer toed or not , padding seems to be good . She needs to have her toe nails clipped a bit and that will help her tighten up on the feet. Nails pale , white on left foot indicating colour paling. Better pigment desired . Hair coat also. Black nails tend to be harder and prone to less damage or splitting. 
Her wither is flat , lower than her back, but she is not roached. She has a nice short back which flows into a very nice croup. The wither would be the top of the shoulder blade or scapula which is positioned where the neck ends and the back begins . Her upper arm is somewhat short . This impedes a freely moving front with extension , movement will be somewhat stiff because the angles from scapula to humerus are more upright or straight. Ideally the front is made up by three parts, scapula (unattached - held by ligament bands and muscle), humerus or upper arm and lower arm all of equal length . The humerus attaches to the scapula and ends at the elbow . That stiffness means something for a dog that needs to trot on uneven ground for a protracted time as the angles allow for a cushion from the impact , whereas the straight or short layback and short upper arm are like an old bike - compared to a mountain bike , or an old car without springs. 
You are interested in a dog for agility and previous posts you were investigating dogs with wild speed . More important is structure , especially the front , a poor front is a pet peeve of mine - too often a good front is neglected. A good front with strong muscle and ligament allows for efficient forward movement, quick change of direction, scaling and landing well without injury.
Her rear is balanced to her front. Ideally here too the upper leg and lower leg , should be of equal length. Sometimes balance overall is more important than a singular "good" feature.
If the rear has more angulation , or more length of upper leg- femur to lower leg - stifle , than front assembly then the front has to get out of the way for the hind leg coming in under the body. You see a lot of dogs raising themselves up almost to a run , or flipping or paddling or throwing front legs out to the side. I think this is what I pointed out with your lovely Gretchen . She had a more rear than front.
I think your dog would choose to gallop more often than trot .
If the rear has too little action , driving in under and snapping back than you have limited drive forward.

Too little at both ends and you have more of a terrier type conformation made for short burst of speed and to dig in (untippable). I think you are a bit closer to this type . 

one of the best articles and illustrations thanks to Linda 
Shaw New Page 1 the front New Page 1 the rear 

THE ILLUSTRATED STANDARD OF THE GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG

Shawlein Fine Art & Purebred German Shepherd Dogs 

"Timmy" is a result of her Corry and my Katiana (Katya - Kilo's sister) . black Kato is a son of Timmy back to one of my Kohl Carmspack Kohl - German Shepherd Dog --- Kato has some of the best most elastic - go for miles and miles and miles movement that 

Dingo vom haus Gero -- beautifully proportioned - "poetry in motion" movement Dingo vom Haus Gero - working-dog.eu

A fit dog with moderate angulation will move better than a dog with good angulation that has poor ligaments or is out of condition. !!

So your dog is well balanced. Appears to have good ligaments , muscle, condition and is a lovely animal to look at . 
food for thought -- cherish your dog 

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


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## Ronda

carmspack said:


> If the rear has more angulation , or more length of upper leg- femur to lower leg - stifle , than front assembly then the front has to get out of the way for the hind leg coming in under the body. You see a lot of dogs raising themselves up almost to a run , or flipping or paddling or throwing front legs out to the side. I think this is what I pointed out with your lovely Gretchen . She had a more rear than front.
> I think your dog would choose to gallop more often than trot .


Hi Carmen, I don't want to totally hijack Pimg's thread but could you take a peek at Saphira's pics? She almost never chooses to trot, always gallops and I noticed her front feet when she trots turn inwards a bit. Maybe she has too much rear?

Thank you and Wildo, sorry for the hijack. 

Ronda
Ohen z AlpineK9 "Saphira"


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## carmspack

well post a picture of her in a stack side shot.

give age -- might be lack co-ordination , be in a growth phase where the balance is out - 

I'll have a quick look , give a quick answer -- a more thorough one later -- time time time , need more time


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## wildo

Thanks again lhczth and Carmen for the detailed critiques; I very much appreciate it. Now to dig into them and try to understand it all... And thanks for the compliments GSDGunner!



carmspack said:


> So your dog is well balanced. Appears to have good ligaments , muscle, condition and is a lovely animal to look at .
> *food for thought -- cherish your dog *


Carmen- I most certainly do!! "Cherish" is a perfect word to describe my feelings for my dog, along with adore, treasure, appreciate, and love. I have intense pride in my dog! As I said at the beginning of the thread- she is absolutely my world. I don't know what I will do without her (I will be 100% devastated) and I hope that time is a long way down the road. :wub:

Ronda- why not start your own thread if you want your dog critiqued? No offense intended, but you stepped on a pet-peeve of mine. Personally, I've often taken a quote from someone and sent it to them in a PM asking for a better explanation. Or even started a new thread and PM'ed them letting them know I quoted them in a new thread. Again, no offense, I just find this to be a forum common courtesy.


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## PaddyD

wildo said:


> Ronda- why not start your own thread if you want your dog critiqued? No offense intended, but you stepped on a pet-peeve of mine. Personally, I've often taken a quote from someone and sent it to them in a PM asking for a better explanation. Or even started a new thread and PM'ed them letting them know I quoted them in a new thread. Again, no offense, I just find this to be a forum common courtesy.


Couldn't agree more.


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## Ronda

wildo said:


> Ronda- why not start your own thread if you want your dog critiqued? No offense intended, but you stepped on a pet-peeve of mine. Personally, I've often taken a quote from someone and sent it to them in a PM asking for a better explanation. Or even started a new thread and PM'ed them letting them know I quoted them in a new thread. Again, no offense, I just find this to be a forum common courtesy.


Sorry Wildo, next time I will pm her...I was just hoping that if Carmen was willing she would take a peak at Saphira's thread. I was NOT planning to post a pic of my dog in your thread. Sorry I stepped on your toes.


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## Courtney

She's a very pretty girl & I LOVE her dark eyes!


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## carmspack

here is what a good front allows you to do -- this is extension coming from the opening of the shoulder . You can see that the shoulder blade, upper arm , and lower leg are in equal lengths . The shoulder blade, scapula, is attached by ligaments and muscles . Longer muscles allow for the stretch. A poor shoulder will have shorter ligaments and muscles and can only extend to the limit of the muscles . Here you can see how the foot is landing properly , with a pastern which has a little bit of flex, (correct) allowing for absorption of the impact , yet the pastern is strong and does not collapse. A pastern which collapses touches the ground and looks like a tube sock pulled out of a boot . Little Miss Jersey of SentinelHarts - German Shepherd Dog 
very very nice dog -- level back , structure front and back balanced -- found her thanks to Robin who has a dog from the same sire -- Just IsAdorable Vom Kistha Haus - German Shepherd Dog (Robins)

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


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## carmspack

trying to find samples of what happens to the front reach when you change the proportion of shoulder blade, upper arm , lower leg to pastern proportions which should be the same - 3 .
Here is a video which is hard to follow but you will see the dog not sweeping or balanced but moving the feet "50 miles an hour" high stepping , 



 
the shoulder blade and upper arm might be the same , but there is extra length to the lower leg - stilt like -- so you can see the shoulder is not opening -- all the steps are staccato , short -- you can see it here , and you can see the dog biting the handler's hand when he collects and leashes his dog in the first few frames


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## wildo

Carmen- so helpful! I've had time now to read through all the material you've posted in this thread. The works and illustrations by Linda Shaw were very helpful indeed. However, though I understood what she was saying from a high level perspective, I can't understand it at the low level she is writing about. In general, I think I got the idea though. Very interesting stuff.

Specifically, we see the terms "over angulated," "under angulated," or even "sufficient angulation" often in critique threads. I never got the connection that this isn't just a critique of the skeletal structure, but ultimately a critique of the capacity for movement! I thought I wanted a dog that "looked a certain way," but had no concept that those looks quite literally define the capacity for movement, agility, balance, etc. So it was definitely very beneficial to read all that.

I've created this reference as to what I think I see in Pimg's structure:









The scapula, humerus, and lower arms should be of equal length with the scapula and humerus forming an equilateral triangle. Assuming I've correctly identified the bone locations, it's clear that Pimg's scapula and humerus do not form an equilateral triangle. Her humerus is too short, and the angle formed at that scapula/humerus junction appears to be around 95 to 100 degrees. Again, assuming I've correctly identified her bone locations, I believe her lower arm is likely pretty close in length to the scapula (the blue and pink bars are the same length). I've drawn a perfectly vertical line (thin green line) which indicates she was leaning slightly backwards.

For the back, I've drawn the pelvis in purple, femur in green, and tibia/fibula in orange. I've also drawn a thin red line to show that the rear left hock is positioned directly under the rear of the pelvis, and that the rear right metatarsus is also vertical. So what I see here is that the pelvis appears to be short while the femur and tibia/fibula are equivalent in length (orange and green bars are the same length). I also see that the stifle joint is obtuse in angle. According to the guide, it should be from 90 to 95 degrees, and it is clearly much wider (I don't have a protractor in photoshop, but I'd guess that angle to be closer to 120*).

I guess in the end, I am just trying to see what you see. I'm trying to put a picture to your words, I guess. Truth is, I have a _really_ hard time seeing the bone structure under fur and muscling, and I'm impressed that all you guys are so good at it!

You also said:


> I think your dog would choose to gallop more often than trot.


So interesting that you can decipher that from a simple picture! Turns out that she does gallop more than she trots. Actually, I've noticed this a lot lately, and I really thought it was due to her knee injury. But I went back to look at some video I took before her injury, and sure enough- lots of galloping even at slower speeds:

(Note, this was very much a "practice" run that took place at the end of class. I don't think it's an accurate representation of Pimg's agility abilities, and since it's up in the air how much more agility she will be able to do- I feel the need to point that out.)


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## wildo

wildo said:


> The scapula, humerus, and lower arms should be of equal length *with the scapula and humerus forming an equilateral triangle*. Assuming I've correctly identified the bone locations, it's clear that Pimg's scapula and humerus do not form an equilateral triangle. Her humerus is too short, and the angle formed at that scapula/humerus junction appears to be around 95 to 100 degrees.


I directed a non-member to this thread as a reference, but realized I had some incorrect info in here. The scapula and humerus should not form an equilateral triangle (which has 60* internal angles!). Rather, these two bones should form a right angle (90*) and both be of the same length. Just correcting my own mistake here...


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## JanaeUlva

Very interesting post Wildo - Carmspack and your additional info really sparks my desire to continue learning about the anatomy of the GSD and movement. A man that I train with recommended the book "Dog In Action - A study of Anatomy and Locomotion as Applying to all Breeds by McDowell Lyon." I started reading the book. Very interesting. The author uses good examples like Carmspack does, comparing an animals movement based on the anatomy. 

BTW very nice looking dog and what a great owner you are. From your posts it is obvious how much you enjoy and love your dog. I love that!


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## paulag1955

I'm sorry, I'm not very good at picturing how things work from a written description and also not quite sure what under- and/or over-angulated dogs look like, so which anatomical type would produce a dog that gallops rather than trots?

It seems like you'd want a trotting dog to work as a shepherd.


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## carmspack

in a confined space like an agility ring , or to bring up speed the dog may gallop , because there is no room to get a full stride . One way of telling is to do road work on a bike. A well built dog will go into a trot and stay there , and travel in a straight lien. A dog out of balance will side wind travel on an angle "crab" , or will go into a gallop or pace - anything but a co ordinated trot. 
Trot is the movement of endurance , least effort , most ground.


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## wildo

carmspack said:


> in a confined space like an agility ring , or to bring up speed the dog may gallop , because there is no room to get a full stride . One way of telling is to do road work on a bike. A well built dog will go into a trot and stay there , and travel in a straight lien. A dog out of balance will side wind travel on an angle "crab" , or will go into a gallop or pace - anything but a co ordinated trot.
> Trot is the movement of endurance , least effort , most ground.


As a point of clarification, you are not talking about at speed, correct? I mean- I _have_ rode a bike next to Pimg; we were both going about 21-22mph. She was in a full out, long strided gallop. This is expect at speed, I would imagine. Certainly a dog can't trot at 22mph!?


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## x11

Wild/Willy nice dog, good on you for getting out and doing something with yr dog eg the agility vid - i really appreciatted that. as far as critiques go don't know what else to say other than lovely happy looking dog.

if i could please ask Carmspack a question on your thread as it would get complicated if i started a new thread referenced back to this one - apologies.

Carmspack not sure if that was you in the second vid you posted but what is the dude pointing and yelling about at around 2.34 minutes??? was that being judged seemed unproffesional to have little tantrum like that in a judged situation, maybe it was a warm up or something?? interested to know what the drama was?

Carmspack what does "Sufficient angulation front and rear. She is balanced." actually mean, sufficient for what, sufficient to be balanced??? does the GSD standard imply a trotting dog or running dog?? 

cheers


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## TankGrrl66

Very nice expression. Nice eye. I love her face!

Her back legs are nice and straight, which is refreshing to see. Very nice croup. Ear set looks nice. 

Pigment could be much better.


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## carmspack

answers - I am not in any videos - these were selected to show certain movements - the guy yelling is giving instructions to a double handler who is to get the dog to look lively and pull out , move out ahead . All the dogs are mincing in their movement . He was not having a tantrum, just contributing to the chaos . Listen to the crowd , each one calling out their dog's name, whistling, blowing a horn . 

Sufficient angulation means that the dog can still work , but that it is less than ideal and that some of the endurance will be compromised - like a light bulb that lights but the light is too dim for detailed work or reading . Does that make sense. That the conformation is balanced is good because the most efficient use can be made with what you have. With balance there is no deviation in the movement or compensation for too much at either end , so no crabbing -- see those threads Crabby Shasta? and the other one.

The legs are not supposed to be straight.

Speed -- The GSD was built for endurance , not speed . That is one thing that you have to recognize Wildo or you are going to look for the wrong things in conformation . 
22 miles is too fast -- The GSD was built for about 7 to 10 miles per hour but virtually all day long . 7 miles is a comfortable natural stride. 
When you go for that speed the structure changes . The foot instead of being rounded and well padded moves in to more of a hare foot. When you look at dogs built for speed the front is straight - look to the gaze hounds . 
Using this example because it shows you the dog stacked and in that classic "greyhound bus" logo extension. Sisu Catahoulas J Cross’ Currahee
by the way the dog with a roach can not have this flex to his spine . The functional Saluki

c- first thoracic vertebra (T1)









tall and lanky , this is a skeletal borzoi 

Carmen
http:/www.carmspack.com​


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## wildo

Ah- such great info in this thread!! I do not regularly (in fact- it would be more accurately to say almost never) run her like that. Only two times in her life has she run like that. One time it was for a single mile when she was about 3.5 years old. The second time was only about .5 miles and she was a bit older. I would never run my dog like that for a long period of time. In fact, it was more so me testing my new bike and her running beside me! But it is great to know the proper speed for such activities- 7-10mph. Thanks again Carmen, and everyone else who chimed in on my girl!


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## wildo

Pimg has been suffering some severe weight loss and other medical-related issues. She really had me worried when she dropped down to 55 pounds a couple weeks ago. She should be in the mid to upper 60's for weight. She's been in to specialists for every test in the book, and last week had to go into the e-vet for being severely impacted. While under general anesthesia for the colon cleaning, I also had an endoscopy and colonoscopy done to try to get to the bottom of her excessive weight loss. I'm still waiting on biopsy results. Hoping for some answers.

At any rate, today in honor of yesterday's National Pet Obesity Awareness Day, I took this stacked photo of her. I _know_ that she's leaning forward. I _know_ that I have her slightly over stretched. But... I don't _care_. This is Pimg's true nature- pushing ahead, being in the lead, pressing forward, ready to go go go. While perhaps not the best "by the book" stack, I think this represents her perfectly. I think she's rather beautiful and wanted to share the photo.


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## lhczth

I am very sorry that Pimg is ill. Hope you find the culprit soon.  Wow, she has lost weight. 

Love her expression.


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## wildo

Not only lost weight (14 pounds), but almost all of her rear muscle. She's in pretty bad shape, medically speaking- but I'm doing everything possible to track it down- and have been over the course of the last year, though the last month or two has been exceedingly bad. Outside of obvious medical issues- she's totally herself. Eats fine, drinks fine, runs and plays fine... I just loved her expression in that picture and wanted to share it! :wub:


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## My2shepherds

I cannot critique but I do think she deserves a compliment... she is gorgeous! I know you say her stack is not right but I think she is striking... :wub:


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## Galathiel

Sorry, Willy, that Pimg has been under the weather. How worrisome that must be! She is still a beautiful girl. Please let us know if you find something out!


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## RebGyp

You have a beautiful girl. This thread has been very interesting, and educational.
I hope your pup a speedy recovery.


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## NancyJ

Sorry she has lost weight and muscle. She is still such a lovely girl. All of mine lost it on the back legs as they aged and she is, for sure, in her senior years. Does she get supplements/enzymes? As they get older the digestions is not always as good.


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## Lilie

I still, and always have loved Pimg. I loved reading the stories you've written about her. She's still a gorgeous dog. I love her facial expression in your recent picture.


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## carmspack

Hi Wildo , you must be worried sick , so sorry to hear this about Pimg . Have the Vet check for cancer . You may need to do an x ray to see internal soft tissue .


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## wildo

Yes, of course- beyond worried. She had fairly steady weight loss starting last December. She started at a very consistent 69 pounds and got down to 63 pounds by February or so. I did everything then- xrays, ultrasound, blood work, urinalysis, more bloodwork, more xrays, EPI test, on and on... Nothing provided any answers. She seemed to have more/less stabilized around 63 pounds (which is really light for her- remember she's 26" tall and 28" long!) for the spring and early summer. Around late June or so, she started declining in weight again. I took her back in and she tested positive for Lyme, which we treated for about a month and a half until cleared up. But the weight kept coming off. More bloodwork revealed hypothyroid, so we started treating for that. A month and a half later, she had shed all the way down to 55 pounds, was vomiting all over, major diarrhea issues, polydipsia, couldn't settle, hyperactive, etc. I took her to an internist who concluded she is likely euthyroid and NOT hypothyriod. The hypothyrioid meds pushed her into high-normal range for T4 (just about hyperthyroid) which likely caused many of those symptoms. We drastically reduced the hypothyroid meds, put her on metro for the diarrhea, and other drugs. About a week later she was completely plugged up with very hard, dense stool all the way through her colon and large intestines. I took her to the e-vet for this, and they concluded her rear was WAY too sore to do anything without anesthesia. So while under, I asked them to do an endoscopy and colonoscopy to get more info about the weight loss. The ultrasound and full body xrays have already ruled out cancer/tumors and the endoscopy/colonoscopy results seem to confirm that. The endoscopy revealed nothing too interesting (probably good news) but the colonoscopy _seemed_ to reveal some potential internal fistulas on her rectum. This is all biopsied for real confirmation- again, I'm waiting on the results.

But anyway- suffice it to say that YES, it has had me extremely worried. I can go back months and months and months on Facebook and find posts "wow- I'm really getting concerned about Pimg's weightloss." It has taken a LOT of pushing and prodding (and money) to get vets to continue investigating when nothing is yielding answers. Finally, hopefully, the biopsies will give something conclusive. It's nerve wrecking waiting for answers, but at least Pimg is FINALLY comfortable with her current set of meds.


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## DJEtzel

I wondered about perianal fistulas when she was constantly licking/chewing on her butt. Reminded me a lot of Indra. Hope you're on your way to a solid answer.


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## JakodaCD OA

I hate not "knowing" what's going on with our animals, and I hate that sometimes they can't figure it out, it's so darn frustrating

I'm so sorry pimg is having issues, but I am happy she is still eating and happy herself..

I'm not sure if she has internal fistula's if that would cause the weight loss, certainly could have cause the 'back up' I suppose

Hope you can get a diagnosis and she's on the road to recovery


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## wildo

JakodaCD OA said:


> I'm not sure if she has internal fistula's if that would cause the weight loss, certainly could have cause the 'back up' I suppose


I asked the internist (she's now seeing TWO of them!) who did the procedures about this. "That's interesting, but PF doesn't explain the weightloss, does it?" He told me that he has a client who is a larger dog than Pimg, but even more skin & bones than her due to the stress/pain of PF. I mentioned this to the other internist (who has been working with Pimg for a while now) and while that's a surprising result, she said it wasn't entirely unreasonable and could explain some other things we were seeing. We'll see what the biopsy says.


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## MaggieRoseLee

Prayers going yours and Pimg's way. She's still so beautiful even with the weight loss.


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## carmspack

I am going to just wing it with stream-of-thought ideas .

See if there is anything that you may want to ask your vets about.

Cancer patients often do poorly because of cachexia .

there is a Deer Wasting Disease 

and a bovine wasting disease 

and scrapies which affects sheep . In our area there were some sheep identified with scrapies and the entire flock needed to be put down to control the spread.

any anti oxidants that you can provide will stall progression

make food dense in nutrition --- can you get liquid cow whey? do you want me to send you some organic grass fed , raw, cold microfiltered , undenatured whey protein isolate.

If you can think of anything that can be helpful , please let me no , I'll see what I can come up with --


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## wildo

Thank you for the offer Carmen! For now, I just switched her to a novel protein prescription diet (Royal Canin Rabbit & Potato) per the internist assuming it's PF. Because she's having GI issues, I'm cautious to make any changes to her diet until more info is learned from the biopsies.


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## wildo

MaggieRoseLee said:


> Prayers going yours and Pimg's way. She's still so beautiful even with the weight loss.


Thank you, MRL- that's really nice of you to say, and good to hear from you!


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## carmspack

noticed the picture of your Pimg in the car insert thread .

Eyes seem to be quite reflective , compared to the other pup in the same shot (same light conditions).
You may want to check into that .

So how are things going ?


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## BowWowMeow

I am so sorry to hear that Pimg is not doing well. My first thought was tick disease and then I saw that she was treated for lyme disease. Was it an old infection? If so then I would suspect that is what is causing her other problems. Does she have a thread on this board? I know there are multiple people (Lisa T for one) on this board who have dealt with chronic tick disease in their dogs. It is worth asking for help/ideas.


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## Guardyan

I've enjoyed reading about your agility journey over the years. Pimg always seemed so happy and vibrant. I'm truly sorry to hear she is having health issues and hope she starts improving soon.


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## wildo

Guardyan said:


> I've enjoyed reading about your agility journey over the years. Pimg always seemed so happy and vibrant. I'm truly sorry to hear she is having health issues and hope she starts improving soon.


Thank you! She went in for a follow up yesterday. Her rectum was MUCH less swollen, and *almost* (but not really) tolerated a rectal exam. This was much improvement over when she went in initially and they couldn't even touch her bum. In fact, when they had her under general anesthesia and performed the rectal exam (and colonoscopy) she sat up in pain when they tried to exam her! Serious pain... Under the new meds, she hasn't been straining too hard or moaning to defecate. So there's good improvement there. She hasn't put on any weight yet, but we did some calculations for caloric intake and I will up her food substantially. Also, and most importantly to me, we're now on a plan to reduce her pred intake back down to the physiologic dose she was on prior to all this. Her pred was up'ed substantially to an anti-inflamitory dosage level. 

While all this probably played some part, the real reason she had to stop agility was because of a small bridge of arthritis in her last vertebra. The rest of her spine is basically clear. This one spur is causing some pinched nerve issues and causing both muscle wasting and instability in her rear end. You can practically push her over by pushing laterally on her hips. Unfortunately, while her drive and spirit are still squarely and firmly in the game, it would be irresponsible and unsafe to run her. Her lack of stability could easily lead to much worse issue. A jump at a harsh angle... A misstep on the dogwalk... It could all be quite tragic. Sadly, I will not run her again.

For now, she seems fairly content to get treats for holding a down stay while watching me do training with Jinks.


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