Adopting a Golden Retriever? | What to Expect

Hey, guys. Dr. Lara. Today I am here with this adorable little golden retriever puppy. And he's here today just for kind of a meet and greet. And he is super well behaved. And did I say adorable? Because he's adorable. But the topic for the video today is just kind of talking about some of the different diseases that golden retrievers are prone to. They seem to be still one of the most popular breeds out there. And so over here, what you see is a DNA test. And this is run through one of the companies that we work with called Royal Canaan. They are not a sponsor for this particular video. This is just the product that we happen to recommend and the short version on the DNA testing to test them for DNA to figure out what breed they exactly are. I don't personally see a lot of value in that with this particular DNA test. What they do is they also check to see disease markers for the particular dog. So therefore they can give you a better idea of what they're going to be potentially prone to down the road in their life. And so it's something that I can definitely get behind and see value in it. So just so that you have an idea of some other things that you can do to get more information and a better idea of what it is you're potentially in store for. Now, some of the things, just a list of some of the things that they are prone to. They are prone to dental problems. Not so much periodontal disease, but rather something called resorptive lesions. And resorptive lesions aren't things that you're particularly going to be able to see. That would be something that would be seen on dental X rays. They're also prone to breaking their teeth because they like to chew on things. So don't be giving your dogs bones or anything like that. They'll typically crack these back teeth. And then they are also prone to traumatizing their teeth because like smacking. Ow, that hurt. Smacking their face on the ground if they're rough housing and that kind of stuff. And that can cause the teeth to become dead and discolored and that can actually become very painful. One of the other things that they are prone to is something called hemangiosarcomas. We did a video on that. And that is a tumor that is typically in the spleen. It's usually something that you'll see in older dogs, large breed dogs. They are also prone to something called lymphoma. Lymphoma is a cancer of the white blood cells. And that is something that is usually Treatable, it is not curable. It does respond well to chemotherapy and alternative medicine as well. Something else that they are response prone to is something called mast cell tumors. Mast cell tumors, We've done a video on that as well. That is something where a lot of the times it is something that we are able to surgically cure. There is a vaccine available for it, if I am correct. And it's not a vaccine in the traditional sense, it's something like once they get mast cell tumors, then they could potentially have this particular vaccine made for them. They are prone to something called GDV or the bloat. GDV stands for gastric dilatation volvulus. And what that is is essentially the. When you eat or when they eat, you have the esophagus which comes in, it connects to the stomach. Then the stomach kind of comes down like this and then connects to the duodenum which is the first part of the intestines. And so with these larger breed dogs, what they'll do is they'll eat, they'll drink, and then they have this heavy sloshy stomach. And if they're playing around like they normally do, what can happen is that stomach will kind of swing back and forth, it'll flip over on itself and it'll twist and then that can actually cut off the blood supply to the stomach. And that actually is an emergency situation. Typically what we recommend is when they are, if you're going to neuter or spay them, we recommend doing something where you suture or stitch the stomach to the side of the ribs. And so that way it anchors the stomach in place. So there's very minimal possibility of that stomach flipping and twisting. If you are not planning on neutering or spaying them. And that could be a potential. That's a personal decision. Then what I would say you would look at probably waiting until Maybe they're about 8 to 12 months of age is what I would probably say. And next thing. So a lot of times some people, depending on the person and also the breed, they may try to get their dogs to grow as quickly as possible. And so they might try to over supplement them. The condition that they could potentially develop would be OCD or osteochondrosis that desiccams. That is something where they essentially kind of get like a little rock in their shoe. Whoops. But instead of in their shoe, it's in the joints. And that's something that can be pretty painful. It is surgically corrected. They are prone to hip and elbow dysplasia. We did a video on hip dysplasia. You want more information about that? They can be prone to glaucoma, which is just essentially like a buildup of pressure in the eye, can be very painful and cause blindness. They can develop something called distichiasis, where what they do is they actually have an eyelash, if I remember this correctly, the eyelashes grow inwards. They are very prone to allergies, both food and seasonal allergies. That is something that is manageable, not typically curable. And so one of the reasons why I talk to people about pet insurance, because stuff like that, which can be costly, especially when you have these bigger dogs on medications. The medications, the bigger the dog, the more expensive the medication is because the higher the dosage that you have to give. They are kind of prone to epilepsy. Short touch on that. Epilepsy in dogs 6 years of age or younger typically is going to be. Be an unknown cause of seizures versus dogs who have seizures seven and older or six and a half and older, I think, and don't quote me on that, you know, we'll probably put it in the comment box or something like that. They're older than the six and a half or seven. They typically have a brain tumor, heart disease. So there was a big, those newsletter articles that were coming out about dogs developing heart disease as a result of these grain free foods. That's a whole other conversation. But golden retrievers are prone to what's called dilated cardiomyopathy, which is that particular condition that there was in the news. Some of them are prone to diabetes. I know this is a long list, I apologize. They are also prone to. Not super prone, but they can develop something called a portosystemic shunt. That's something that's typically seen in smaller breed dogs. And the short version of that is there's a two Typically the liver will filter all the toxins out of the, the nutrients that are sucked out from the food in the intestines. And sometimes what will happen is a tube essentially or a vein will bypass liver go straight into the bloodstream. And they want to go ahead and that'll cause them to feel. Act kind of drunk after eating. What about regular exercise and wellness tips? Well, I mean, so with the golden retrievers, you know, you want to make sure that you take them for walks and this is in general take them. Try to take your dogs for a walk at least for one hour a day. If you do a half hour in the morning, half hour in the evening. The other thing if you're not able to do that. If you look into food puzzles that is something that would go ahead and help prevent them from getting into trouble. Or you could do like nose work or agility training. Those are some different things. When I say nose work I mean having them try and sniff out things and then you definitely I try to be more conservative in regards to the puppies. Keep them from really going to places where other dogs go until they're about four or five months of age. I try to recommend five months so that way they've received all their vaccines and that's pretty much it. If you guys have any questions about this particular topic or any of the diseases go ahead and leave it in the comment box. A lot of times we will have videos discussing these different conditions. Otherwise if you found this video helpful give us a thumbs up. Subscribe and share. Thanks for watching. Have a safe day And. Sam.