My GSD pup has been diagnosed with Demodectic mange, I'm wondering if I should never breed her because of this.

Question

My name is Adrienne. I have a 5 month old  German Shepherd pup. I just ordered some tapes from you and they are working well for me. I brought my gsp from a local kennel in Petersburg, Va. I saw an ad in the newspaper called, went out to talk with the breeder and he had beautiful dogs.

He contacted me when his bitches were bred and when the pups were born I went out to see them and they were beautiful red and black gsp. I purchased a pup and now am in love. This is where I need your experience. I notice when bathing Sam (female short for Samantha) there was a lot of hair in the tub and towel. I thought she was just shedding. Then I noticed hair lost around her mouth, because she is growing fast I thought she was losing it as she got larger and it'll come back. A couple of days later I noticed bald spots around her nose, called the Vet immediately went in the very next day and he diagnosed her with Demodectic mange.

Now after speaking with the Vet, he gave me some literature to read and suggested we not breed her and have her spayed because she could pass this on to her pups. She has had 3 dippings so far once every 2 weeks. I spoke to another Vet at the same institution who said Demodectic mange is common and curable and she'll be able to have pups.

I contacted the breeder to get history on the mom of Sam, and of course he denied the mom ever having mange. He kept running off at the mouth and I found out he only had the Mom a year and she was in heat again and was more interested in his next litter and how much her could make off her new pups. So I asked how do you know your dogs health history if you bought her from someone else, she could have had mange and it was treated. He showed me her mom and another dog who was in heat and talked about their pups. The condition of his walmart purchased wired kennels was filthy. It was a cold, icy, rainy day and the female dogs ( who were in heat) were in a kennel with the male dog. The dogs were  freezing. Poop  was everywhere. At that moment I said he doesn't give a DAMN about the dogs, it is the revenue they bring in. He offered me a new pup at half price he said his new pups will sell for $1,500.00-$2,000.00.  No thanks!!!!!

At any rate, how should I handle this and how serious is Demodectic Mange and can I breed her or should I get her spayed?

Accepted Answer

Demodex is caused from a suppressed immune system. I personally would not breed a dog that has demodex, but I know people who have. We rear our dogs naturally here, without vaccinations and chemicals. The dip that is used on dogs with demodectic mange is HORRIBLE and poisonous. It also very possible that your dogs mother did not have mange. All dogs have these mites, and it’s only when something stresses their immune system too much that they actually develop mange. It’s typically after vaccinations or some other stress.

For information on vaccinations and the problems they cause please read our vaccinosis article. I ask that everyone do their own research and weigh the benefits and the risks of vaccinating their animals. We do not vaccinate our dogs, cats or horses here and will not sell puppies to people who insist on vaccinating and feeding kibble.

I would also recommend these 2 books, Shock to the System and Vaccine Guide for Dogs & Cats.

For more information on natural health care and homeopathic treatment of your dogs (and cats), I highly recommend Homeopathic Care for Cats & Dogs and Natural Health for Dogs and Cats.

I would recommend you search our discussion forum for info, there are a lot of discussions there as well.

I don’t know what you feed your dog, but a proper diet is a huge part of optimal health. Kibble is not appropriate food for dogs, especially dogs that have skin issues.

You can go to our Feeding Dogs page for help with that.