Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) is an inherited disease with crippling affects. While it is said to not be painful for the dog, it is painful for the owner of our beloved animals to watch them deteriorate. A dog that is strong in body and mind progressively declines to the point of not being able to walk.

At Vom Gildaf, we go to extremes to make sure we breed healthy German Shepherds. We not only test for Hips and Elbows, but also for clear eyes and DM. We have several breeding German Shepherds who have all been tested for Degenerative Myelopathy. All of our breeding dogs are DNA Homozygous N/N CLEAR of this disease.

If you are on our website looking for a puppy, DM is not something you will have to worry about in the longevity of your dog. If you are not aware of DM or would like to read more about it, here are some links.

http://www.caninegeneticdiseases.net/DM/ancmntDM.htm

http://www.caninegeneticdiseases.net/DM/basicDM.htm

http://www.offa.org/dnatesting/dmexplanation.html

If you are a breeder of the German Shepherd Dog and have found your way to my website…PLEASE test your breeding dogs if you do not do so already. The only way to stop the increase of this disease is to be proactive and test our breeding dogs.

Vom Gildaf is breeding German Shepherds for the true breed itself. The loyalty, companionship, protectiveness and personality of a GSD is like no other. But we all know that our breed is plagued with numerous potential health issues. At Vom Gildaf, we would like to think we are doing our part for the betterment of the breed by going above and beyond to health test, socialize our puppies and breed dogs with sound temperaments.

Melinda Clark
Owner, Vom Gildaf German Shepherds