Hi guys - it makes me very sad to say that our foundation female, grandma Rosie, has been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic in that it has invaded the lymph nodes, although her lungs so far look clear on x-ray. We knew this would probably happen after she had a life threatening case of mastitis after her last litter four years ago. But still it's hard to actually hear it.

We removed as much as he could access to make her comfortable, but now we plan only to keep her comfortable, no more surgeries. The vet recommended against chemo because he says it is rarely successful even in young dogs. The prognosis is very poor. He expects it to metastasize quickly and was talking in terms of weeks, not months. We all know GSPs are tough as nails though, so who knows. He expects it to move into the lungs, so we're supposed to watch for respiratory symptoms. I am at peace with not putting her through hard treatment. She's 11 and all we would accomplish is making her last days miserable.

So, if any of you have experience with this, it would help to hear it - how the disease progressed and how fast.

Jean

Hormone treatments won't help at this point.

As for right now, she is the same active, crazy GSP she's always been. You would have no idea she's sick. We will make the hard choice as soon as we can see she is in any discomfort. For now, she has no symptoms and no discomfort.

Hopefully they got it all.  You will know when it is time. My Springer had it resurface a month after removing a Kidney. I noticed his breathing labored and I had him put down a week later. It was all over in his lungs.  I am a believer in they will tell you when it is time.   It is never easy.

This is hard to write.  This was a very hard way to lose a dog, but we did.  We caught the tumor early and had surgery that appeared successful.  This was in  the Lat Fall / Early Winter.  After clearing her as healthy I started running her again in Agility in Jan, but a month later (Feb) noted she seemed slow and tired and to my suprise stopped and coughed as if she had kennel cough -- but somehow different -- while on course -- but that day she finihsed her Open JWW Preferred title - it was the last time she ran in competition.  I had moved her down to Preferred (lower jump heights) to get her back in competition, but had a sick feeling in my stomach that day after that incident on the course.  We had her x-rayed the next day (I pulled her from the trial and called in a favor from our vet).  Sadly her cancer had returned and fully mestastized in her lungs.

We had to put her down in late April, one day before her 8th birthday.  Other than her tired eyes and increasing labored breathing (by that time), on the outside she appeared healthy and it was the hardest thing I've ever done --

I almost gave up on dogs, even though we went shortly after that to the Phoenix GSPCA NSS with our new "wind litter" puppies -- Magic was a great aunt and was wonderful with the two we kept -- I think those puppies gave her some energy to keep her alive a little longer.  I forgot to pull her entry from Veterans Sweeps at that NSS and many friends from around the country that I knew came up and said "Dave, you've got to get Magic in the ring -- it is time for Veteran bitches -- wheres Magic?" -- it was a hard national.

I took some time off from work here and there while Magic was still healthy and did walks, had fun on the agility equipment, even put a few birds out for her.  It was time well spent and brings back great memories.  My picture on facebook was taken with Magic during that time.

Magic was my heart dog and gave me many gifts including the title set that qualified me to become an AKC agility judge, but most importantly was the dog that looked for me and found me each day, laying by my side while the rest of the pack did their thing. It has been several years and I still miss her terribly.

My advice is to enjoy the time you have -- you may have more -- and to have the strength to do the right thing when the time comes (as I'm sure you will).  There is still a chance of remission (I know, not likely, but . . .).  I had put down many of our dogs over the years, but this remains the one that I've never gotten over.

In memory of my Magic who left me great memories but left too early -- I hope you can enjoy your dog's company in a similar way in the time left.  I hope this helps and doesn't depress you too much -- my apologies if it did.

David Nauer -- Colorado Springs and "Magic"

U-AGII CH Homesteader's Dare to Dream RN JH AX NAP AXJ OJP CGC NAC NGC NJC RS-N GS-N GSPCA-VCA (Owner Handled Multi-Group Placing)

Thanks to all of you for your support, and especially to Dave for sharing the story about your girl. At this point, I'd be happy if Rosie had four more good months, the vet didn't give me any hope it would be that long, so it's actually a good thing to hear. As soon as her stitches are out, she'll go with us training and get to have some birds shot for her to retrieve. If she's still with us in October, she can go on a long car ride, which she loves, to the National Amateur Championship in Eureka. I'm also sure she's going to get very fat in her remaining time as we're letting her have all the food and treats she loves.

Jean

Jean, I am very sorry to hear this. I hope Rosie has some good time left, and I wish you all the strength you need to release her when the day comes - losing a dog at any age is a terrible thing.

The vet's prognosis, like a human oncologist's prognosis, is just based on statistics. Rosie could pass surprisingly fast, or she could outlive the time frame they gave you. I have seen both ends of the spectrum.

My American Bulldog Yogi was 4 years old when a mast cell tumor was removed from her leg. They cut out a lot of surrounding tissue but the lab confirmed that they did NOT get a clean cut, meaning cancer cells were left in the leg. Next step would have been amputation at the hip and chemo, with a less than 50% chance of survival. I opted against further treatment and prepared for the worst, she was given 6 months to live. To this day my vet is perplexed by the fact that she went into complete remission, and died cancer-free (confirmed by necropsy) at the age of 14.

Little miracles, defying all we think we know about a disease, do happen sometimes. I will keep you and Rosie in my thoughts.

All this helps, and so does knowing that she made 33 beautiful babies and many grandbabies. We have three of her babies and 4 grandbabies of hers here with us. She was "just" our gundog, but has produced offspring that are extremely talented. Every time they bring home a ribbon or trophy, I'll think of her even after she's gone.

Jean