I've not been able to update everything for various reasons, everyone can have sight of the paperwork when they visit. Keshis not even on my site yet and shes 3 years old now. Sure it was £80, maybe that was the cataract one, got it from somewhere! I had 2 tested at the same time,but that wouldn't make £80, either. I'll drive myself mad looking for what I paid now
I do know a lot of the wolflike breeds are being tested as some are crosses of the Czech, and they have it. There's something else they get as well but can't remember the name of it. No idea how many are tested and the results. I concentrate on keeping my own house in order mainly. The BVA site unfortunately only gives hips, wish it did give numbers for other tests.
Laboklim said that we should be concentrating on eyes rather than DM, which I do routinely anyway.

That is interesting that eyes are an issue in the wolf-alike dogs but not in the GSDs.

I would also like to see stats for the amount of GSDs actually suffering from DM each year. I have only ever heard of a couple of cases - and that was through social media. I have never had a GSD with the condition, nor know any dogs personally.

If the gene IS a mutation I wonder just how many dogs are affected each year out of how many litters.

And if it IS a mutant gene then how can a cure ever possibly be found for it. Rather like HD - there is still no cure in many years of selective breeding.

My rather non-scientific research did throw up that the wire fox terrier has tested 94% 'at risk' but there has NEVER been a clinical case of DM presented in the breed.

My friend boy ( GSD) has been diagnosed with DM , he is 8 yrs old and was diagnosed end of last year, he is doing ok for now...but what the future holds who knows,

I am sorry to hear that. Do you think your friend would be prepared to have a necopsy done on their dog when the inevitable happens? Has the dog been tested for DM status?

It is through much more research (through testing and necopsies of dog's supposedly diagnosed with DM as well as other similar conditions) where the answer lies.

Doubt they would, I don't think they gave even told the breeder, they are not the sort of people who would do either.

The eyes are an issue because there is Alaskan Malamute and Siberian husky in their make up. MRD lesions are now tested for in a litter screen and if we are breeding from them again at maturity(I do it after 1 year old) and then again before an actual mating. This is pretty recent, prior to that we were testing prior to mating and there was no litter eye screen protocol in place. A chance remark by Stuart Ellis when we were discussing MRD made me understand that it always showed in puppies, but sometimes the lesions disappeared by one year old therefore giving a clear test on a mature dog which was actually a carrier, before then I didn't understand how 2 clear eyed dogs could produce a failed puppy eye test. Henceforth I have always eye screened every litter, had very few fails over the years thank goodness, and even then well below Stuarts estimation of 25% of Utonagan being affected. I discuss the possibility of this happening with potential owners and explain the puppy will be on a neutering contract and the ramifications of what could happen if it is bred with another carrier.
I have been told (although no idea if its true) that HD was not a problem in dogs until Mr Spratt introduced his grain based food. Then again you are going back to the 1930's (maybe before) so would that problem have been named and recognised anyway. It is very interesting that a lot of effort has been put into eliminating HD by means of correct feeding and exercise, but hey (as you said) its still with us, it still saddens me that so many 'breeders' do not Hip and Elbow score, claiming they 'don't have it' in their line, but if they don't test for it they won't know, bit like the elephant in the room, they know its there, but choose to ignore it. Perhaps if everyone who bred had to score, then maybe it would be eliminated because then it would be a concerted effort by all parties focusing on the problem rather than a few. When looking for a cross like Cruz, for instance, we looked for 2 years to find one with health tested parents, which we did in the end, only hips though, no elbows or eye screens on either side. I was able to research his pedigree as both parents were KC reg dogs, and there was a record of good hip scores, but we did hold our breath when we did his eyes then when he was older hips/elbows and DM, if they hadn't have been in order then all of that effort would have come to naught.
I go to GSD training club and I know of some dogs there who have sucumbed to DM, cancer seems to be more prevalent though

Oh that is a shame

Thanks for the info on eyes. I didn't realise it was a problem in the Northern breeds.

I completely agree that it is a shame the KC won't refuse to register pups from non-health tested (with results within the breed average) parents. It wouldn't eliminate all problems of course, but research into various conditions and diseases would surely become easier. It would also mean that puppy buyers getting a KC registered pup would know that health tests had been performed on the parents of any pup bought.

Thankfully many working line breeders are also now getting hips and elbows scored routinely with their breeding stock. For a while they were behind the show folk in doing the requisite health tests.

One post on a discussion about GSD DM really stood out for me on a GSD board and I hope it is ok to copy it here.

Diagnostic test results prove that German Shepherd Dog Myelopathy (GSDM) is different than the Degenerative Myelopathy of other breeds. Here, in lay person's language, is the different results shown in diagnostic tests between the Degenerative Myelopathy of German Shepherds, compared to Degenerative Myelopathy in Boxers and Corgis. Clearly, these are two very different diseases!

DM Corgis, Boxers, : motor unit disease
DM GSD: Auto-immune disease

DM Corgis, Boxers : Protein is normal in the AO CSF
DM GSD: Protein is normal in the AO CSF but Protein is elevated in the Lumbar CSF. CSF changes in DM occur in the lumbar CSF and if there are changes in the AO sample, there is something other than DM.

DM Corgis, Boxers: Oligoclonal bands of IgG are uncommon
DM GSDS: Oligoclonal bands of IgG are common in MS

DM Corgis, Boxers: affects cell bodies of neurons
DM GSDS: Does not affect cell bodies of neurons

DM Corgis. Boxers: muscle spams
DM GSDS: no muscle spasms

DM Corgis, Boxers:EMG is affected early in the disease
DM GSDS: EMG is normal

All breeds can get a degenerative condition of the spine, which is both chronic and progressive, called Degenerative Myelopathy. However, the Degenerative Myelopathy of other breeds is not the same disease German Shepherd Degenerative Myelopathy. German Shepherd Dog Myelopathy (GSDM) is unique.
DR Coates has worked under the theory that DM is ALS. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and related diseases are motor unit diseases where the nerve cells in the body responsible for controlling movement die off leaving the patient weak and with varying degrees of Lower Motor Neuron dysfunction (loss of reflexes and flaccidity) or Upper Motor Neuron dysfunction (hyperactive reflexes and spasticity). Those causing LMN disease affect the EMG early in the course of the disease. Those causing UMN disease result is selective shrinkage of the motor cortex visible on MRI. Neither of these conditions exist in GSDM.
Immune diseases like MS attack varying parts of the nervous system and one of them, Primary Progressive MS, specifically targets the myelin and axons of the spinal cord leading to UMN signs but without affecting the cell bodies of the neurons (which is what is seen in GSDM on histopathology). The CSF protein is usually normal in ALS, but abnormal in MS. Oligoclonal bands of IgG are common in MS and uncommon in ALS. The recessive forms of ALS are extremely slow in development and do not result in shortened life-span. Even the one motor unit disease known in dogs, Spinal Muscle Atrophy in Brittany Spaniels occurs in young dogs with progressive EMG changes leading to death. That might be more consistent with the “early onset DM reported in the GSD which is not the same disease as GSDM on histopathology.
ALS diseases cause motor problems but not sensory ones. That is they do not cause CP deficits or hypermetria (ataxia in which movements overreach the intended goal.). People do not knuckle and scrap their toes when they walk, they only show weakness. Most of them are painful because of muscle spasms. (Does that sound like GSDM?....NO!)
So, even if there is a genetic change in SOD1, Dr Clemmons believes that a change must also be explainable based upon the clinical signs. If not, it may just be a CASUAL relationship not a CAUSAL one! There is a world of difference between the two!!! GSDM as a pure motor unit disease just does not fit all of the available data. (Not just DR Clemmons…everyone's!)
"ALS does not affect a person's ability to see, smell, taste, hear, or RECOGNISE TOUCH."
You can pinch the foot of a dog with DM, and they wont feel it, so how can this be reconciled with ALS not affecting the ability to recognise touch?
" ALS Patients usually maintain control of eye muscles and bladder and bowel functions, although in the late stages of the disease most patients will need help getting to and from the bathroom.""
In DM, when the hind end goes, so goes bladder and bowel and bowel control...ask anyone who has had a DM dog if that dog has been able to maintain bladder and bowel control. The answer is "NO!" Again, how can this be reconciled with ALS, when DM dogs lose control of bladder and bowel?
" Not all familial ALS cases are due to the SOD1 mutation, therefore other unidentified genetic causes clearly exist."
unidentified genetic causes --- >Exactly what Dr C has been saying for years...
Only 5-10% of ALS is familial- only 5-10% of people with ALS have a change to their SOD1 gene. Again, is this a CASUAL change or a CAUSAL change? The truth is, no one knows!
"The parts of the body affected by early symptoms of ALS depend on which muscles in the body are damaged first. In some cases, symptoms initially affect one of the legs, and patients experience awkwardness when walking or running or they notice that they are tripping or stumbling more often. Some patients first see
the effects of the disease on a hand or arm as they experience difficulty with simple tasks requiring manual dexterity such as buttoning a shirt, writing, or turning a key in a lock. Other patients notice speech problems-slurred and nasal speech; or difficulty chewing or swallowing."
Interesting- DM always progresses from the rear, moving towards the front of the body. I have never heard of a dog with DM having problems with its front end, front legs, or chewing and swallowing, before it is already down in the rear.
I would be curious to know if anyone knows of a dog definitively dx with DM that was not first affected by the disease in the hind end...2+2 has to=4..... This is more than puzzling, to me. Doesnt this puzzle anyone else?

A test is not better than nothing, if it is testing for the wrong thing!