Normans’ Legacy

My name is Tracy Moore and in January 2022 I bought home the cutest pup I had ever seen.

I named him Norman – he was a Newfoundland and he was the goofiest fluffiest love bundle I had ever known.

In September 2022, due to the severity of hereditary diseases, Norman was put to sleep. He was just 9 months old. My heart was broken.

I want to let others know what happened so people and dogs don’t have to go through what me and Norman have gone through

At about 5 months old I realised there was something not right with the way Norman was walking, in fact at times he didn’t even want to walk. He started to limp on his front legs.

My vet did a CT Scan and Norman was referred to a specialist Orthopaedic Vet who diagnosed Elbow Dysplasia  and Shoulder OCD  and recommended Norman have a bilateral elbow arthroscopy now and then see how he went with a view to looking into his shoulder problems a bit later.  I was devastated – poor Norman only 6 months old and having to have an operation possibly two.

Normans’ recovery from the arthroscopy was challenging to say the least, it was so difficult keeping a 6/7 month old puppy restricted and entertained but I did it and 6 weeks after the operation he went back to the referral vet who said he could start having very short controlled lead walks and we should see how his recovery progressed.

Norman and his litter mates were registered with the Kennel Club and his breeder is well known in the Newfoundland world and had been recommended to me.

I wanted to let the breeder know about Norman’s Elbow Dysplasia so she was aware he had inherited it. The breeder immediately told me that his parents hadn’t got elbow dysplasia and that it must have been the way I had bought him up inferring that I had over exercised  him. I knew I hadn’t as I have had other large and giant breed dogs and knew about ensuring they weren’t over walked or played too rough or jumped up on things or up stairs and their weight kept under control.

I looked more closely at Normans’ parents pedigrees and saw that his sire did indeed have an Elbow Dysplasia score of 1 which means he had the potential to pass on Elbow Dysplasia to his pups.  When I mentioned this to the breeder she insisted that Normans sire did not have Elbow Dysplasia what so ever, as he has never shown any sign of lameness.  So even this experienced breeder was unaware of the potential of passing on Elbow Dysplasia by breeding with a dog which already has it!

Elbow Dysplasia is an inherited disease the severity of which can be made worse by the environment: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6883289/

I was so devasted that Norman had to go through an operation and restrictions at such a young age and that a “responsible” breeder was unaware of the hereditary nature of Elbow Dysplasia.

Whilst this was going on it became evident that poor Norman also was struggling with a skin condition…… he was started on some medication and for a few weeks all seemed well’

Then suddenly when I was out for a walk with Norman I could hear his hips clicking and when I touched his hips it felt like it was crumbling– my heart and stomach dropped.

I went back to the lovely referral vet who confirmed that as well as Elbow Dysplasia, OCD of the shoulders he also had severe Hip Dysplasia. His final diagnosis was: severe medial compartment disease of both elbows, hip dysplasia and OCD of the shoulders

I broke down and cried even the referral vet cried – it was so sad – the kindest thing to do was to have poor Norman put to sleep.

My giant doofus,  my beautiful brown bear would no longer be part of my life

I took Norman back to my local vet where he was put to sleep and some of his tissue donated to the vet tissue bank  https://www.vtbank.org , which means he will go on to help up to 40 other dogs.

My heart is broken, my gorgeous goofy Norman has gone. I had bought my first home for Norman and Me and now it is just me.

But I am also angry – so angry that this happened, so angry that the breeder said it was my fault, so angry that a kennel club registered dog can be born to a sire with elbow dysplasia.  I believed ( I now know wrongly) that the kennel club had health at its heart and that a puppy registered with the Kennel Club had the best possible chance of a healthy happy life.  I now know different – kennel club registered means nothing in terms of health, they do not check if the parent dogs have been health tested, now I learn it is only assured breeders ( of which there are very few) who have to health test their dogs.

This is all I have left of Norman. His pawprints! 9 months is no life at all and many of those months were spent in pain and discomfort. This shouldn’t be allowed to happen

I want to help ensure others don’t go through what poor Norman had to go through by telling his story and advising anyone thinking of buying a puppy to make sure the parent dogs have had the breed relevant hereditary health tests and that the results are acceptable to be bred from.  I am supporting the campaign #dontbreedblind campaign (www.pawsagainst.co.uk) and asking the government to mandate that all breeding dogs have the breed relevant hereditary health tests and only breed from those with acceptable results.

I am more than happy for anyone to email me if they are in a similar situation or just if you want some advice.  Tracy Moore email:  tracymoore2727@gmail.com