Dog with Down Syndrome
By santau
@santau (223)
United States
December 14, 2008 1:26pm CST
Have you ever had or ever heard of a dog with down syndrome? I recently met someone who has a dog that has it and I was amazed. I guess dogs could get it but it never occurred to me that they could. The dog was very small for its breed and liked to nibble on things but other than that it was a sweatheart.
5 responses
@stejhas (209)
• United States
15 Dec 08
Huh, I never would have guessed that! I'm pretty sure my dog has A.D.D. (lol) but I guess I've never considered the possibility that dogs could have all the same medical/genetic problems that humans have... interesting... wonder how that came to be diagnosed... ???
@jralivio511 (480)
• Philippines
15 Dec 08
How was that? May I ask how many chromosomes does dogs have? In human, we have 46 chromosomes and child with down syndrome has excess of one chromosome and most are mentally retarded. How did you know that the dog is a down syndrome.
@santau (223)
• United States
15 Dec 08
I didn't ask how many it had. I knew that children with down syndrome have an extra chromosome and I guess this is what this dog had too. The dog was a pit bull but did not act anything like the breed and its face was a little off what a pit bull normally looks like. It was also very small for the breed with not as much muscle tone.
@shihtzumama (290)
• United States
14 Dec 08
WOW, I am a breeder of Shih Tzus and I learn new stuff everyday but I never have heard of that before. Very interesting. Well if the dog is anything like humans who have down syndrome, usually down syndrome people are very loving people, I bet the dog is too!!!
Shihtzumama
@santau (223)
• United States
15 Dec 08
The dog was very sweet. It thought it was a lapdog :) The only difference is that it liked to feel things with its mouth. It would put my arm or shirt and its mouth and then lay down on my lap. When I first heard the dog had this problem I was like "oh no" because I was not sure how it was going to act. But it turned out to be one the best dogs I have met.
@dearlot (175)
• Brunei Darussalam
15 Dec 08
hrm, thats a rare one, kinda scary to imagine now, but since its a sweetheart then i guess its fine. Waoh! its a new thing i know today! a dog with syndrome, thats very interesting to know, i guess now that the world is evolving and everything is changing too, thats scary but i guess we have to face it too. Thank you for bringing it out for us to discuss. much appreciated!:)
@julie33200 (1)
•
10 Oct 12
my dog was diagnosed when he was 9 months with downe syndrom.His life expectency is 4 maybe 5.He also has water on the brain.it is very rare for a dog to have this condition.hardly anyone in the uk with a dog with downes.Every body loves my dog as he looks and acts different but the truth is its very hard work having to look after him.He has temper tantrums which i ignore him.He gets bruises easy a black eye he got for 3 weeks vet said in 19 years had never seen it.He cant sit proply and refuses to bend back legs.He has a deformed jaw and cant chew a crisp he starts to choke.if he has a bone i have to sit with him because he will choke.As i say it is very hard work he will go out for a wee come in for a poo or vice versa.He really is slow.as i say it is very hard work with him but well worth watching him running over fields.
