(Question) I'm sharing this information because a subscriber had a Deutsch Drahthaar that suffered from OCD. Many years ago, I also had a DD that suffered from the same affliction. I found out later that two others from the same litter also had this problem. The breeder was notified and he supposedly reported it to Germany where the breeding took place. Nothing was discovered.

At that time, my veterinarian said that in his experience OCD occurred mostly in racehorses because of the high-grade hay they ate. He recommended that I try feeding my dog a cheap supermarket dog food for a while. I could not see any significant change so my vet then recommended I take my dog to Washington State University to have the surgery done.

My female DD was eight months old at that time. She came out of the surgery okay and recovered in a short time. I had her spayed once she was back to normal. The information I subsequently picked up from vets and from reading up on OCD leads me to believe that it is hereditary. Luckily, it is rather rare for a dog to have this affliction.

I think your reader should have the dog operated on and then spayed. Just so he knows, my dog hunted until she was eight years old and lived as a house pet until I had to put her down just after she turned 15 years old. She had to be put down for other reasons but she never suffered from the OCD surgery.

Again, I recommend he have the surgery and then have a great time hunting with her for many seasons. --BK

(Answer) Your experience is not unique and I thank you for sharing it with us. I do feel that OCD is not as rare as one might think, however. Some of these young dog lameness issues that seem to go away with rest or short use of NSAIDs could very well be mild cases of OCD that are resolved without surgery.

(Question) I read with interest your comments about seizures and had a question based on personal experience. I had an Irish setter many years ago that developed seizures after we moved to a house that had a well and associated water softener system. He had not displayed any issues while living in a no-softener home. He was kept on Phenobarbital for three years, after which we moved to Virginia (from Ohio) to a home that did not require a water softener.

I decided to try not giving him any more Phenobarbital and he never did have another seizure. My question is whether or not you are aware of any studies linking salt intake (from the water softener in this instance) to seizures. I now have a female English setter and we again are living in Ohio with a water softener and I am not sure if I should only provide unsoftened water for drinking. So far we've had her for a little over a year and she shows no signs of seizures. --BS

(Answer) I've never seen clinical reports that associated normally softened water with seizures in dogs. I would think that if this were true in your area many other dogs would be affected, not just yours. Remember that the Irish setter is a breed noted for seizure problems. It is usually just plain epilepsy and those dogs do often grow out of the condition.