Sky's puppy hood was pretty normal, usual things like chewing slippers, escaping out of the garden, running mad down the beach, puppy tummies, just the usual puppy things so when she kept going upwards and not outwards, we didn't give it a thought.

She reached 2 years old without any major mishaps until she ran into a fence and badly injured her front leg and shoulder.  I will never forget her screams.
Off to the vet we went, breaking all the speed limits and she was operated on to repair a fracture.  We got her home complete with plaster and had to rest her for several months due to her shoulder.

Before operating the vet carried out a series of routine blood tests and found something untowards so at the next check up she asked for another blood test, just to check everything was okay.
A couple of weeks later when in for another check up we were told that our Sky had a disorder called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (Epi).  None the wiser we just gave our usual blank stare until told it can be life threatening and is a life long condition.
Suddenly, on top of all the upset regarding her leg and shoulder, we had this to contend with.  The vet started her on Pancreatin Vet Pills straight away and sent us home none the wiser, all we knew was these magic pills would sort all our problems.

To cut a long story short months went by, she was now mobile again although she had to be restricted but she just wasn't right, still very gangly and still very thin.
We thought at this point that our dog was one of the ones that didn't get better but the vet changed her from pills to the powdered form of treatment.  Still no real change, she wasn't loosing weight but she certainly wasn't gaining any.

It was at this point the unthinkable happened, the vet suggested we have her spayed.
This was hard as we had the intention of breeding from Sky should she be a good breed example so this really took us by surprise. Obviously we needed to know more before taking such drastic action on the off chance it may help her.
We read and read, surfed the internet for hours up on hours before stumbling across Gsdsrus which if the truth be known having surfed various sites until then, we only took an interest as we recognized the photo's, this web site was in our area!

The site seemed very upbeat, something I wasn't so I emailed liz, really just to let off some steam as I couldn't understand what good can come out of this terrible illness.  The reply I got was polite but to the point, liz told us that you shouldn't breed a Epi dog as the pups can inherit the disorder,  stress whether it be through an upset or a season can trigger Epi and 2 dogs in every 10 don't recover, she also suggested that I read all the information provided before jumping to conclusions!

I was pretty upset so I printed off sheet after sheet, marched into the vets and presented her with it.  To say I was humbled would be an understatement as the vet totally agreed and wanted to know the name of the web site!
Meanwhile Sky had begun another season, she was very aggressive which wasn't like her and she seemed in pain so we decided to have her spayed 2 months after her season.

The day dawned, I'd had to starve my very hungry girl and take her into the vets not knowing if I was doing the right thing or if I was to see her again as all operations carry a risk but having this condition made it worse.
She came back, recovered and was back to her usual bouncy self within days but still no improvement so back we went to get the stitches out and the vet gave her a bottle of Kaogel and some crystals to take with her food.

Off we went again, making her meals was becoming a real chore but we tried giving her smaller feeds more often.  Slowly Sky began to fill out, it wasn't our imagination as her weight was gradually beginning to increase, very slowly at first but she was gaining weight.  Weeks turned to months and she was getting better and better, filling out and a lot more happier within herself.

Now, well she's approaching her fifth birthday,  looks great and she's just your normal dog.  Her only upsets have been a couple of tummy upsets which were treated, she has to have her bum squeezed but we have changed diets and things are okay in that department.  Sure I'm more than upset that this has happened to our blue baby but at least she's on of the 8 that do make it.
Now she's on Wafcol Chicken & Corn, she has her powders mixed into her food roughly 30 minutes before feeding and only has Kaogel when she's loose.

I've since found out that Epi isn't common in Great Danes (it's a German Shepherd thing).   When I contacted her breeder she was at a loss, couldn't understand it and then promptly disappeared off the face of the earth !!!  I still don't know of any other Danes that have contracted this disease, in fact I don't really know of any other dogs with it, maybe I'm just unlucky.

Many comments have been made about Sky by Dane breeders all of whom were shocked to hear she'd be spayed and even more shocked to find out why.  This is a shame as I'm sure she would have made an impression in the show world but she's still my blue baby.

Now she shares us with a blue boy, Solo as well as our little welsh terrier Connie.  Solo is very gangly, at the age now of roughly 2 years and we steer clear of fences.  He came to us through a breeder who had met Sky, heard our fate  and asked us if we would be interested in him for a nominal fee as he wasn't show standard, she also wanted to redeem our faith in breeders I think or am I being naive ?
We haven't had him neutered, can't really explain why as we've no intentions of breeding from him but having lived with a sickly dog, my short lived ideas of breeding are just that, short lived.

The future looks good for Sky, recent blood tests haven't shown any change in her condition and she's very well.  Having an Epi dog can be very upsetting, you can end up being hurt in more ways than one but I'd just like to say that most of them do improve, Sky proved that and to us she may be Sky, our Epi Dane but she's also Sky our beautiful blue Great Dane............

footnote:-  I'd just like to thank liz for being so honest and offering support as well as being so upbeat. I would also like to apologize for my failings when we first "met" so to speak.

Moira McGovern......