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WARNING: If you're a dog owner, please read on. The information I'm about to share may save your dog's life and it's not generally known to most dog owners. I should also warn that some readers may find the following graphic or disturbing I don't recommend reading this one while you eat. If you don't own a dog, you might want to stop reading now. If you're a dog owner, read on and help save your dog's life.

We came home a few months ago and found one of our dogs dead. Dallas, our beautiful purebred German Shepherd, was laying still on the living room floor, her belly severely distended and a trickle of blood flowing from her nose. Her eyes stared peacefully into space.

Dallas was our joy; she was the obnoxious one, the eight year old puppy with so much love to give. Definitely high maintenance and not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree by a long shot, but a very loyal and loving dog. Our buddy.

What hurt most about her death was that it was so unexpected. We'd adopted her years ago, shortly after she'd been hit by a car, and nursed her back to health. After that, we had to nurse her through various other health problems that she developed. Dallas had come through so much in her short life, but she was finally very healthy. We really loved her.

To not know why she died would be unbearablewas it something we had or hadn't done?

Around 2:30 in the morning, I brought her to the 24 hour emergency veterinarian in Walpole. While seeing the doctor write "DOA" on her chart really chilled me, an autopsy gave us the answers we sought. Dallas died from Gastric Dilation and Volvulus Syndrome (GDV) which is also called "twisting of the stomach."

What we found most disturbing is that the four veterinarians we spoke with afterward basically told us the same thing, that they know about this condition but don't really discuss it with dog owners because it can be so unpredictable. Why discuss something that probably won't ever happen? Maybe that is true, but we wish that we had been told about it. Although GDV can be unpredictable, there are certain breeds of dogs that are more at risk than other. There are things that any dog owner could watch out for and minor changes that they can make to help in preventing GDV.

A medical paper we were given by one veterinarian notes that, "Most metropolitan emergency clinics see these cases frequently." German Shepherds, Great Danes, Saint Bernard, Rottweilers, Labrador retrievers, and Alaskan Malamutes are most predisposed to getting this

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