Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I came across this site while looking for information on Head Tremors and I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading these posts. Lots of good information and suggestions. It's also great to talk to other Dobie lovers who appreciate and love the breed. I am not alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We adopted a purebred Doberman from a shelter in October and were shocked to find him there. He was completely housebroken, great with other animals, including cats, great with kids and listens to every word we say and does everything we ask of him. Now I'm wondering if Head Tremors could be the reason he ended up a stray. Could be any number of things, like owners had to move and couldn't take him with them. Who knows. I had to buy my first house because NO ONE would rent to me with my doberman. Some allowed dogs, but when they found out she was a Dobe, they said no way! Anyway, after exams from our vet and the specialist he sent us to, they both determined our Tucker was experiencing focal seizures. After some research, I have to disagree. We can distract him out of these things easily. Before we learned of tremors and distracting to cut them short, they would last about five minutes or more. But now we can cut them down to a minute or less, sometimes seconds. We tell him to get his toy and they stop, we give him a treat and they stop as he chews it. I am very glad we didn't start him on phenobarbital before researching this. We are still researching and I sent our vet info about this syndrome, but I haven't heard back from him yet. Do any of you have information regarding head tremors versus focal seizures? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

I've heard about wobblers getting misdiagnosed as tremors. I think that was in the legs though and not the head. It might help just going to a couple different vets or a neurological one. They all may have something different to say but if some of it helps then its worth it!
Do you have any pics of your dobe? Theres a link for mine at the bottom. I think they are just the best dogs!
byrons pics

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I checked out your pics, they are great! We have had Tucker checked for Wobbler's and that came out okay. That condition is caused by a narrowing of the cervical spine, which does affect their legs and gait. They want to put him on Phenobarbitol for seizures, but I just don't feel like they are seizures. The more I read about the head tremors (I think the original term is Benign Head Tremors of Dobermans) the more I think that is what's wrong. And the more I read about Pheno., the more I want to use that as a last resort. He doesn't suffer with these tremors at all, and when we distract him they are only lasting for seconds now. I wouldn't think we could distract him out of a seizure. I am short on time tonight, but I will post a picture of my boys....providing I can figure out where and how! Ha ha. Thanks so much for your input!

Here is a picture of our two boys, Tucker and Duke, a day after we brought Duke home. He was in the shelter for five years before we adopted him and wasn't socialized at all, so he has had to overcome a lot of fears, but he is doing great. Sorry it's so big, I'm just lucky I figured out how to get it here. Maybe I should have just left it in the photo gallery. I will add more pics to the gallery later.

Head Tremors are really not that uncommon in Dobermans. My bitch had them some when she was between about 6 months and 1 year - I have not seen them in her for some time now. It does freak you out some until you get more info on it. As long as you can distract your Dobe out of it, then tremors is probably what you are dealing with - I would not worry unless you see other problems. My bitch did it mostly when she was tired at night - she never seemed to realize that she was doing it, and could be distracted out of it easily - especially with food.

Vets are not always up on the individual breed issues - they do the best they can with what they have. It is amazing how much great info you can get from people who are really knowledgeable in the breed. Always consult your vet, but go armed with all the info you can find first!

Thanks for your reply. I really think tremors are what we are dealing with, too. He doesn't seem affected at all by these episodes, which can be the case in a mild focal seizure as well, but the fact we can distract him out of it makes me lean more toward tremors. If they were focal seizures, we wouldn't be able to distract him from them, would we? I worked for a vet for six years and somehow never came across this. I really appreciate your comments and info. We just lost a dobe last May to Immune Mediated Hemolytic Disease. I probably spelled that wrong, but basically her immune system went crazy and destroyed her blood supply. She was only one year old, it was heartbreaking. She was the only dobe out of the four I have been blessed with that I had gotten as a pup and she was very active and full of life. It all happened so quickly, one day we noticed she didn't run for her toys, she walked. By that night (1:00 AM) she could barely walk outside to potty, that's when we knew there was something wrong. The next morning I had to carry her outside to go to the vet. After several transfusions and about five days in ICU at Purdue Teaching Hospital, we lost her. A few months later a friend told me of a dobe at the shelter in her city, we adopted him and when we saw these episodes the first time we were pretty paranoid to say the least. But he seems fine in every other way and for that we are very thankful. He's an excellent gentleman.

Yes, it is great to have access to all these doberman obcessed brains! I love it! You just don't find doberman lovers on every corner and it's great to have a group of caring doberman people like this!

There are so many Doberman forums out there that can teach you a ton about the breed. You just have to be very careful about who you listen to, as some of what you find is pure cr*p! Everyone can be an "expert" in cyberspace! I tool around a few of them and have tried many. When you are looking for medical stuff about Dobermans specifically it is best to find a list with many reputable Doberman breeders/exhibitors as well as people who train with Dobermans in other areas like obedience, agility, rally, etc...: by reputable I mean that they belong to the DPCA (Doberman Pincher Club of America), they don't breed for money, and they have been doing it for a long time.

There are also lists that are more geared towards pure pet ownership of Dobermans, and these are good also for sharing fun information and stories. There truly is nothing like another Doberman owner when you want to talk about your dog!

This is the first Dobie forum I have been to and I'm having a blast! It's great. I know what you mean about being careful who you listen to. It's like anything else, I suppose. We are working with our vet and he referred us to a specialist, but in my gut I just don't believe these are seizures. Sometimes I can see a muscle spasm on top of his head, but it doesn't always lead to a tremor. My vet wanted to put him on phenobarbitol, but the specialist said he wouldn't unless they became more severe. In the meantime I came across some info about head tremors and I'm really thinking that is what is going on here. My vet asked me to send him the info I found and I never heard back from him. I'm going to give him a call soon to see what he thinks, but I'm not putting him on meds yet.
We have been treating him with chiropractic so far and that seems to help lessen them to some degree. We need more documentation and more time and treatments to see if it truly is helping or not. He sure seems to like the treatments! He's such a cutie. Thanks for the info!

If you are looking to find more people who have gone through head tremors, then I can suggest another forum for you. My bitch never got them severely, and they went away after about 6 months or so. Some of the people on the DPDF have had some experience with them as well, and might be able to give you some more info than I can.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/11341

Good luck, I think holding off on the medication is probably the right move at this time - at least until you learn more.

Thanks for the link to the other forum. I will check it out.
I'm very glad your dog is over them, maybe Tucker will eventually grow out of it, too.