Pam, sending you prayers and good wishes for your Sammy String-bean. I know how devastating DCM can be, but I'll share a little something that may give you hope. I lost Natasha this past January. She had been diagnosed with a significant case of DCM when she was six. At that time, her prognosis was poor and she was going downhill fast, but the drug regimen she was put on made a tremendous difference. She was just short of turning fourteen when we had to send her to the Bridge, and in those years, her heart stayed pretty much stable, until the final six months or so. We lost Logan last October. He had been diagnosed with DCM at ten, and made it to twelve and half, but it was cancer that took him, not DCM.
I had posted earlier about having a nice little Lab mix. His name is Hunter and he is four years old. He's the color of a chocolate Lab, but we're pretty sure he is a Lab/Beagle cross. He's only 44 pounds, so he seemed really small to me when we first got him, after nothing but Dobes in my house for decades. I'm happy to say he's now been joined by Terra, a six-year-old red Doberman female. It's wonderful to have two dogs in the house again, and it makes the endless stresses of today's world a little easier to bear.
I miss the busy days of the forum, too, and I still check here once in a while. In looking back through this entire thread this morning, I'm seeing a couple of names we haven't seen around here in a very long time, which was nice. Sending best wishes to all of you and your loved ones and all of your dogs, Dobermans and otherwise.
Currently part of my treasured family and helping to make life fun and busy:
Hunter, the chocolate Labradeagle (or Beaglador)
Terra, the tall, gorgeous red Doberwoman
Waiting at the Bridge and forever in my heart...... Igor, Max, Savanna, Logan, and Tasha