Oooo! Good question! We receive this question quite often at my clinic by owners of all breeds.
Historically speaking, white dog shaker syndrome was recognized in small breen white dogs, mostly the Maltese, West Highland Terrier, and poodles. It has also been seen in Yorkies and beagles! Here is the thing…the disorder has also been recognized in other breeds of dogs of varying sizes and coat color, but it seems to single out the smaller white breeds most often. When it is found in other dogs, it is then called steriod responsive tremor syndrome.
Sadly, this is a condition that cannot be determined right way; it has to be via exclusion of other dieases/illnesses and via treatment. There isn’t a test to look for this syndrome.
The most common symptom with this condition is tremors of the body. The tremors could be localized to one area of the body, or the tremors could go throughout the whole body. Because tremors are also symptoms of so many other neurological disorders, that is one reason white dog shaker syndrome is difficult to diagnose. Tremors are also symptoms of ingesting various chemicals, and bacterial/viral illnesses.
The disease usually rears its ugly head in a young dog, between 6 months to 3 years of age. It is reported that the condition is not painful to the dog and it doesn’t bother their personality. It can give them some trouble walking if the tremors are bad enough.
I probably wouldn’t worry too much about it unless you have a smaller dog. I hope that this info helped a bit!
