What is the current ACVIM-recommended DCM screening protocol for Doberman Pinschers?

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The published DCM screening guidelines for Doberman Pinschers are from the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology (ESVC), not ACVIM. These guidelines, formulated by Wess et al., are the primary reference standard for Doberman DCM screening.1 Screening should begin at 3 years of age and use both 24-hour Holter monitoring and echocardiography annually for the life of the dog, as a single normal screening does not rule out future DCM development.12 The cumulative prevalence of DCM in Dobermans is reported as high as 58%.16 The Holter diagnostic thresholds are as follows: fewer than 50 ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) in 24 hours is considered normal, though detection of any VPCs warrants concern.1 Greater than 300 VPCs in 24 hours is diagnostic for occult DCM regardless of echocardiographic findings.1 Two consecutive annual recordings each showing between 50 and 300 VPCs in 24 hours also meets the diagnostic threshold for occult DCM, again independent of echocardiographic results.1 A general cross-breed cutoff of greater than 100 VPCs in 24 hours has been proposed, but the Doberman-specific thresholds above take precedence for this breed.2 The preferred echocardiographic method is left ventricular volume measurement by Simpson's method of discs (SMOD). SMOD is more sensitive than M-mode for detecting early echocardiographic changes in Dobermans.8 E-point-to-septal-separation (EPSS) is a valuable adjunct: at a cutoff of greater than 6.5 mm, EPSS has a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 99.0% for DCM diagnosis in Dobermans.8 The sphericity index at a cutoff of less than 1.65 has a sensitivity of 86.8% and specificity of 87.6%, but is considered inferior to SMOD because it detects geometric change only after left ventricular volume overload is already present.8 Cardiac biomarkers and resting ECG are ancillary tests — not part of the standard annual protocol — but are recommended when Holter or echocardiography is unavailable or financially untenable.1 An NTpr