Giant Breeds

vanessahook

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Has anyone got experience of giant breeds? I have a St Bernard who is nearly 10 now and still going pretty strong. Was just wondering what sort of ages your giant breeds have made? My boy has been diagnosed with a heart murmour recently but he is not receiving treatment as the vet wanted to do all sorts of tests on him and he is petrified, so i decided it would be kinder to just let nature take its course.
He had a bit of a funny turn at the park yesterday and gave me a scare but he recovered quickly and was back to normal in about 5mins. Has anyone else given their giant breed treatment for heart problems, with what results?
 
No experience of what your dog is going through - fingers crossed all works out well though.

I have a large breed dog - I chose to have a large breed dog because of where I live, but the lifespan was definitely something which I researched and the breed I ended up buying is one of the longer living large breeds. I have an Akbash and they live to around 10 - 12 years old.
 
I have never heard of an Akbash, sounds very exotic!!
Its such a shame that the big ones don't live very long, it only feels like i've had him for a couple of weeks!
 
Aunt has danes,all considered family dogs(me who does most of the "work" though,love them to bits!).
Ours have lived a long time, life expectancy is still about 6 years I belive.The fawn made 9 and had to be PTS after a fall down the stairs(workman had beggered up laying a new carpet,he triped on a lose bit
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) and the harley was 12.Harley was fit as a flea untill 11 then went downhill pretty quick behind(we have suspicions why....).

It's a shame they dont live as long as the little ones, but they are special dogs
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We have a Pyrenean Mountain Dog who is now 6 1/2, but I know that they don't tend to live beyond about 10.... She seems very healthy at the moment, apart from always having had a very sensitive stomach, so I just hope that she lasts as long as possible!
 
In general they have a shorter life span...and come with more health problems in later life....however I have seen giant breeds live as short as 6 years and as long as 14
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all u can do is to try and help them stay fit and active for aslong as u can
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and watch the weight
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i have a wolfhound who will be 3 in january,
i lost a wolfhound 4 years ago , she was playing in the garden with the staffy and just fell over, i ran to her and she died in my arms , heart attack , aged 3
the wolfhound i had before that one , was as fit as a fiddle , untill i saw her belly seemed slightly swollen, took her to the vets, he drew blood from her tummy, it was her liver, a tumour had ruptured her liver, we took her home , and had her PTS the next morning, she was 4 years old,
i just cant be without a giant breed
 
my parents old dog was a Bloodhound/mastiff mix called sandy and he lived to the ripe old age of 14
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died 2 months before i was born
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my mum took him on his fave walk to the glen on a summers afternoon, and when he got home his heart just gave up on him
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he was rescued from being PTS at a pound as a puppy by my dad
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