Hi guys

I wonder if any of you out there can put my mind at rest regarding a remark made last night by my vet nurse. My gsd (13 mths - male) was having a check up and was being weighed  and the nurse was asking general questions about his health etc. I made a comment about him being a big boy for his age (50kg) and that he still has a lot of growing to do and she said ''you will be lucky to get 6-7 years out of him as he is what they call a giant breed and she has never known one to last longer than that''! :-(  , i didn't really take an awful lot of notice but now it is really playing on my mind, he is a big boy but incredibly healthy and hasn't got an ounce of fat on him. Any experts out there that can put my mind at rest .

I lost one GSD in 40+ years with Cancer aged 8 1/2 the rest lived well ninto their teens including my giant 32"+at the shoulder boy who was 14 1/2 when he died

GSD are a large breed not a giant breed Giant breeds are Newfies, Great Dames, Wolfies, Leos etc & my friend who has had GD for years rarely loses one under 10 & most live into their teens

It all depends(barring injury & cancer,etc)on how fit you keep your dogs & the fitter the dog the more likely it is to have a long life

Thanks Moonmaiden, that's eaxactly what i thought which is why i was so surprised when she said it. Just to clarify (sorry i should have made it clearer), when the nurse said that he was a giant  she meant that as gsd's go, he is a giant one and therefore his life will be much shorter because of this.

Well my Dessie was a very big boy(some 6" + over the top normal GSD size) & I got asked if he was a Great Dane X by lots of people including my vet at the time I got him aged 8 months ! He did great manwork & was known amougst the guys who ran as criminal as "crotch"height for obvious reasons No matter how tall they were he could still reach ! He could also rest his head on work surfaces & tables & he wasn't averse to taking plates of food & sharing them with his canine & feline friends !

Keep him fit & he'll surprise that nurse

I thought Danes,newfies,mastiffs,berners,can't think of anymore someone else might were giant breeds,and I thought you had around 9-10 yrs,depending on the Breeder,I know a breeder who has a Berner who is 11,2 yrs over its time and one of her newfies who is a teenager,always thought GSD,s Rotties etc,were classed as large breeds not giant.Not sure though maybe I shall learn something new today.

My mother-in-law's female german shepherd who is nearly 14 (we thought she wa sonly 11 until she checked her papars again) is the alpha and always has been both in the litter as a pup and at home. She is a very big girl - big boned if you get my meaning, and very sturdy - and she is 45 kilos and very big in terms of her height and her bone structure, and she has always had great health. In her whole life she has only had a few ear infections (caused by her splashing about in puddles of dirty water on the farm usually!). At nearly 14 she is only just starting to get problems with her back end (joint stiffness etc.) which is all normal with her age. She is healthy, fit and has reached a good age. I don't think you should be worrying now as you need to enjoy your dog now. Were your dog's parent's on the big side? Everyone keeps telling me my GSD puppy is too big for her age (12 weeks and 14.45 kilos). She has HUGE feet (bigger than adult retreivers) and very big knees. We keep an eye on her rate of growth and she is not putting too much on too quickly, she is just a big dog, and looking at her parents it is understandable as her dad is a massive, big boned male and her mum was just above average and it looks as though she is taking after her dad.

I have real giant breeds and have had an Irish Wolfhound live to 13 and a deerhound live to well over 15.

My oldest Shepherd was, I think, 14.

My current breed are what you would deem as large/giant and I know of several that are still going strong at 16.

I grew up with the idea that large dogs didn't live much past 7 or 8. Our Chow, who we were told had a life expectancy of 6!!! lived until he was 13.

Times have moved on, better knowledge, understanding, nutrition etc. Also it didn't used to be unusual for us humans to only live into our 30's, if you made 40 you were doing well :)

One of our vets finally had her GSD put down this year at nearly 17 years of age.

My grandad had to have his GSD put to sleep when she was about 12 and half due to HD..she was a great dog, still miss her :(