Longevity in the breed - Page 1

I'm interested in your opinions on longevity. 1- Is it a worthy goal of BREEDING decisions? If yes, in practical terms what do you feel would be PRACTICAL examples of how a breeder would go about contributing to this goal? 2- There are always trade offs, therefore what would it NOT be worth giving up in the pursuit of longevity? Everyone would love to only GET something, but something is always lost when something is gained. 3- Is there even a problem with longevity? Is the current status in the gsd breeding pool fine, in your opinion?

Wow, just noticed that my long response didn't even post...gotta love this forum. I'm too lazy to rewrite everything I said before, but to sum up, I think GSD's living an average of 10 years is appalling and that proper care and feeding as well as genetics could get the GSD to a breed average of 13 years (which is currently claimed but apparently not quite the case). It would be a dream if they lived to 16 or even 20, but so would winning the lottery.

VA-Brenda v. Messebau is 14.5 years old.  She still does bite work, flushes flocks of wild turkey, and plays with her numerous great-great grandchildren in our breeding program.   She has had 8 litters in her lifetime, including a VA son, Drake v. Kirchenwald. 

My other two foundation females lived to 13.5 years.  Non-breeder Quessi v. Wilhendorf (one bad hip) still rules the ranch at 13.5 years of age.

There is no substitute for great genetics!

 

I think that as far as pet owners & owners of working stock are concerned longevity is of paramount importance.  If our dogs live a long life, then not only are we lucky enough to spend more time with them, but also they will probably have been fairly healthy to have gortten to a ripe old age.  In a working breed that does not fully mature until 3yrs old, it is tragic to loose them at say 7yrs, escpecially is they have been trained to perform a working role.

Sadly, there are many breeders today who probably do not give longevity a second thought, some may even feel that an old dog is just wasting kennel space that could accomodate their next flavour of the month.  This is tragic, as ultimately too many health problems are creeping into the breed.

Our first GSD (pure bred) was the result of a chance mating in the park, we bought him as a guard dog.  He was fearless , strong & never ill in his entire life.  He lived to 13.  Our next GSD lived to 13 also, as did her sire.  Our second one also lived to 13.  She came from the famous old Tadellos kennels of Valerie Egger in the UK.  Her  dogs were reknowned for their long life, usually living to 16.  Our next two GSD's were litter mates, very inbred.  Along with their brother owned by my friend they lived lives beset by illness, all immune related.  We discovered their ancestors to also have been unhealthy, the breeding line living to around 10yrs max.  All three got CDRM at 7yrs & were dead by 9yrs. Tragic.  My mum has a 10yr old male, healthy all his life & a 9yr old male very healthy also.  My current one is nearly 2 & has been ill all her life, I doubt she will make old bones, she is the most sickly we have had.

What I have found with our dogs is that the less inbred they have been the healthier they hae been.  Is this a coincidence?  I would say that to achieve long health, you should make sure that both parents have been totally healthy up to the point of mating & that they come from families also with long lives.  I would not breed from the bitch until she was three, and totally mature.  I would avoid a young stud dog & instead aim for a dog of about 8yrs who had produced plenty of healthy stock.  I would make sure that I was not inbreeding at all, but would select a stud dog who produced a similar type to my bitches family.  I would feed the pups on as natural a diet as possible, and only vaccinate them as pups.  After that I would advise the owners to give them the best food & vet care possible, plenty of love & kindness, also a routine that included ample exercise to keep them stimulated.

As to what I would not give up for this, the answer has to be a good temperament.  Imagine having to live 13 yrs plus with a real bad natured pain of a dog - unbearable!!!  As for my beloved Dexter, the one who along with his siblings struggled to live to 9 yrs, well, every day was a blessing!!!

 

Thanks Lily for your post. Do you know any other kennels that consistantly breed long-lived dogs? I would love a list of breeders who's dogs make it 16 on a regular basis.