From: cole@unix.SRI.COM (Susan Cole)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Large Breeds Showing Age
Date: 3 Jan 93 22:43:54 GMT
Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, California

In article <93003.095655U58664@uicvm.uic.edu> U58664@uicvm.uic.edu (Francine Cannarozzi) writes:
>I'm just throwing this out for discussion for those netters who have
>larger breeds.  We have a Great Dane mix (with black lab or German S.H.
>Pointer, I'm not too sure).  He's 5-1/2 years old, (we adopted him at
>3-yrs old) weighs in at about 87 pounds.  When do larger dogs start to
>age?  I noticed about 6 months ago he was getting more white on his
>muzzle.  He normally has an all jet black coat with white on his chest and
>back paws. Now I am beginning to see flecks of white all over.
>I had a professional portait done last June and the difference is very
>marked, most especially around his muzzle and jaws.

My dog Nova is supposedly 1/2 Great Dane, 1/4 lab and 1/4 German Shepherd.
Both the Great Dane and lab are clearly visible in her.  Right now she weighs
about 65 pounds, which may be slightly underweight.  I would say that both
she and your dog are large but not giant.  Like you, I often wondered how
long my dog would live, though, because the really giant breeds do seem to be
old at eight or so.  

Nova will turn *fourteen* this month.  She has aged dramatically in the last
couple of years, but I think graying is the least of it.  (After all, people
often begin to gray in their thirties and we don't consider *them* old then,
now do we? <wince>)  She was originally all black.  She began to gray at six
or seven.  As time has gone on, the white has gone from just her muzzle to
her paws, around her eyes, and a few random white hairs on her body.

Cloudy eyes seem to be inevitable in old dogs.  Nova's are very cloudy, but
she still seems to see quite adequately.  Hearing loss is another inevitable,
and it is indisputable that Nova's lost much of her hearing.  Sometimes she
doesn't wake up and go out to be fed when my housemate feeds the other dogs.
That's indisputable proof!

Nova's appetite is still excellent, but she has lost weight over the last
year or two.  I have always fed her Science Diet; she's been on the Senior
for several years.  Not metabolizing food as well also seems to be a sign of
aging.  (Side question -- should I be feeding her twice a day?)

Nova still loves to go for walks, but her back legs are weakening.  Sometimes
she limps slightly, and she doesn't have the stamina she used to.  The legs
have been the most dramatic sign of her aging.  It's sad when she falls while
trying to do something, like come up the basement steps or get into the car,
that she used to do with ease.  So far she has picked herself up almost every
time, but a couple of times someone had to help her, when she just hasn't
seemed to have the confidence to get up.  She just doesn't understand why she
fell, and that's hard to see.  I dread the day her legs really can't support
her.

I also think Nova is more susceptible to cold now.  Sometimes when I come
into the living room in the morning, she is trembling.  It could just be an
old-age tremor, but it has occurred to me that at 60 degrees or so, the house
might be too cold for her.  I will probably try replacing her foam pad with a
"cuddler" type and see if that helps.

Nova has also had a slight cough for four or more years now.  Her previous
vet thought it was a heart problem and put her on heart medication; I've since
taken her to another who says her heart is perfectly normal and has put her
on a broncho-dilator instead.  She still coughs sometimes so the cause is
not resolved.

At 5 1/2 and only 87 pounds, I'd be surprised if Beast is more than just
mature.  I think the things I've described above are a better indicator of
decline, but at any rate, if Beast is noticeably slowing down, it wouldn't
hurt to have him checked by a good vet.

Good luck -- Susan
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs