I think I’d like to get a large dog at some point in the (far) future. At this point I’m still at the stage of wondering how it would work out.
How much do you spend, on average, monthly for your 70 lb+ dog? I saw a pet owners budget on a humane society website, but it seemed a bit over the top. Have any problems cropped up that you didn’t expect when you went into it? For those of you who’ve had large and small dogs, were there any issues you had that were specific to the bigger pet?
Shelby is a 145 pound Great Dane. I feed her Purina Dog Chow and she eats 3-4 bags per month- roughly $25-$35. But Shelby is a little spoiled, and also gets dog biscuits, rawhide, and peanut butter in her Kong toy from time to time.
I have also had Saint Bernards and an Alaskan Malamute in the past- in my experience larger dogs are not as active as medium dogs, and eat about the same amount.
I have a 125 (or so!) lb Malemute, that big enough? 
I’ve also owned a German Shepherd (115 lbs) a Dobermann (130 lbs) and my sister had a Rottweiler (165 lbs) and an English Mastiff (175 lbs.) You might say we’re a big dog owning family…
Big dogs don’t really eat all that much, contrary to popular opinion. Space the Malemute only eats about a cup more per day than Widget the Border Jack, and they both maintain their weight–it’s just that there’s a 90 lb difference between the two. This disparity in the food : body weight ratio is due to Widget’s incredibly high activity level–he’s a runner and a ball chaser, whereas Space, like most large breed dogs, is more of a lounge rat.
Big dogs have short lifespans under optimum conditions, and early lack of proper nutrition can shorten that life even further. They’re more likely to have bone and skeletal disorders both genetic and nutritionally caused. Hip dysplasia is common in large breed dogs. They tend to get arthritic, especially if they’re primarily outdoor dogs. Flea medication for really huge dogs is a problem, as most companies don’t market for 100+ lb dogs. Vet bills will tend to be larger for larger dogs as well, since large breeds pose issues with anesthesia, medication and orthopedic work, etc.
Big dogs need big cars. If you want your giganto pup to go everywhere with you, get used to driving a van or truck. Grooming by a professional costs a mint, especially if the dog is very furry–you know, like a Malemute! Big dogs are a pain in the ass to bathe at home because they are too big for a shower stall and probably too big for the bathtub, too. So during the winter you either pay up or let the dog be stinky.
A big dog is always a big dog–no matter how sweet your puppy is, or how well trained, if the dog takes it into his head to attack another dog or lunge for something you had better be ready to have your arm yanked off and you probably will not be able to break up a fight the way you would with a smaller dog. My sister weighed 130 soaking wet and when her Rottie got older (and a tad senile) he became insanely protective of her and would attack men who got too close–she could not physically control him and had to stop walking him by herself.
On the plus side, big dogs are somewhat less likely to be barkers and destroyers and are great to hug–very reassuring. They’re a fabulous deterrent to intruders and creepy people are less likely to come bother you when your huge dog is standing between you and the creep. They make great footrests. If you’re camping out and it’s cold a big dog will keep you warm. Big dogs get you a LOT of attention, especially if they’re one of the really spectacular breeds that aren’t seen too often. They’re very rewarding, but they require a lot of thought, planning and work.
I’ve got a 70 lb pit bull that is part mastiff. He’s not that big but he’s incredibly strong.
The biggest problem I have is that he is hard to control when he’s excited. It’s always a good excitement but it’s taking a while to develop good manners, and good manners are way more important for big dogs just because they’re so intrusive.
Of course, he is also a high-energy breed, so YMMV.
Bear is a 100lb pure white Samoyed. He is bigger than Samoyeds are supposed to get but the vet said he is fine and he must be because he is almost 12 years old now. The fact that he is big doesn’t really affect the cost of ownership except in trivial ways like buying bigger collars. He doesn’t eat much at all but the breed in known for that. What does cost $$$ is the fact that he is a large, pure white, very fluffy dog. Grooming costs anywhere from $80 - $130 and we get it done less than recommended at about every 3 - 4 months but its still adds up. I am sure that large breeds with shorter hair don’t have such grooming bills. I second the idea that you will need a large vehicle like an SUV or at least a station wagon because you will need to take it places at some point. My wife has taken Bear in her small BMW and he got there but it wasn’t comfortable for him or her.
I’ve got a 90lb golden retriever. She eats 3 cups of $35/40lb food a day, plus one can of unsalted green beans (50 cents a can). I think she’s supposed to get 4-5 cups of the food but the doctor suggested cutting down food and adding the green beans to control her weight. She’s not actually that overweight, but I think since she’s so close to ideal weight they want her to stay that way.
She was a baby when I bought my new car - I upgraded from an Escort to an Escape (a small SUV). That’s big enough for her. I also upgraded from a twin bed to a double bed so she could sleep with me.
She’s got a big bed, a big doggy door and a big doggy septic tank (it’s cool - you put the poopy in the ground instead of having to bag it and put it in the trash). She’s got a big retractable leash and a nice big collar. She also has a big cage, which she used when she was full grown but not anymore. Her favorite toys are big toys and her favorite bones are big bones.
Actually, I’d say other than food, bones are the biggest difference I see in cost from a medium to a big dog. You just can’t get a small or medium bone for a big dog - too unsafe since they can swallow it whole. You need to get the bigger, expensive ones.
It is a pain to give her a bath just because there’s so much to wash, especially with the long hair. I got a special doggy bathtub for her so I didn’t have to put her in the people tub - trying to keep a wet, upset 90lb pooch in the tub while you’re on your knees is near impossible and extremely messy. Now with our setup I am standing and she is leashed in (and she likes it much much better).
The worst thing about having a big dog I think is control, like others have said. Even if you have a nice mellow dog, an excited dog is an excited dog. She is strrroooong (she does not look 90lbs - it’s a lot of muscle). Most people cannot handle her when she is feisty. Obedience is a must for a big dog I think - you need to be able to control your big dog with your voice because you can’t always control it with your body.
I currently have a 110+ lb Malamute, two 100 lb dobes, a standard poodle and an english setter. I buy the Wal-mart brand lamb and rice formula dogfood. I know plenty of people will tell you that you must buy then the hugely expensive Royal Canin or some other food. When I had only one dog (and no mortgage) I had my pointer-dobe at the vet’s office and asked her if I should switch to Eukanuba. Nothing was too good for my dog. The vet said, “Look at your dog - she’s not over weight, she’s not under weight, her eyes are bright and her coat is shiney. whatever you’re doing, it’s working. Don’t stop.” My english setter is a little pudgey, but otherwise all my dogs are in fine shape. They’re all rescues and a couple are getting older.
Some tricks with big dogs/multiple dogs. I buy the largest packs or Frontline Plus on ebay and dose it out for each dog’s weight with a syringe. I buy cattle ivermectin at the farm store and give it to the dogs instead of heartgaurd - it’s the sae stuff and I dose it with a syringe.
I have a farm, so space isn’t an issue with me, but there are many large breeds that do well with even apartment quartrs, as long as they’re walking and I used to take my dogs to the local tennis courts to run safely. now they have dog parks, which are great as long as your dog is well-socialized. I believe in training and making sure you’re the alpha dog in your pack. I’ll never have a large dog I can’t trust around people. I once adopted a dobe at the local pound. That first day she was as docile with me as she could be, but would growl at the occassional person. Then she snapped at someone else that same day. I couldn’t risk her attacking someone, although I felt no personal fear of her. I took her back the next morning. There are too many dogs that need homes to take one that you can’t trust.
I’ve had large dogs exclusively, and I always say I like a dog I don’t have to bend down to pet. All five of mine are sitting around me as I’m typing, all get along with the cats and horses.
Obligatory pics:
StG
I prefer small dogs.
For obvious reasons .
We own a Bichon - the loveliest of all dogs IMHO.
They are the friendliest little critters I’ve ever encountered. (You don’t need to groom them like a poodle; they look fine with a “normal” trim.)
We currently have two 60lb dogs. A Border Collie mix and a Pointer mix.
Our Lab, Alpine (the reverse of my username) passed on 4 years ago.
You say ‘far’ into the future. One thing to consider. As you age and the dog ages, you may need to lift the dog and carry it at some point. I ended up carrying Alpine up and down the stairs for about 6 months. She had to be helped into the car (SUV) too. Otherwise she got around fine.
I’ve had medium-to-large dogs in the past. The rule of thumb I go by: “Big dog = big poo.” In addition to feeding and the extra doctorin’ they sometimes need (larger dogs have hip problems, etc…) you will definitely work harder in the clean-up department. Hey…I’m just sayin’!
I have a 110-pound German Shepherd/mutt.
Most of the key points have been made above, but let me emphasize the cost of medication. Because of his size, when Cisco is on a prescription he generally needs two pills instead of one. That means double the cost, or nearly so. It gets expensive fast.
Also, he’s deathly afraid of thunderstorms. When he gets it into his head to go hide from the thunder, he’ll claw through a wall or a window to do it. Small dogs may be just as scared, but they can’t do as much damage.
Indy the wonder dog is about 85 lbs. (about 10 over his ideal weight) We feed him a high end dry food plus a supplement.
A thirty pound bag of food runs between $30-35 dollars, and lasts about 5 weeks or so.
The supplement runs about $20 and lasts for 4 months or so.
If you are considering adopting a big dog, or if you like big dogs, look here
We’ve owned 2 St. Bernards. A St. B puppy is one of the very cutest things on the planet, other than a kitten. Our vet told us a couple of things to be careful about. First, it is absolutely mandatory that any big dog be thoroughly obedience trained. If a peke gets slightly out of control that’s one thing; if a chihuahua nips someone’s ankle, it’s bad. But if a St. B gives anyone a “nip” it’s extremely major. Second, Saints mature very slowly. Although they are technically adults in the sense that they can reproduce at 6 months to a year, they do not become fully mature emotionally until they are about 2 years old. A very, very few of them mature into nasty-tempered “rough” dogs despite proper handling and training. If this happens you have absolutely no alternative to euthanasia. Ours were real sweethearts.
They ate less than we would have expected. They didn’t really want or need a lot of exercise. (In fact, it’s a good idea to specifically discourage activity for a while after a meal. Our second dog died of a nasty condition called “twisted stomach” that may have been brought on by running around with a full stomach. ) We’ve known folks who had a Saint in a normal-sized apartment, and the dog was quite content to mostly lie about and have a leisurely walk from time to time for the usual purposes.
Since we loved these snuggly giants so much, we will probably never get another one. Even with the best of care, they have a relatively short life span and are prone to a number of ailments that don’t usually affect smaller dogs. In addition to twisted stomach and hip ailments, some things that can be treated in a smaller animal don’t work for huge ones. Our first Saint developed bone cancer in her leg. In a little dog, the leg could have been amputated. A Saint is too big to get around on 3 legs, the vet said, and they rarely tolerate a prosthesis.
As someone else said, transportation is an issue. I once had to transport my Saint to the vet for some emergency. I forget the details of the emergency, but the only car I had available was a Corvette Sting Ray. Seeing that huge beastie manage to settle herself in the passenger seat was a trip. She ended up sitting mostly like a human, with her gigantic butt on the seat, resting her chin on the dashboard. Quite a sight.
I’ll still be fairly young thirteen or so years from now when the dog would be about ten and arthritic, but that is a good point. It would be quite a situation if it were to unexpectedly die in the house. I never thought about the SUV thing either.
I’m surprised to hear that large dogs don’t eat that much, but if they’re the stereotypical lazy giant, that makes sense.
STG, nice looking dogs. I didn’t know dobermans came in brown.
Just out of persnicketiness I do want to make the point that most large dogs are perfectly safe. And I’ve met far more improperly trained small dogs than I’ve ever met large dogs that scare me. I’ve only ever been bitten by small dogs.
Feel free to choose whatever dog you want. I’m not trying to change your point of view on that. But, I think you’re doing responsible dog owners a disservice when you pick a corner case like that to explain why you think large dogs are dangerous.
On to the OP:
Growing up I lived with a 70 lb German Shepherd/Husky mix. Then we got a 60 lb Brittany. Both what I’d consider medium dogs.
However recently I’ve lived with a housemate who has Great Danes. I’ll second what most of the other posters have been saying about size and life-expectancy correllations, and activity levels.
I now admit that there are sizes beyond which I think a dog shouldn’t be. First off, the Great Danes I’ve known were all marshmallows. They’d bark if there were strangers at the door, but never had any problems with them attacking anyone. And the deterrent effect cannot be overestimated, IMNSHO.
The problem with them comes from their size. First you’re going to get people who assume that any dog they can’t kick away is automatically dangerous. So, people, Police, and the courts view a Great Dane running about as a threat, where other breeds get second chances. (And not without justification, I’ll add - at least with the assumption of threat for a Great Dane running off on its own.)
Secondly, they’re awkward animals. Their head can be in your lap, behaving as well as you please. And their tail wagging, in the next room (It was a small house.) will knock all the mail onto the floor, along with your drink. Great Dane-proofing a house is almost as much of a challenge as toddler-proofing one. Secondly, you can’t, unless the dog is superbly trained, not simply well trained, have dinner on the table comfortably with the dog in the house. I don’t mean that the dog will steal the food - a well trained dog will know better. But unless the Dane is superbly trained, he won’t be able to resist sniffing the food.
From above it. At about two inches distance.
Really, IMNSHO, dogs and humans get along much better if the dog cannot eat off the dining room table without jumping up onto it. 
My friend’s parents raise English mastiffs and they sometimes gaze innocently off into the air while backing their butts up to the couch which they’re not allowed on. 
They basically have no small furniture in the main living room because the dogs would sit on it and crush it. The dogs are pretty lazy and when they realize they won’t get any of the food you’re eating they give up and go flop down on their beds. They drink out of a huge communal bowl and then come with slobber hanging off their jowls. ::shudder
I’m afraid I don’t know how much they eat but it’s dry food in a big bowl each.
Agreed. I had just read that news story before popping in here, and it was top of mind. Just about every dog I’ve ever encountered (large or small) has been perfectly fine with people.
My Malemute first exhibited major arthritis symptoms at the end of a long hike–we were about a mile or so from home and she just could not walk another step, so I had to leave her with a friend and come back with a car to get her home. My van was on loan at the time so we had to wrestle this huge hairy panting beast into the back seat of a Cavalier and she took up the entire area and spilled over into the front seats in parts! That was the last time I tried to fool myself that my Cav is a five seater… :rolleyes: She misses out on a lot of trips if the van isn’t here or isn’t running right or I plain just can’t afford to fill the tanks on it!
If I ever had to lift her into the van by myself I’m not sure I could do it, to be honest. It’s a consideration, especially when they get older and can’t jump into the pickup themselves.
SmartAleq - A few months after I tookhim in, my mal suffered a profound and sudden paralysis. I came home from work and found him totally unable to move his legs. I’m a small woman, and he doesn’t weigh that much less than me. I ended up rolling him onto a blanket and getting a peice of plywood to use as a ramp to pull him up into my car’s backseat. I was struggling with him when a neighbor came along and helped me get him in.
The vet couldn’t find a reason for the paralysis, there was no sensation in his legs or feet at all. I had no choice but to make the decision to put him down. The vet prepared the needle, and to put things off we were talking about other stuff - my other dogs, my horses (my vet has horses, too) - anything to delay the end. Finally, she got ready to put him down, but decided to check for pain reflex one last time. He had a very slight response, so we decided to hospitalize him, put him on steroids and antibiotics (because it couldn’t hurt) and see what happened. Three days later he walked out of the clinic without any symptoms whatsoever. We never did figure out what happened, maybe a stroke, but he’s fine now.
StG
Rufus is about 80 lbs. He’s a wolfhound/bouvier/Benji mix. I can pretty much echo what SmartAleq wrote. He consumes a lot less food than you’d expect. We’ve never needed a truck or van, to take him places, but we have a hatchback. He can fit in the back just fine, but he’s happier when the seats are folded down (but that’s because he gets to be closer to you). He would happily fit in the back seat.
We don’t wash him at home, but most big cities have do-it-yourself grooming facilities, so we can book a time to hose him down with warm water and doggy shampoo, with blow dryers that are much better for his skin than any kind we would have at home. It’s not terribly expensive, but if you have a dog that’s prone to be super stiinky, it could add up. We take him maybe once every two months. More often in summer months.
He’s had obedience training and I would highly, HIGHLY recommend it for a big dog so that you don’t lose control if he gets excited by a raccoon or something. He will drop onto his back in utter submission the second he gets in trouble, but that’s his disposition. Big dogs tend to be much lower energy, so they don’t destroy your house and they don’t tend to be yappy.
We get bones at the fancy market (a place that actually has big meat lockers with entire cow cadavres on site), and for $6 we can get a bone that will last months and months. The one he has now, he’s been gnoshing on for about three months and it’s pretty small…
Big dogs have big bladders, so he doesn’t need to go out and pee every couple of hours, so we can sleep in on weekends. We do take him out for two long walks a day, at least an hour each, unless we’re jogging in the morning. We also arange for him to have a mid-day walk though a dog-walking sercie, but that has more to do with his emotional needs (he was a rescue and freaks out if he’s left alone for too long).
My girlfriend likes the fact that he has a big bark when someone comes to the door, even though he’s really a big coward.
