[Spiderpig019]

I love berners and really want to adopt one this summer but I was very disappointed when I discovered they have the shortest lifespan of all dogs! I've seen a lot of crosses between bernese and goldens, pyrenees, labs etc. Does anyone know if these crosses have longer lifespans of 10+ years?

 

[Knute]

Dog lifespan is dependent on too many factors. Health, food, vet care, exercise, immunizations, accidents, breeding.........

Generally speaking, larger dogs tend to have shorter average lifespans than smaller breeds.

Example: Many terriers are projected to have lifespans of 12-15 years. Great Danes are around 5-8 years, (sorry, I don't recall the number off the top of my head)

 

[storyist]

Knute's right - there's no way to predict. I had 2 puppies from the same litter, Rottweiler mixes. One lived to 13, and the other had to be euthanized at 8 with osteosarcoma. That's full brother and sister who lived in the same home all their lives. So while the odds of a small dog living longer than a large one are high, you can't really know about a given individual. With a mix, will he inherit longevity from one parent or the other - or from a grandparent or some ancestor even further back?

 

[LeoRose]

It's kind of a crap shoot. For example, my Doberman cross Gin lived to nearly 15. Dobes typically live 8 to 10 years. However, I've known of several Dobes that lived even longer than Gin.

Some breeds you just have to acknowledge that the trade-off for having them is that you probably won't have them as long as you would have another breed. I have friend who will own nothing but Dobes, despite losing some at less than 10 years old. I've got other friends who's current Dobe will be their last, because they can't handle losing another under the age off 10.

 

[Lillith]

It's mostly up to chance and whatever genes the dog is lucky/unlucky enough to inherit. So no, I wouldn't count on a cross being longer lived than a purebred. Goldens, great Pyrenees, and labs don't tend to live much longer than 10 years, either, so those crosses likely wouldn't get you much of an advantage.

 

[pandora]

I had a cross St Bernard / Bouvier des Flanders. We hoped because he was a cross that he would dodge the bullet and live a long healthy life but at just 8 years old he got lymphoma.. His mum, a pure Bouvier lived until she was 12..

So it is often just chance that decides when and how...