The most common health concern with large breed dogs is hip dysplasia. This condition is to a certain degree in all large breed dogs. Dogs that suffer from severe hip dysplasia should not be used for breeding. Hip dysplasia is only partly hereditary. Environment and feeding also play a very large role in the developement and severity of hip dysplasia. According to the OFA, not only should the dam or sire not have severe hip dysplasia but the parents and siblings should be taken into consideration as well. We are very careful to select our dogs for breeding that we feel will only produce healthy puppies. Even the ideal puppy of both excellent OFA parents will be at risk for hip dysplasia both from genetics and environment. Thus we gurantee all our puppies to be free of crippling hip dysplasia for the first year of thier life. Please see our Health Guarentee page.
Overall, we think all three breeds are wonderful family dogs. We have five large dogs living in our house in perfect harmony which says a lot about these breeds.
