mcarrel
Well-Known Member
I was musing about ddb today and how changed they seem to me from my own personal perspective from the time I had my first ddb Brutus in the early 90s until now. I came upon an old interview with Raymond Triquet from before they gained AKC recognition. He was for it so US could be shown overseas but cautious because of worry breeders here like extremes. He emphasized constant avg size of males about 127lbs and females 100lbs and not to breed for monsters. That's what I remembered when I got my Brutus that size of dog. When I finally came around to wanting another ddb I had a very hard time finding dogs in this size range, ddb that had drive of any kind or were more than just couch potatoes. What I did find was many breeders with large sized 145+ males and prizing large size in females as well and Ddb who seemed to me far too large or over wrinkled in some cases almost as if they had larger mastiffs in them.
Another thing I noticed was many ddb with stenotic nares, muzzles that were too short , lack of guardian instinct, and not much athleticism. Now I am not saying Brutus was running marathons but he lived in Texas, kept up with miles long walks with my rottweiler and apbt and was an energetic dog. Back then I was younger of course but it never occured to me that Brutus couldn't do what the other dogs did bc of heat or strenuous excercise or that he might drop dead because of it. It never occurred to me to be paranoid he won't make it to age 5.
So after this long winded musing my question is do others feel that this breed is getting extreme in physical aspects? That having an average life span of 5 years is ridiculous? If so any breeders on here that can shed some light as to what can be done about the issues in this breed if anything. Honestly with the lack of life span in ddb as much as I love them and think they are truly 1 of a kind I would be hard pressed to consider another after Kronos passes.
Thanks guys for reading my ramblings
Another thing I noticed was many ddb with stenotic nares, muzzles that were too short , lack of guardian instinct, and not much athleticism. Now I am not saying Brutus was running marathons but he lived in Texas, kept up with miles long walks with my rottweiler and apbt and was an energetic dog. Back then I was younger of course but it never occured to me that Brutus couldn't do what the other dogs did bc of heat or strenuous excercise or that he might drop dead because of it. It never occurred to me to be paranoid he won't make it to age 5.
So after this long winded musing my question is do others feel that this breed is getting extreme in physical aspects? That having an average life span of 5 years is ridiculous? If so any breeders on here that can shed some light as to what can be done about the issues in this breed if anything. Honestly with the lack of life span in ddb as much as I love them and think they are truly 1 of a kind I would be hard pressed to consider another after Kronos passes.
Thanks guys for reading my ramblings