Cross Breeds

What types of dogs are one of the most injury prone ?

Bernese Mountain Dog ? They are so cute, but their bodies are heavy so they get injured easily.

Public Comments

1. Large, lumbering, poorly bred dogs are probably the most accident prone. This includes German Shepherd Dogs and Dogue de Bordeauxs.
2. It depends on what sort of 'injury' you are talking about. For example, with their thin tight skin, Whippets (and Greys I imagine) are very prone to getting their skin ripped, as mine did when she charged under a garden bench which had a couple of screw ends poking out under the seat which I'd not spotted ...... ouch!! Thankfully it was only a graze and it mended, with no sign of it now. Basset puppies can easily suffer from structural problems if allowed to jump off, especially, furniture at an early age, or come down stairs. This is why we say no exercise of any controlled sort until 6 months, and then only gradually build up the muscles to support the heavy bone etc. up to 1 year. This would be the same for all heavy, big boned breeds.
3. id say the small breed dogs are more prone... ive had big dogs and small... and the small were always getting strodden on, or jumping off soomething then limping after... we even had one that fell down a drain.. sounds funny but wasnt at the time lol.. they are harder to see and more fragile.
4. Rotties (in the UK at least) are extemely prone to cruciate ligament ruptures. Got another one in the vets this week that is one of our rescues. It is also happening across the board of well bred and byb dogs.
5. If a dog is structurally sound there should not be a specific injury prone breed. Straight shouldered dogs are prone to agility injuries due to the quick turns and constant jumping involved. Dogs with small bones need to be monitored as they grow to make sure their diets are adequate with the correct ratio of calcium to phosphorous for strong bone growth, regardless of breed. MamaBas has covered her breed, but I don't think anyone can say there are certain breeds or breed that is "injury prone" if it is bred and raised correctly.
6. small dogs with elegant bone structure tend to have problems my mothers chihuahua managed to break his legs a couple time just running around. Sighthounds do tend to have easily ripped skin. and in coursing some of them like the italian greyhound tend to break toes. badly bred B cephalic small breeds tend to have alot of problems that the bigger B cephalis dont such as popping eyes i said BADLY bred mind you and trouble breathing which can lead to heart disease. large breeds are clumsy...but are prone to hip problems and bloat in general. some breeds such as poodle, golden & lab are prone to many diseases such as PRA, cancer ect. sight hounds tend to court anemia some fight sight and hearing problems all which are avoided by good breeding. IHCUS last year had a blood drive for ibizan hounds with canine anemia. ibizans have delicate ears and manage to harm themselves fairly easily some damage to the ear can cause them to droop indefinitely. good breeding and good care= healthy dog. ADD: one breed i recall, the Bedlington hasproblems most due to what i believe was copper toxosis (hereditary) causing, liver disease due to chronic hepatitis. also prone to retinal dysplasia