Giant breed dogs don’t have a long lifespan but my dogs Tasha (12) and Daisy (11) are not only very old for Newfoundlands but unbelievably healthy at their unusual age. Here’s a little 8 second movie (only 364KB) of them on a walk last week. Daisy is on the leash and Tasha is in front. People who own Newfies cannot believe these dogs.

Tasha came to me as a rescue at 2 1/2 yr old with bad knees. She had 3 operations on her 2 back knees when she was about 3 or 4 years old. She has been on Cosequin for many years but we switched to something called Cetyl-M a few years ago. Tasha was always athletic. Tasha definitely has problems with those back legs now. If she is on the tile floor, it is really hard for her to get up (slippery) and she is pretty pokey going up and down stairs. But she is eager (and able) to go for long walks and still even runs a little. She’s not a powerful dog anymore, but she still amazes us.

Daisy who is a year younger is one of my parent’s dogs (they are breeders). All the other dogs at my parents knew that it was pointless to chase stick or a ball if Daisy was around because she aways got there first. Daisy still runs and jumps and chases – very very strong and powerful still. She has not been on anything until about 6 months ago we put her on Cetyl-M too. The vet says she’s like a 5 year old Newf. Even her coat is still dark and rich.

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