Why do large dog breeds have shorter life span than small breeds?
Usually with larger breeds their hearts and hips/legs are the first to go. Just as in humans, the larger you are the more apt you are to heart problems. The heart has to pump harder to get the blood circulating to the areas of the body. The heart is relatively larger in bigger breeds to facilitate this however, it still has to work harder. With the leg/hip problem they’re more suseptable to dysplasia, which is the abnormal growth in the legs and hips ususally ending in dislocation and pain.
