This web site does not actually recommend adopting extra-large dogs unless you know what you're getting into. They need extra-large amounts of food; they can be difficult to transport, exercise, or take to the vet; though some extra-large dog breeds tend to be lethargic, they're phobia triggers; and large dogs can be considered geriatric after they've lived only five years.
Nevertheless, people who have lived with large dogs often say they'd do it again. The dogs can be very lovable, like Scooby-Doo on television, Marmaduke in cartoons, or the fast-bonding dog Monty who rescues the detective Maid Ivy in the new book reviewed today. All three of those seem to be Great Danes, probably the most popular extra-large dog breed in America. Other extra-large dog breeds include St Bernards, mastiffs, Old English sheepdogs, and greyhounds. Since many dogs in this size range are mixed breeds, often crosses between a hound or retriever and a Great Dane, in this post "extra-large dogs" includes any dog whose healthy weight is over 60 pounds.
Petfinder, we note, defines "extra-large dogs" as those whose healthy weight is over 100 pounds. If people want to adopt dogs who weigh more than an adult human, they are on their own.
Be sure you know what you're getting into. Many people find a 30-pound dog large enough when it's trying to persuade you to go for a swim in an icy lake, or passively resisting being taken to the vet, or lying across their feet at night. It's a good idea to work out strategies for dealing with these situations before adopting a 75-pound dog.
Not all shelters even try to take in extra-large dogs, but enough do that it's possible to adopt an extra-large dog if you really want one. Here are this week's photo contest winners in the category Extra-Large Dogs.
1. Zipcode 10101: Cliff from New York
Either not realizing how much a Great Dane puppy needs to eat, or not being able or willing to buy that much dog food, can be a problem for Great Danes. Skinny, starved, with some skin damage, Cliff was dumped at night outside the home of a person who manages a special shelter dedicated to Great Danes. He's been fed and cared for since then but is still a skinny, leggy pup. Like many Great Danes he's friendlym aot ti iwk oeioke iver (perhaps literally) with his enthusiasm for sniffing, kissing, scratching, petting, and general displays of dog/human affection.
His web page doesn't specify a fee. If the fee is too high, consider the main Petfinder page for "large" dogs in New York. They have some very photogenic retriever and polilce dog crossbreeds, too.
2. Zipcode 20202: Shibo from Tennessee via D.C.
His ancestry is anybody's guess but it had to have icluded a Blue Tick Coon Hound, a good-natured and resilient breed. In Tennessee he was not distinctive enough to be adopted right away, so he was sent to Washington, along with his brother Nibo, in the hope that they'd look exotic and fancy there. (Nibo has an even more unusual face;) The brothers are believed to be six or seven years old but, because they're so big and so far from home, the shelter will want you to take an obedience class with either or both of them. Seven years old is geriatric for most really big dogs but only middle-aged for a coon hound. If you adopt Shibo and/or Nibo you might be living with him, or them, for another seven years.
3. Zipcode 30303: Big Sky from Decatur
Big Sky has not been in the shelter long. They think he's young, they know he's light brown, and so far that's all they hae to say about him. There are 57 pages of large dogs' photos at the Atlanta Petfinder page. Some of them are fantastically bad photos, and several of the dogs are mostly pit bull plus something bigger, which strikes me as a fantastically bad idea; there are also some fancy breeds and some of the usual hound, retriever, and police dog crossbreeds. It is entirely possible that Big Sky's is not the most appealing picture of a large adoptable dog in Georgia. Please share photos if you adopot a cuter one.
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