At What Age Is a German Shepherd a Senior Dog?

Reviewed by Prof. Dr. Kris Angkanaporn, veterinary nutrition advisor to HEH PAWS.

The short answer

For this breed, you can consider them a senior at about seven and a half.

There is no guesswork to that figure as there might be with other breeds; it is borne out by the data.

Where the number comes from

One need only look at the records. A 2017 study in Canine Genetics and Epidemiology looked at 12,146 German Shepherds from a pool of 455,557 under UK veterinary care and put the median longevity at 10.3 years.

The American Animal Hospital Association considers a dog a senior once it has entered the final 25 percent of its expected life. Do the math on 10.3 and you arrive at 7.7.

The statistic that should change how you read this

But there is a statistic in that same study that ought to give one pause. It tallied the causes of death where they were known.

• Musculoskeletal disorder, 16.3 percent.
• An inability to stand, 14.9 percent.
• Cancer, 14.5 percent.
• Spinal cord disorder, 13.6 percent.

Put the first two and the fourth together and you have some 45 percent of the deaths in this breed where a cause was recorded.

For a German Shepherd, mobility is not merely a quality-of-life concern on par with the rest; it is the leading category.

It is strange that consumer articles do not make this plain, yet it is the most vital piece of information for an owner planning for the dog’s future.

What that means in practice

In practical terms, the back end is what demands attention, and that attention should be paid before any visible trouble appears.

The kind of advice one gets about large-breed joints is often just for comfort, but with a Shepherd it is more like the main event.

What the senior label changes at the vet

This is why the vet visits change. They are no longer an annual formality but happen twice a year. Bloodwork is done as a matter of course.

And when you are with the vet, the hind end should be on the agenda regardless of whether you have spotted an issue.

Have the vet observe your dog walk, not on the small, slippery floor of the consulting room but down the hall or outdoors.

Thirty seconds of a trained eye on a Shepherd is better than any long-winded account of what you may have seen at home.

The head-start window for Shepherds

Then there is the head-start window. If senior status is at seven and a half, the year or two prior to that, say five and a half to seven, is when to be on guard.

A five-year-old will seem in fine fettle, strong and fast with nothing to show for it. That is the point; the window is there because there are no symptoms yet.

What Shepherds change first

What to look for are the subtle things in the hind quarters.

• Hips sitting slightly to one side instead of square.
• A leg that now and then scuffs on a turn.
• Rising up front first and letting the back legs follow.
• A bit more caution on the way down the stairs than up.
• Weight being shifted forward after standing still.
• Not as much drive from the back legs in the opening strides of a run.
• Looser stools, which are worth a note in this breed rather than being overlooked.

The sideways sit is the tell-tale sign.

Most owners do not think to check for it, but it is easy to spot and comes well before anything else.

The other thing Shepherd owners already know

And as for the stomach, any owner of the breed knows German Shepherds are more delicate in that regard than most. The 2017 figures confirm it, with diarrhoea among the top recorded conditions at 5.24 percent. You did not need a study to tell you that.

An older dog can ill afford the kind of digestive trouble a young one would put behind him in short order. At nine, weight shed during a rough week is not so easily regained as it was at three.

And when a Shepherd has let go of some muscle over the hips, there is less of his own frame to do the work.

In that sense, the two things this breed is noted for are more of a piece than they seem.

What else that study found

The 2017 study puts numbers to these concerns. It tallied the frequency of certain conditions from a year’s worth of records.

• Ear inflammation, 7.89 percent.
• Osteoarthritis, 5.54 percent.
• Diarrhoea, 5.24 percent.
• Obesity, 5.18 percent.
• Aggression, 4.76 percent.

Two of those are worth sitting with

Take the 5.54 percent for osteoarthritis. It may appear a modest figure until you realise what it represents: the portion of dogs of all ages, puppies included, with it on file for that year.

The reality is that a far greater share of German Shepherds will have to contend with it in their lifetime, which is hardly surprising given the mortality data.

Then there is obesity at 5.18 percent. This is an issue you can address today, and in a breed where mobility is the principal cause of death, it is no mere cosmetic matter.

One should be careful with prevalence statistics of this sort. They are drawn from what a vet has put on paper in a given year and reflect the consulting room rather than the full experience of every dog; they tend to understate the risk over a lifetime.

They are good for gauging what is important in a breed but not much use in predicting what your dog will face.

What to do from five and a half

1. Put in for a baseline panel while the dog is in good shape. Have the vet make a note of how he sits and rises to establish a record of normalcy.
2. Once or twice a year, film the dog for thirty seconds walking away on level ground. You will spot changes in the back end in the video that memory might miss.
3. Maintain a lean physique. The hips bear every kilo.
4. Make for regular, moderate exercise instead of something to be done in a weekend burst.
5. Do not dismiss digestive upsets. A pattern is more telling than any one occurrence.
6. Schedule a vet visit twice a year once the dog is six.

Frequently asked questions

How long do German Shepherds live?

UK veterinary data puts the median at 10.3 years for German Shepherds, though most are between eight and twelve. There is wide variation from one dog to another.

Why do German Shepherds have problems with their back legs?

The breed is prone to a number of conditions in the rear, and the study shows mobility issues make up the bulk of recorded deaths. Your vet can discuss the specifics.

Is six old for a German Shepherd?

He is not yet a senior, but you are in the window where action is called for.

My Shepherd is already seven or eight. Is it too late to start?

No. Everything on this page is worth doing at any adult age. Five and a half to seven is where you get the most out of it, not the only point where it counts.

Do working-line and show-line German Shepherds age differently?

The available data does not separate the two lines, so there is no good evidence either way. Individual structure and condition are what count.

What is the earliest sign of trouble in the back legs?

Owners will often say the dog has started to sit differently or scuffs now and then on a turn. Better to bring it up at the next routine appointment.

Sources

1. O’Neill DG et al., 2017. Demography and disorders of German Shepherd Dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK. Canine Genetics and Epidemiology 4:7. 12,146 German Shepherds from a pool of 455,557 dogs.
2. AAHA Senior Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, 2023. aaha.org
3. AAHA Canine Life Stage Guidelines, 2019. aaha.org
4. American Kennel Club, Is Your Dog a Senior? akc.org
5. Teng KT et al., 2022. Life tables of annual life expectancy and risk factors for mortality in dogs in the United Kingdom. 30,563 dogs. Royal Veterinary College VetCompass. rvc.ac.uk