Help Your Golden Retriever Live to 100 @TheLongevityVet

Well, hey you guys, and welcome to The Longevity Vet. I'm glad you're here. What if your Golden Retriever could live to the human equivalent age of 100? I'm here to tell you they can, but we better get to work. I'm Dr. Kevin Toman Toman. I've been a veterinarian for almost 40 years and I'm a pet longevity specialist. This topic matters to me because about 5 feet to my right as I record this video is a spoiled Golden Retriever puppy named Annabelle. In today's chat, we'll talk about the 5 pillars of Golden Retriever longevity: the genetics, the inflammation, the diet, the cancer risk, and the proactive veterinary care that will enable you and your large breed dog to live happily ever after. So sit down, grab a drink, and let's get to work. Pillar number 1 when it comes to Golden Retriever longevity is Genetics. What do I mean by that? I mean that if you're planning on spending the next 14 to 15 years of your life with your Golden Retriever or other large breed dog, you better pay attention to your pet's parents. In particular, have a close look at two different things. First off, their size, because it's simple, guys. The larger your puppy's parents are, the shorter your puppy's lifespan will likely be. Simple but true. Large breed, the larger the dog, the shorter the lifespan. So find a small to medium-sized Golden Retriever. Number 2, when it comes to genetics, is a careful evaluation of your puppy's parents' veterinary records. And within those records, again, 2 things. I want to make sure that your puppy's parents have had the standard breeder test of eye certification, heart certification, orthopedic certification by either OFA or PennHIP methods. I also want to pay attention to your puppy's veterinary records to make sure that there's no evidence of cancer, allergic skin disease, or orthopedic problems because what I'm trying to do is make sure that you are not buying somebody else's heritable birth defects when you pick up your puppy. Okay, speaking of inflammation, that is number 2. On the pillars of Golden Retriever longevity. And what are the most common sources of inflammation for Golden Retrievers? Well, news flash, the, the most common reason for inflammation in Golden Retrievers is the same thing that is so present in humans, and that is fat. Extra fat creates increased cancer risk, extra fat creates increased orthopedic risk, and increased fat will shorten your dog's life. So do whatever you can to keep your puppy as slim as possible, and it will pay off handsomely for you in terms of their lifespan. The other most common sources of inflammation for Golden Retrievers are skin issues, orthopedic problems, and diet. I'll cover diet in just a moment, but I want to circle back around to skin problems and orthopedic disease really quickly before I do. What is the single most common reason for Golden Retrievers to walk in the front door of a veterinary clinic? Well, according to AVMA, it's skin problems. So what we have to do is take early and aggressive action to prevent the chronic inflammation associated with skin disease from shortening your pet's life. I want to mention in particular the use of blood allergy testing, which has replaced in large part the old, very painful and very expensive skin testing that we had to use to determine whether your pet was allergic to an environmental allergen like dandelion or pine pollen or whatever. Nowadays we can use a couple drops of blood and test for environmental allergens very, very effectively, and if we find that your puppy is allergic to that proverbial dandelion or pine pollen, we can actually desensitize them effectively in about two-thirds of cases with oral sera. I mean, the old days of having to give allergy shots, they're long gone, and instead the combination of blood allergy testing and oral desensitizing sera can eliminate allergic symptoms in just a little bit over two-thirds of dogs, and that's a great help because I will tell you very personally, if your dog has a chronic itch, not only are you going to lose sleep, they are going to be miserable and they're going to end up living a shorter life due to the chronic inflammation of that skin disease. Do what you can. For early diagnosis and solution, and you'll live happily ever after. Along the same lines, orthopedic problems. Listen, every large breed dog is, is prone to elbow problems or hip problems or spinal problems, but here's the general rule of thumb that I use. If your puppy comes back limping, I'll give them 2 days of rest and pain relief, but if they're not better by day 2.5, day 3, then they need to be evaluated by your veterinarian because the earlier we get a solution on this, the less inflammation will result and the longer your puppy will last. Okay, moving right along to pillar number 3: diets. And that, that's important to me because I, and I'm going to use Annabelle as an example. Annabelle, on a daily basis, gets home-cooked food consisting of a rotation of meats, a rotation of vegetables, and fruit. Why do I do that? Because of a Belgian study that showed that dog, compared littermates, and so they gave half of the litter kibble diets, they gave half of the litter home-cooked diets, and you know what they found? The dogs on a home-cooked diet lived 2.4 years longer on average than the dogs fed a kibble diet. That's important. Now listen, I'm 65, and so when I was growing up, my dog, my family fed every dog that I ever had a kibble diet, but that time has come and gone. Now we know the negatives of kibble diets, the preservatives that they have to use, the carbohydrates that they have to use to glom these kibbles together before the high-pressure processing. All of these things result in inflammation, and so I'm not going to pick a brand for you, but I am going to tell you clearly that you get what you pay for when it comes to your pet's diet. Whether you choose to use a raw diet, whether you choose to use a human-grade diet like Just Food for Dogs or The Farmer's Dog, I've got no problem with those things, but one thing I want you to do is stay away from kibbled diets because they will shorten your dog's lifespan. I want to address raw diets in particular for just a moment because I'm old, guys. I graduated vet school back in 1986, and so I have seen all all the different types of raw preparations for food, and I have seen dogs, my patients, killed by bacterial contamination in those raw diets. So know your manufacturer if you're going to use a raw diet. Make sure that they have addressed bacterial contamination, and one of the most common solutions to that is the use of high-pressure pasteurization. This stuff matters, you guys. There's no worse feeling than changing your dog's diet ostensibly to improve their health and watching them die because of that change. So pay attention. One last topic that I'm going to address as part of Annabelle's diet is the fact that I include blueberries and in particular broccoli in every meal she eats. Now listen, blueberries, everybody knows that they're in theory a superfood, and I can chat more about their benefits in a separate discussion, but I want to You mentioned broccoli in particular, and that is because broccoli contains a class of ingredients known as sulforaphanes, and they are active cancer fighters. So I make broccoli a big part of Annabelle's diet on a daily basis. If you're not a broccoli kid, buy your dog broccoli extract capsules. You can find them online without any problem, and they will increase the lifespan of your large breed dog. Speaking of cancer risk, that is pillar number 4 when it comes to the Golden Retriever longevity. And why is this so important for us as Golden Retriever aficionados? Well, here's the sad truth. Over 60% of Golden Retrievers will die because of cancer. So that's pretty damn important. How do we minimize cancer risk? Well, we pay attention to genetics, we pay attention to diet, we pay attention to other sources of inflammation, but here are 3 very specific things that you can do. Number 1, prevent over-vaccination of your dogs. Number 2, minimize the chemicals we put on or in them for flea and tick prevention and heartworm disease. And number 3, consider the use of prescription longevity drugs like Rapamycin and aicarbose to minimize cancer risk for your pets. I'm gonna circle back around to over-vaccination. Listen, as that proverbial old fart who graduated back in 1986, I was told then that every dog needed every vaccine once a year. What I have since realized though is that I was doing much more harm than good for these pets. Now we know that distemper parvo vaccines, as an example, last for anywhere between 5 and 7 years in an adult pre-vaccinated dog. So why in the world are some vets still recommending annual distemper parvo protection? Please spread that out to at least every 3 years and consider titering instead of vaccines. Another example is Bordetella vaccines. Which are commonly recommended on for every dog on an annual basis. But let me pose you a question. If I told you that these vaccines were only good for 2 to 3 months at high levels, why in the world are we using them on an annual basis? Instead, if you're going to use a kennel cough, a Bordetella vaccine, please tie it to the period of your dog's highest risk. Use it 7 to 10 days before you're going to board them. 7 to 10 days before they're going to enter the show ring, not just on an annual basis. The third vaccine that I'm going to mention very quickly is the canine flu vaccine. I just completed a study where I found that over 14,000 dogs had been tested in calendar 2025 for the presence of canine flu, and of those 14,000 dogs tested for canine flu, they found 14 dogs. So one out of 1,000 dogs were positive for canine flu. And they found canine flu nationwide, they looked in all 50 states, and they found canine flu in just 3 states. They found 7 cases in California, they found 1 case in Virginia, and they found 6 in Georgia. So why in the world are we mandating canine flu vaccines for pet patients. This matters, you guys, because you have to understand one thing, and that is that vaccines by definition are designed to create, to increase inflammation. Well, I've told you several times, inflammation is killing our pets. And so whatever you can do to reduce inflammation will be a benefit to them, and that includes using vaccines wisely. But not overusing them. Along the same lines, I want you to pay attention to flea and tick and for that matter heartworm preps. Listen, I know very well the misery that fleas can cause for a dog who happens to have allergies or is even sensitive to flea bites. I understand that, but I would submit to you that in general, we don't have to use flea and tick or for that matter heartworm preventatives all year round. Maybe there are times of highest risk. Maybe there are ways that you can avoid flea and tick exposure by simply choosing a different way to walk in the morning or a different path to take on a hike. These things matter, you guys, because I'm, I'm convinced that extra chemicals do our pets no favors whatsoever. So minimize the things you put on them, minimize the things you put in them to prevent fleas and ticks. When it comes to heartworm disease, listen, I know that that will kill dogs, but I also know that there are parts of the United States that that get hard winters where mosquitoes are in no way, shape, no, they're just not present. That's what I'm trying to say. We know that heartworm disease is transmitted only, repeat, only by mosquitoes. So if you have a hard winter in your area, please talk with your veterinarian about the rationale for discontinuing a heartworm preventive during cold months of the year because you will be adding years to your pet's life. If you do so. Okay, moving right along to pillar number 5 in the Golden Retriever Longevity Series, and that is your pet's proactive veterinary care. First, I'm going to tell you what you don't have to worry about, and that is dental disease. Day in and day out, dental disease is a small dog or cat issue, and so unless your dog breaks a tooth or unless you look in their mouth and see a gray tooth or a pink tooth, evidence of discoloration that might mean that they've suffered damage to the nerve root, you're typically pretty golden with your Golden Retrievers. Now they may get some tartar accumulation, but the reality is that's more of a blemish than a disease. So that's the good news, you don't have to worry about that, but given the fact that over 60% of Golden Retrievers will eventually die from cancer, we need to pay close attention to that risk every year after your pet turns 6. So what am I suggesting? Every year after your Golden Retriever turns 6, I want you to have blood work done, and that blood work should consist of a complete blood, uh, count, a chemistry panel, and a thyroid panel. I'm also suggesting that that blood work include early cancer diagnostics to make sure that if your pet has the misfortune to pick up cancer, that we're doing everything we can to catch it early in the game when it is most treatable. I also want a urinalysis to make sure that your pet's bladder and kidney health is good. Checking my list here, and I think that— so, it's been a long enough video. I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I do recommend twice annual physical examinations for Golden Retrievers after they turn 6. For all the reasons that we've talked about. If we can catch skin disease early in the game and solve that, if your pet has a bad tooth or your pet is starting to limp, listen, all those are sources of inflammation and we need to minimize those to maximize your Golden Retriever's lifespan. Because my goal here is not just simply to add years to your Golden Retriever's life. My goal is to add life to their years. This stuff matters to me. I am passionate about your pet's longevity. If you want to come along for the ride, please subscribe to Dog Longevity Vet on YouTube and visit me at www.helpingpetslivelonger.com. I have email on there. You can reach out to me with whatever questions you have. We're all in this together, and I will help you if I can. Give your Golden Retriever a hug for me and have a great day. Thank you and goodbye.