Ya there's always health risks with the larger and smaller breeds but yikes 1600 is steep!! In the end though regardless of how much you pay you come to the conclusion that you can't put a price on the little guys 
For dobies and GSD its the hip dysplasia. I'm trying to keep him as active as possible to help it not settle in early. We were going to get him x-rayed but our Vet recommended against doing so. He said there's really no need unless you're wanting to get the dog AKC cert and/or breed him which we have no current intentions on doing. Hopefully like you said I and him got lucky and won't have to deal with that issue. Dobies also have the problem of having too small of a skull, like chihuahuas, which causes them to have frequent seizures. I'm eventually going to have to get a dobie so let's hope we luck out again
For dobies and GSD its the hip dysplasia. I'm trying to keep him as active as possible to help it not settle in early. We were going to get him x-rayed but our Vet recommended against doing so. He said there's really no need unless you're wanting to get the dog AKC cert and/or breed him which we have no current intentions on doing. Hopefully like you said I and him got lucky and won't have to deal with that issue. Dobies also have the problem of having too small of a skull, like chihuahuas, which causes them to have frequent seizures. I'm eventually going to have to get a dobie so let's hope we luck out again
