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The lifetime of a dog

M

mares4me

Guest
Something interesting to think about. I've already lived more than 2 dog lifetimes, assuming the average life of a dog is 12 years. That would make me extremely old if I were a dog. Like, really, really old!

I would be a wise doggo, indeed.
 
The oldest dog (on record) that has ever lived died at the age of 29. An Australian Cattle Dog, I believe. In human years, that would be 203 years old, assuming each dog year equals 7 human years, or 174 years old if each dog year equals 6 human years. Either way, it's ancient.
 
knotinterested said:
I'd love to see the records of the longest living dogs. In particular I would like to know what they ate, and what activities they did. I try to keep my little pack moving a lot and feed them as healthy as I can hoping to keep them around as long as possible.
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That's what a real doglover does.
 
From time to time I have thought about how many dogs will be in my life. I always want to have dogs so I have an idea if I get 3 or 4 dogs every six years That I'll always be surrounded by loving playmates. Right now I have 3 dogs that are 6 years old 2M and 1F and 3 that are 3 months old 1M and 2F. I know that in 6 more years it is possible that all six of my dogs will still be alive and I really hope they are but I will try to add another 4 at that time. If I do they will be 2M and 2F. I try to keep my little pack balanced even though I only play with my boys. Of course all my dogs are German Shepherds.

On the down side Our 4 legged friends don't live long lives and it's a real bummer forming such good friendships and then losing them. That happened with a great female I had that died this past January. She was 5 and a half at the time and suddenly just stopped eating and 2 days later she died. She did have some breathing difficulty at the end, but it was all so quick. I think sh may have had a mild stroke and then 2 days later she had a massive one. She died in my arms and it was very hard, but having my other dogs made it much better than if she had been my only dog.
 
knotinterested said:
From time to time I have thought about how many dogs will be in my life. I always want to have dogs so I have an idea if I get 3 or 4 dogs every six years That I'll always be surrounded by loving playmates. Right now I have 3 dogs that are 6 years old 2M and 1F and 3 that are 3 months old 1M and 2F. I know that in 6 more years it is possible that all six of my dogs will still be alive and I really hope they are but I will try to add another 4 at that time. If I do they will be 2M and 2F. I try to keep my little pack balanced even though I only play with my boys. Of course all my dogs are German Shepherds.

On the down side Our 4 legged friends don't live long lives and it's a real bummer forming such good friendships and then losing them. That happened with a great female I had that died this past January. She was 5 and a half at the time and suddenly just stopped eating and 2 days later she died. She did have some breathing difficulty at the end, but it was all so quick. I think sh may have had a mild stroke and then 2 days later she had a massive one. She died in my arms and it was very hard, but having my other dogs made it much better than if she had been my only dog.
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That many youngsters? Where do you find time for everything?
 
knotinterested said:
From time to time I have thought about how many dogs will be in my life. I always want to have dogs so I have an idea if I get 3 or 4 dogs every six years That I'll always be surrounded by loving playmates. Right now I have 3 dogs that are 6 years old 2M and 1F and 3 that are 3 months old 1M and 2F. I know that in 6 more years it is possible that all six of my dogs will still be alive and I really hope they are but I will try to add another 4 at that time. If I do they will be 2M and 2F. I try to keep my little pack balanced even though I only play with my boys. Of course all my dogs are German Shepherds.

On the down side Our 4 legged friends don't live long lives and it's a real bummer forming such good friendships and then losing them. That happened with a great female I had that died this past January. She was 5 and a half at the time and suddenly just stopped eating and 2 days later she died. She did have some breathing difficulty at the end, but it was all so quick. I think sh may have had a mild stroke and then 2 days later she had a massive one. She died in my arms and it was very hard, but having my other dogs made it much better than if she had been my only dog.
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German Shepherds are the best, I hate the thought of losing mine.
What do you do about all the hair they shed? I brush my two 2 or 3 times a week and still can't keep up.
 
Wrongkindoflove said:
German Shepherds are the best, I hate the thought of losing mine.
What do you do about all the hair they shed? I brush my two 2 or 3 times a week and still can't keep up.
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I brush them every day and I vacuum every day to boot. I have to clean out the car once a week too or the hair will start to build up there too. It's so much of a routine now that I don't even notice doing it.
 
sarkjapone said:
Well, they don't call 'em German Shedders for nothing!
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Indeed, and half Shepard breeds like wolf dogs shed even worse! cuz they get the genetic trait from both strands of DNA. "They shed almost all year. "
 

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For Roughly 2 months of the year, my wolf dog's looked slick..like this..
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The Rest of the year, he/they were "Floofy" Like This.
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You'd swear by the amount of fur shed by Two of them, you could glue together an entire army of them.
 
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I think, for a small breed the 7 years calculation is about spot on, but for a giant breed it is well off. 6 to 8 human years maximum they said, she turned 7 yesterday. Wish i could get another 10 years out of her though.
 
The rather short lifespan is a flaw in they're DNA sequence I've heared due to rapid unnatural evolution from wolf to domesticated dog..don't know if that's true though.
 
Smee said:
I think, for a small breed the 7 years calculation is about spot on, but for a giant breed it is well off. 6 to 8 human years maximum they said, she turned 7 yesterday. Wish i could get another 10 years out of her though.
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My dane is almost 4 and he is showing a grey muzzle already. Time has passed too fast... ?
 
Well.. I missed My Ole Wolf Boys a bunch. So.. I got another one.
he's a different Mix being 50% Irish wolfhound, 30% G.Shep, 20% Wolf.

By the time they had offered him to me, he was given every vaccination, Licensed and came with nearly 200 Lbs. of kibble.
so she brought him to me for introduction. to see if we would "bond".
That dog took to me like I was his new best friend.. or in another perspective, "Help, save me, these fuckers are crazy."

I did not hear from the people for another 12 days. I figured they backed out of the deal.
Nope they called and asked if I was still interested. "yes". was my short sweet reply.
so in about an hour they showed up. we unloaded the dog & food & toys..
that's when she Informed me she "had him fixed" while they were away.

I was a little annoyed to be told after the fact. But, the Dog & I had clicked.
and I could see, this "Farm Life" was Much more agreeable for a dog of his size.
He had been living in an Apartment. (I Know...)
So this was better for everybody.
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Look at that Happy Face.
 
Anubis303 said:
The rather short lifespan is a flaw in they're DNA sequence I've heared due to rapid unnatural evolution from wolf to domesticated dog..don't know if that's true though.
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A big part of it is also genetic degradation from inbreeding to produce specific breeds, which has only been made worse by puppy mills. I know Golden Retrievers, which were only recognized as a breed a bit over 100 years ago, had an average lifespan of ~13-16 in the 1990s. They're now down to ~9-12, having lost nearly a third of their expectancy in just 20 years thanks to all the health problems related to inbreeding in puppy mills. On account of them being such great and popular family dogs.

It's so bad that it's not even recommended for private owners to allow their animals to breed if they were acquired from anywhere within the same geographic region as each other. Because odds are that despite coming from different breeders their linage can be traced back to a single regional breeder.
 
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I've live 2 and a half dog life if we consider that.
And I've had one of my girls for 11 years. I rescued her from the street as adult so she must be 15y. Her face is so grey now. She lived way past the usual, and she wouldn't have made it this far on the street.
 
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