Anyone have a dog that made it past 15 and...

[ChattyCathy]

Hi,


It seems like genetics makes a big difference but good nutrition may have extended both of these dogs lifes even further. I suspect that the bladder stones were a result of the lower grade food.

Thanks for an interesting thread.

I agree w/you too. It's a blessing when dogs live longer than expected!

[LabbieMama]

I have just recently become re-acquainted with an old college friend of mine (thanks to Facebook!). He was telling me about his 16-year-old Aussie Mix that he got in 1993 as a puppy. The dog is still alive, but showing signs of aging of course, and the only food this dog has ever known was Science Diet, Iams, Beneful, Purina Dog Chow, and Purina Pro Plan. The guy said now that the dog is really ancient, it deserves to be spoiled so it is getting some table scraps mixed in with its Purina Pro Plan.

The guy stated that he felt exercise and playtime was far more important than nutrition in keeping a dog healthy.

I thought that was an interesting point. Some people don't exercise their dogs enough but feed them only the best, while others exercise their dogs a lot but feed them crappy stuff.

[Unosmom]

since Uno is my first dog, I dont have any personal stories, but my best friend has a amstaff mix thats 18 years old and still kicking last time I've talked to her, she lives in a different country, and since dog food is quite expensive, hes been fed homecooked/people food all his life.

[rannmiller]

My dogs get the best food for them and a ton of exercise, hopefully they'll live as long as I do!

[domari]

One of my sisters had two Schnauzers that lived to be 15 and 17, they ate Purina all their lives. My other sister had a large mutt of who knows what type of breed, lab/collie/something, that lived to be 17 who ate whatever was on sale at the grocery store.

My mom had a black lab back in the 40's that lived to be 17, she told me they fed their dogs Gaines dog food back then.

The average life span of dogs really hasn't increased at all in the last 100 years even though there have been major changes in the types of food.

[whiteleo]

I personally think that it's all about genetics, alot of mutts didn't have there genes crossing lines like they do now with some of the more rarer breeds, that have a tendancy not to live that long.

[jadelee]

I think except genes healthy food, exercises and injections have a great role in the length of dog's life. Combination of these elements + your treatment of the dog you have = long life - smth like this i guess

[AMonkey]

My Hannah is a 13 year old cocker, and we've had her in and out of the vet for throwing up. Recently, we discovered urine in her bed. We have her on good food. I've noticed "a change" - can't put my finger on it - but something is different. Any tips for keeping an older cocker healthy?

Annette

Yes, back in '92 my wife had to have a Yorkie, just had to have one. There was a local breeder getting out of the business, and let a pup go for $50, so my wife said, "sold". Now, '09 we still have Mr. Casey with us.

Casey started out on cheap kibble feeds, I mean the cheapest of the cheap for the first 10 years. Started with Purina dog chow, and then eventually went cheaper. Local convenience stores (Cumberland Farms, 7/11) carry a Purina product called "Mainstay", which is cheaper than the dog chow. He was on that for maybe 3-4 years. It wasn't until I had got Zoe in '02 I was going to do a serious upgrade in nutrition. The original plan was to go with two feeds, high end stuff for the gun dog and keep the little guy on the cheap stuff. That wasn't working because keeping one out the the others wasn't going well at all and that lasted only for a few days. They have both been eating the same now since '02.

I had another dog that only made it to 10 years on the cheap stuff back in the kibble days. Cody was a Cocker who started to deteriorate around year 8 and by year 10 the hips were shot. I ended up about 50% of the time carrying Cody in and out to go do business by year 10. Often we would find a pee spot on the basement couch because of incontinence. Poor guy eventually got the point didn't even realize he was going, and it was getting difficult for us. I made the tough call in year 10 to put him down.