# Why do small dogs generally live longer than larger ones?



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Even with mutts, you generally don't hear of large ones living longer than 16.. yet smaller breeds much more often reach the older ages. What's the reason behind this?


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

IMO

Less stress on their bodies.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I agree with Sprocket. 

My last dog before Rebel was 65 pounds and he lived to 17 and I've had several live to 14-15. but since I haven't had small dogs i don't have any comparison to that.


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## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

I don't know either, but it makes me wonder how *some* horses can live into their twenties? Some giant breeds are like the size of small horses.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

i think alot of it is just pressure on the joints, organs, etc. And like my brother's wolfhounds - they were genetically predisposed to cancer because of the breeding and they both died of cancer at 9.

Dogs were not originally 150 pounds. I think dogs historically have been maybe 30-50 pounds.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

My friend had a burnese mountain dog who lived to be 12 which was pretty amazing for the breed, they usually live between 7-9 years. Two other litter mates lived to be 10 and 11 also. Mind you, the last year or so of her dogs life wasnt the greatest (kidney failure, cancer), but she hung onto her as long as she could.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I wonder if it could ever have anything partly to do with food? Like, 90% of dogs are on crappy kibble with artificial colours and preservatives.. and larger dogs eat more so... wonder if that could have anything to do with it. Because wolves are quite large!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Caty M said:


> I wonder if it could ever have anything partly to do with food? Like, 90% of dogs are on crappy kibble with artificial colours and preservatives.. and larger dogs eat more so... wonder if that could have anything to do with it. Because wolves are quite large!


I'm sure it doesn't help any - but little dogs eat food in proportion to their bodies, so it seems to me it would come out the same. i think all dogs could live longer if they didn't eat processed foods their whole lives.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i will have to let you know. never had a dog, small or otherwise, make it to 14.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

My Gma had a pitbull live til he was 19.

I also met a 25 year old husky mix.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

On average smaller dogs live longer, but I don't think anyone REALLY know why. But I think the theory is that the body and heart has less strain, like everyone else said. But I don't know, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me...unless small and large dogs have the same sized hearts which seems unlikely. I mean Elephants live a nice long life and they are huge. And in rodents don't mice have the shortest life span and rabbits can live to be 12 or even older. Though that has something to do with high metabolism in the little guys. I'd say maybe small dogs haven't been over bred (not just talking about now, they are certainly over bred now, but more in a historical context) so much but that isn't true really. Even companion breeds have been around a very long time, and some have had very limited gene pools...like Shih Tzus I think were nearly wiped out at one point. So I really have no idea, but everything you find simply says the small size reduces strain on the organs.

However wasn't the longest lived dog an ACD?


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Yes I have heard that about the heart too. 

The way I see it, MAN created the large breeds of dogs. We made them super huge without thinking of the effect it could have. Maybe dogs are not supposed to be 200 pounds (looks at Dozer) but they are and we love them. That is why a healthy diet and exercise are so important. 

Here is hoping all of our dogs live nice long lives whether big or small.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I just googled it and 3 different dogs came up.

A cross breed

A black lab 

And a small toy dog.


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## AveryandAudrey (Sep 20, 2010)

I think Caty. Meant since big dogs eat more its gets more expensive for owners, thus owners just buy cheap crap food. I don't know why the little ones live longer but it kills me that sharpei have a short live span.  they aren't even that large but their organs start shutting down and they pass away. The oldest pei I've ever heard of was 13. And the average is around 8-10. Not long enough at all! Avery is already 4, I don't even want to think about it...


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

AveryandAudrey said:


> I think Caty. Meant since big dogs eat more its gets more expensive for owners, thus owners just buy cheap crap food. I don't know why the little ones live longer but it kills me that sharpei have a short live span.  they aren't even that large but their organs start shutting down and they pass away. The oldest pei I've ever heard of was 13. And the average is around 8-10. Not long enough at all! Avery is already 4, I don't even want to think about it...


He is on good food. Maybe he'll be the first shar-pei to live to 20


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

English mastiff is generally 7-10 years. It is NOT FAIR!

Dozer is three. 


I love him so much. Not fair....


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Gah, it's the one thing keeping me from getting a giant breed dog one day. I know it's like the elephant in the room... no one wants to talk about it. And I don't blame you!!! I don't want to talk about it either... but I'm expecting all of my current dogs to make it til at least 16!!! They'd better!


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

My JRT lived to within 3 weeks of turning 14. That was amazing considering that she ate a tampon when she was around 3 and it tore through her intestines. She had to have something like 8 feet of intestines removed. Then about a year later my mom was keeping her while I was out of town for work. She got out and got hit by a car. It was just a minor scrape on her hip but still trauma.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

catahoulamom said:


> Gah, it's the one thing keeping me from getting a giant breed dog one day. I know it's like the elephant in the room... no one wants to talk about it. And I don't blame you!!! I don't want to talk about it either... but I'm expecting all of my current dogs to make it til at least 16!!! They'd better!


That's my biggest turn off about giants as well. They age so quickly.

The first GD I knew lived to be 10.


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

Caty M said:


> I wonder if it could ever have anything partly to do with food? Like, 90% of dogs are on crappy kibble with artificial colours and preservatives.. and larger dogs eat more so... wonder if that could have anything to do with it. Because wolves are quite large!


I don't know exactly how reliable my calendar is but this month's "Did You Know" is about Bluey, the cattle dog and, according to my calendar, he was fed large amounts of kangaroo and emu meat.

Supposedly, the dog next on the list ate a vegan diet but diet was definitely the main focus and it doesn't sound like either dog ate a ton of processed foods.



wolfsnaps88 said:


> Yes I have heard that about the heart too.
> 
> The way I see it, MAN created the large breeds of dogs. We made them super huge without thinking of the effect it could have. Maybe dogs are not supposed to be 200 pounds (looks at Dozer) but they are and we love them. That is why a healthy diet and exercise are so important.
> 
> Here is hoping all of our dogs live nice long lives whether big or small.


They also weren't meant to be tiny, either. IMO, dogs are meant to be the size of wolves, their ancestors from whence they came. Pomeranians were originally 30 lb dogs. 


You all know I love the big dogs. Before we decided on a xolo we had narrowed it down to 4 breeds: a dane (which was the most likely), a neo (I will import one if I have to to avoid the debilitating wrinkles and joint issues), a dogue, or an irish wolfhound. 

I have convinced myself that the reason I am okay with their short lifespans is because, while I will have my current dogs for a shorter time, it will allow me to share my life with a greater number of dogs and, when I am old, I will be able to look back and know that I had many great dogs and that I loved each and every one. It doesn't make it any happier, but that is the excuse I have given myself.

I don't feel that those breeds are right for us right now since we are not settled anywhere that I can ensure my dogs will never be on a banned breed list. I refuse to own a dog that will cause me grief when we are stationed elsewhere due to BSL. I can wait until we are settled in a BSL free home.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I'm not sure I'm convinced the vegan dog was really a vegan. Knowing what we know about a dog's digestive system, I think that would be pretty impossible to never feed a dog meat and it live a long life. I just really doubt that one.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

catahoulamom said:


> Gah, it's the one thing keeping me from getting a giant breed dog one day. I know it's like the elephant in the room... no one wants to talk about it. And I don't blame you!!! I don't want to talk about it either... but I'm expecting all of my current dogs to make it til at least 16!!! They'd better!


get the dogs you love. small dogs allegedly live longer; yet none of mine ever made it to fourteen. ever.

the heart breaks. the heart heals. 

and we never forget. sigh.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Here's some personal experience over 30 years. I can relate almost all of the deaths to bad food and vaccines I think. These were all dogs that got pedigree/purina and yearly vaccines from puppyhood (because we were told that was the 'best' thing for them) and they were all neutered very very young. 

I've come to think longevity of dogs can be more related to how you care for them then to size of breed. All my future dogs will be raw fed, no vaccines or chemicals, and remain unneutered until mature. It will be interested to see how that affects their longevity. 

Samoyed - 12 years - cancer (backyard breeder- rescue)
Labrador - 10 years -cancer (backyard breeder-rescue)
Chow - 10 years - bloat (kibble fed) (petstore rescue)
Chow - 9 years - cancer (backyard rescue)
Chow - 8 years - unknown - died in sleep (flea market rescue)
Lhasa - 16 years - old age (show quality )
Chow - 4 years - medicine reaction (show quality)
Chow - 5 months - medicine reaction after treatment for bloat (kibble) (show quality )
Lhasa - 14 years - old age / long history of illness's related to food and vaccines (pet quality pup from show parents)


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## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

Growing up we had two dogs. A purebred Samoyed and a Puppy Store (Puppy Mill) Yorkie. The Sammy came from champion bloodlines but he was the runt of the litter. He was born what I was told was a swimmer pup, his chest was over sized for his legs and he couldn't walk. . They had to put towels under his belly and teach him swimming like motions so he would learn to walk. Even at 4 I was a bleeding heart and he was the one I chose. I also was not very creative and named him Swimmer. He was from my Aunts litter or else they probably would have put him down. He lived to be 9 and died of cancer. He was hot by a car on the same hip twice and ended up with a grapefruit size tumor on it. I don't remember what we fed but I am sure it was bought at the grocery store. I am sure the food played a part, but the injuries I am sure were the bigger reason.

The Yorkie was a disaster from day one. He was around before I was born, but my only memories from him are that he smelled and his breath was awful. He just keeled over in our living room one day. I don't remember from what. He was between 12-14. Which is not terrible young for a little dog and I am sure he was a puppy mill dog, so who knows what health issues he fought, just being born. 

I think diets in our animals are as important as our diets. If you ate fast food every day and didn't exercise, you aren't going to live to 100. Same with dogs, but you always have that one that is fed Ol Roy it's whole life and lives to be 20.


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## danecolor (Nov 22, 2010)

here is a random theory, not based on anything but my own thoughts:

many small breed/toy dogs were bred with the main focus of being companion dogs, if not originally then at least somewhere along the line in their history.
the giants like wolfhounds, danes, and mastiffs were bred as gladiators - for wolf hunting, boar hunting, war, blood sports, and estate guarding. 

the giants were not in "professions" where they were likely to live long. on the contrary, most probably came to an early, violent death. toys, on the other hand, were companions to royalty and their "profession" of providing love and companionship was likely much better served the longer they lived.

maybe these different paths inadvertently led to longevity being more important in the toy breeds and less important in the giant breeds? if the dog was likely to die early of injury, how could longevity be selected for? if the dog was the beloved companion of a royal who would be crushed when her pet died, then longevity would be a much more precious commodity. maybe that is part of the reason we still see these trends today?

as an owner of a great dane, longevity is one thing that is always at the back of my mind. however, i think that generally the less exaggerated, better fed, and better bred dogs have a much better chance of living longer. a 120lb, raw fed, in shape great dane from a reputable breeder should absolutely make it past a decade. a 170lb, purina fed, chubby great dane from a backyard breeder may not make it to his tenth birthday.


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## NewYorkDogue (Sep 27, 2011)

danecolor said:


> here is a random theory, not based on anything but my own thoughts:
> 
> many small breed/toy dogs were bred with the main focus of being companion dogs, if not originally then at least somewhere along the line in their history.
> the giants like wolfhounds, danes, and mastiffs were bred as gladiators - for wolf hunting, boar hunting, war, blood sports, and estate guarding.
> ...


I find your theory very interesting-- a more "global" way of looking at this. Sort of like biology following function... 

Also, if the giant breeds were bred to participate in more dangerous, "gladiator" type work, longevity would not serve them well, since in order to perform at their peak ability, they would need to be young, strong and agile. These traits diminish as the dogs age...thus, the dog's "usefulness" is also diminished. Add to that the stress of working hard and long, in sometimes dangerous environments.... All this may have genetically altered the giant dogs' longevity.

Anyway, I have nothing to back this up; just thinking out loud...

P.S.: I hope Mateo realizes that his primary function in my life is as a loving companion animal first-- and guard and protector, second ( btw, his guarding instinct has yet to show itself; everybody is his friend...hwell. Maybe this will alter his genetic predisposition, and he'll live for a very long time!


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

magicre said:


> get the dogs you love. small dogs allegedly live longer; yet none of mine ever made it to fourteen. ever.
> 
> the heart breaks. the heart heals.
> 
> and we never forget. sigh.


I have to agree. We got Rolly (maltese/shih tzu) thinking he'd live until at least 15, he died suddenly at 4 and we still don't know the exact cause. We were told he had many different things from CHF to liver disease, I do sometimes think foul play was involved but we will never really know..


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

mateo has such a face.....he'd best not even think about dying young. 

he also had a really good start.....i think that has to play a part in how long a dog lives.

genetics have their role, but so does nature....and if the two are a good match, at least the chance is there to live a longer life....


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

I can remember the deaths of all of my dogs as well. My list is much shorter since I am only 21.

Angel - doberman - spayed - show quality - Kirkland Kibble - 8 years - bloat
Tiny - rottweiler - spayed - show quality - Kirkland kibble - 12 years - failing body so I am assuming age related
Xena - doberman - spayed - possibly BYB/possibly reputable breeder, I can't remember - Kirkland kibble - 10 years - cancer
Woody - dalmatian - spayed - breeder unknown - Iams - 13 years - cancer
Hoss - brittany - neutered - breeder unknown - Iams and Pedigree - 17 years - cancer

Out of 5 dogs only one MIGHT have died from age related ailments. I don't know for sure as she was rehomed as my grandfather was afraid she would eventually hurt one of us because she had NO control over her male sized body. Our UPS guy was in love with her so she went home with him where she was doted on and was a house dog.

danecolor, I think your theory sounds absolutely believable and very possible. For dogs who regularly came into contact with dangerous animals, longevity wouldn't be very important since most probably died on the job. 

Here's another thought. Those who DID make it through their hunting career were likely destroyed due to the lack of desire to feed and care for an animal who was no longer useful. I would imagine that many were too riddled with injuries to be of much use for breeding and if an animal isn't going to breed or hunt then what use was it?

I remember hearing something about herding breeds many years ago. Herders, like rough and smooth collies, while they are on the larger side, have fairly long life spans. I remember hearing something about longevity being desired for them because they weren't likely to be killed while working with domestic sheep and they wanted to go as long as possible without having to train a new pup to take over for their aging herder.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I've had alot of dogs. Honestly, I'm not sure I remember every single one off the top of my head but if I sat down with a piece of paper and started from the first I probably could.

Most of my dogs lived a long time. Since we lived in the country and they ran free, there were at least two who went out and never came back. I suspected they started running with the wild dog pack - one I'm positive did.

Three we had to find a new home for because they started killing sheep. So they went to town.

But the ones who died young I think I remember:

Spots - dropped dead at 3. Probably cardiomyopathy
Midnight - died of cancer at 5 or 6
Captain - poisoned at about 2 years old

they all ate bad food BUT they hunted and all of our dogs ate what they caught plus if we did killed something to eat we'd usually throw the guts and scrap to the dogs. And all the table scraps. So maybe that helped them. 

None were outside dogs although all were inside/outside. 

I never got my dogs teeth cleaned and they all had great teeth
Never gave them heartworm meds - none died of heartworm that I know of

Our big fight was fleas and ticks, and we gave them some horrible chemicals. 

It wasn't until our world started closing in around us, with neighbors, fences, etc. that dog ownership seemed to get alot more complicated.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

Perhaps it could be exercise related too. Some of the longest living dogs I've personally met were very active. They didn't do sports or anything intense like that, three long lived dogs I know were the neighborhood dogs allowed to roam (the fourth roamer in the neighborhood got stabbed while loose and died of infection). The other one was my uncle's hunting dog (Golden). All were moving a lot, unrestricted activity. I feel this activity has a LOT to do with their longevity, regardless of whether or not they were at a healthy weight. So what does this have to do with size? Small dogs are able to get a decent amount of exercise with less work from the owner. 10 steps for a large dog might equal 20 steps for a small dog. I can get my small dog really worn out physically without leaving the house (though we still go on walks of course). I think most large companion dogs are not being exercised enough because their owners are too lazy to go out and exercise them. It's going to be hard to wear out a lab by throwing a ball across the kitchen so large dogs really can't get an adequate amount of exercise in the house. Small dog owners don't HAVE to go out to provide adequate exercise, it can be done with toys in the house if need be. So I think maybe large dogs are getting less exercise because it requires more effort from the owner for it to happen.


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

I've had so many dogs, and I have been lucky that most have lived to an old age. I'll list some of most recent though.
Dallas-Golden-byb-almost 18yrs-scraps, ol' roy, pedigree, etc-age related "failures"
Pepper-Basset Mix-humane society-about 14 yrs-same food as Dal-necrotic abscess
Kiwi-standard dacshndu-byb-15 yrs-scraps, dog chow, Kibbles and Bits, etc-died in sleep
Red-minature daschund-byb-12 yrs--same food as Kiwi-severe back injury 
Cleo-minature daschund-byb-10 yrs--same food as above-attacked by husky
Widget-wolf hybrid-familybred-16 yrs-any thing that was cheap, scraps-kidney failure
Trigger-wolf hybrid-familybred-15 yrs-same as Widget-arthritis
Tasha--shepherd/daschund mix (standard daschund size)-bops litter (shepherd was supposedly fixed)-8 wks-parvo
Arakis--daschund/shis tzu mix-brother's oops litter (4month old puppies do breed)-12 wks-parvo


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## KittyKat (Feb 11, 2011)

This is an interesting video.


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## NewYorkDogue (Sep 27, 2011)

That was very interesting, especially talking about the three pillars of health. I am wondering now about how important the muscular/skeletal chiropractic proactive care is necessary for a large breed dog. I just haven't heard much about chiropractic adjustments being a necessary thing before...

Anyway, 17 years is a very long life for a Newf.... impressive!


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## sandra0606 (Dec 22, 2011)

It's true that small dogs tend to live longer than the larger ones. This is mostly due to size and weight of larger dogs. If you image Saint Bernard bouncing around compared to a chihuahua then a bernard has lot of weight to throw around and that puts lot of stress on internal organs, joints and general well being. It's like you know a slim human being lives longer than a obese person.


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## riddick4811 (Nov 2, 2011)

I've heard it mainly has to do with the strain on the heart. Bigger the dog, bigger the strain. But doesn't alway work out that way. 

Dogs we had while I was growing up, most fed Ol Roy/Pedigree/Dog Chow type foods (also no heartworm preventative either)
Nikki- Dachshund 13 yrs old- died of old age
Jimbo- Dachshund 18 yrs old- died of old age
Wilbur- Dachshund 8 yrs old- euthanized for kidney failure and cancer
Sparky- Black Mouth Cur- 14 yrs old died from old age
Buck- Black Lab- 7 yrs old seizures- heart gave out 

As an adult:
Casey- Greyhound 7 yrs old cancer raw fed 
Giggles- Greyhound 11 yrs old cancer raw fed
Linus- Greyhound 15 yrs old cancer raw fed
Ginny- Chihuahua 23 yrs old- accident combo raw/homecooked/can
Red- Min Pin 8 yrs old- accident raw fed
Zeus- Doberman 11 yrs old- combined health issues (cardiomyopathy and GDV) and age raw fed
Riddick- Greyhound 10 months old concentric cardiomyopathy raw and kibble fed

Right now my oldest living dog will be 15 yrs this year and is a JRT mix.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Well since everyone is making lists 

My grandma had a pitbull that live to be 19 - I was young so I'm not sure what he was fed. He just wandered off into the woods and died one day.

My parents still have our childhood dogs.
Lady was a black lab/Dalmatian - hit by a car when she was 4 - fed grocery store crap.

Batman is one of her sons so Half Malamute/half lab/Dalmatian - still kicking at age 11 - fed crap most of his life, grain fee kibble mixed with a little raw now.

Nakoya- chihuahua - still kicking at 10- fed crap most of her life. Grain free kibble with a little raw now.

Teija - lab/shar pei/pitbull- hit by a car at age 1 - fed TOTW.

Mikey - Heeler mutt - 9 - crap kibble/TOTW/ PMR

Sprocket will probably live forever - TOTW now PMR.

Gunner - 1 - TOTW now PMR.
M


My list sucks. It's small and 2 out of 3 dead dogs were hit by cars. Not really informative! Lol


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

How much does Sprocket weigh? And Bishop was my first dog- LOL. So I'm up to almost two years now with him. Willow's 10 and seems pretty solid, lol.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Caty M said:


> How much does Sprocket weigh? And Bishop was my first dog- LOL. So I'm up to almost two years now with him. Willow's 10 and seems pretty solid, lol.


Sprocket is 7 lbs.

I think Mikey will live a long time. Although he is grey already, the vet said he has a very athletic heart and he has never had any health problems. Not a sick day in his life.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

magicre said:


> i will have to let you know. never had a dog, small or otherwise, make it to 14.


I almost click the like this button but then I realized that might have actually been cruel. 

I have no idea how long my dogs will live but I will do my best to make it a good one. I'll try to keep them in good health and when it is time to go I know I've done my best.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

bridget246 said:


> I almost click the like this button but then I realized that might have actually been cruel.
> 
> I have no idea how long my dogs will live but I will do my best to make it a good one. I'll try to keep them in good health and when it is time to go I know I've done my best.


i can see your dilemma...i never know when it's appropriate to click the 'like' button. i always thought it was an indication for one of two things: either i like your post content or i am alerting you to the notion that i read it. 

still, not cruel. i know who is responsible....first on the list is ignorance. and that's on me. second on the list is the dog food ingredient that put my dogs at risk.


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## Jordan S. (Feb 2, 2010)

maybe the weight puts more stress on their joints and body systems.


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## Jordan S. (Feb 2, 2010)

lovemydogsalways said:


> I don't know either, but it makes me wonder how *some* horses can live into their twenties? Some giant breeds are like the size of small horses.


actually, 20 years is considered a short lifespan for a horse(kind of like dying in your late 50's or early 60's as a human) horses live 30 years on average and are often still competing in their late teens. One horse at my barn died at age 41. oldest one on record was in it's early sixties. So i don't think you could compare the two(dogs & horses)


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## thegoodstuff (May 12, 2010)

Caty M said:


> Even with mutts, you generally don't hear of large ones living longer than 16.. yet smaller breeds much more often reach the older ages. What's the reason behind this?


Gravity...


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