How Long Will My Dog Live?

When you bring home that cute puppy most of us aren't thinking about how many years we'll have together. All we're thinking about is how adorable he is and how fast we can hide everything he wants to chew on. So, it's amazing how fast the years go by and gray starts to show up in our friend's muzzle. Maybe you're starting to wonder how long your dog will live.

It's not always easy to predict how long a dog will live. For purebred dogs there are usually known ranges within each breed. Giant breeds, such as Irish Wolfhounds, are considered very old by age 9. Most large and medium-sized dogs, such as Setters and Spaniels, tend to live to be around 12-14 years old. Toy breeds and small dogs, such as Whippets, may live past 15 years of age. Those are generalizations. Individual dogs may live shorter or longer lives depending on disease, good food, and overall health care.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Journals of Gerontology

Studies have shown that mixed breed dogs may live just as long or longer than the medium, large and giant breeds of purebred dogs. They don't usually live as long as the Toy and small breeds of purebreds. This is in the cases where the mixed breed dogs are well-cared for, of course. These numbers may be somewhat skewed by the fact that many thousands of mixed breed dogs are euthanized every year without being adopted. Presumably some of the dogs put to sleep are the less healthy mixed breed dogs. If the unhealthy mixed breed dogs were adopted they might not live as long as the healthy dogs and they could bring the overall average lifespan down.

For wolves the average lifespan is 8-10 years old. However, they have been known to live to be 20 years old in captivity.

Reportedly, the oldest living dog was an Australian Cattle Dog named Bluey who lived to be 29 1/2. He was born in Australia in 1910 and died in 1939. The average lifespan in the breed is 11-13 years.

The leading cause of death for most breeds is cancer.

The best study in English of dog mortality and causes of death was done by the Kennel Club in Britain in 2004. ( http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/549) You can check the study for health statistics on each breed.

With your own dog, you can help him live a long life by making sure that he sees the vet annually for a checkup. You can investigate the food you feed him and choose a good quality food that has named sources of protein and fats. No mystery meats or "animal digests" or "animal fats." Food should say "chicken" or "lamb" or "chicken fat." Keep your dog free of all external parasites and heartworm free. Make sure your dog gets regular grooming and lots of play time. If you do these things for your dog then maybe he will be around for 29 1/2 years, too, like Bluey.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Long-Will-My-Dog-Live?&id=8155322