[jason1107]

I was wondering if someone could tell me which type of dogs have the longest life spans. I am looking to get another dog that will live a long time and will not die within 2 or 3 years on me.

I have not had much luck with dogs in the past and never had one live past 4 or 5 years. The dog breeds that I have had in the past are a German Shepherd pure bred, Border Collie Lab cross, a Siberian Husky pure bred, Golden Retreiver pure bred, Alaskan Malamute Pure bred and a Border Collie pure bred.

I am looking for something that will be healthier / longer lived then these dogs. I heard somewhere that mixed breeds live longer then pure breds. Most of the dogs I have had have been pure bred so I am thinking of trying a mixed breed again. Does anyone know any good mixed breed combinations?

 

[georgiapeach]

Smaller dogs tend to live longer, especially mutts - lol! The larger dogs seem to have joint and bloat issues, especially hip displaysia. Of course, now I have a miniature poodle with luxating patellas (back knee joints that pop in and out) and a westie mix with itchy paws. None of them will be perfect, I'm afraid!

 

[Trzcina]

It's not the norm for any breed to die at 3-5 years of age. Even very large breed dogs can usually make it to 9 or 10 if they're healthy. Most smaller to medium-sized breed regularly make 13. Many dogs pass that easily--even of the breeds you've mentioned, when properly bred and cared for. Some mixed breeds are healthier than some purebreds, but just because a dog is mixed does -not- indicate that it will necessarily be healthy--in fact, because health testing is rarely to never performed on mixed breeds unless illness is suspected later in life (they're typically not from planned breedings), and any health issues found in any of the parent breeds may be there genetically, it's often not even a smaller risk.

The surest way to get a healthy dog is to purchase a pup from a reputable breeder that performs the proper health tests, etc. These breeders can tell you what illnesses are common in the breed, and will test against those with tests available. You can have great luck even with shelter dogs, though, too. Most rescues should probably be able to give you at least some idea of the health of the dogs they adopt out. Buying a dog from a newspaper or similar source is a very risky thing, health-wise, as many of the dogs advertised there are bred purely for profit by people not particularly knowledgeable about the breed and its genetic risks.

Either way, keep them up to date on veterinary care, feed them a good diet, and keep them safe in a fenced yard or on leash and exercised sufficiently, and you should be on the right track to a healthy and long-lived dog.

The breeds with the fewest health concerns will tend to be those that have a good degree of genetic diversity without having been overbred or taken up by many puppy mills or so-called backyard breeders. Some physical traits also leave dogs more prone to certain health problems; a very long back with short legs can leave a dog prone to back problems, a very short muzzle and protruding eyes can predispose a dog to breathing problems and eye injuries.

Consider what traits you'd most like in a dog (aside from health and longevity, though those should also be taken into account), and from there it will be easier to figure out what breeds (and types of mixes) suit you and your lifestyle best. Then it's just a matter of either identifying a dog at a shelter that has those traits, or else contacting a reputable breeder or rescue of the breed you're interested in.

 

[NaturalBornGuardians]

Typically the smaller breeds are longer lived. The more genetically diverse breeds are by far better.

Working breeds that have recent selective pressures for health and longevity are the best.

Being that so many of the large breeds have lifespans of as low as 6 years, to find working breeds with huge dogs living 10-15 years shows the importance of both environmental and human selective pressure to constantly make them stronger.

I raise Turkish Boz Shepherd, that live 10-15 years. But they are also a Livestock Guardian dog that is expected to travel 20-50 miles a day, find their own food, never provided shelter from the extremes of the weather, never vaccinated, never wormed and never pampered. The ones that can survive for 8-10 years are afforded the opportunity to pass on their genes.
So to have a 32-38 inch dog that weighes 140-200 pounds that can run 30+ miles an hour, and survive under those conditions to live 10+ years,,,, shows that we humans have failed to keep our dogs healthy by not selecting properly.

Note the muscling and lack of body fat of this 180 pound dog. True working breed.

But then again, I could not put my dogs through that either.

We love them.

 

[animalcraker]

Sighthounds routinely live into the high teens. That being said you should pick a breed that you can live with, not just one that lives a long time. It's not common for any breed to only live 5 years. If you don't mind me asking, how did your other dogs pass away?

 

[Bordermom]

I wouldn't go seek out a mixed breed assuming it would live longer. It's likely that you'd have other health issues anyway, if they're not being responsible breeders, and I wouldn't suggest supporting someone like that.

Within every breed there ARE breeders who do have longer lived dogs, it might take some looking but some of them are an option. My golden lived to 13 and still has some littermates alive now at 13 and a half. Her breeder takes longevity into consideration when breeding. But she also advocates for raw diet and minimal/no vaccines, which I think makes a difference too. 20 years ago there was a lot of heart issues in goldens and they started screening more for it so now it's not as big of a concern in the responsibly bred lines - I do hear of byb dogs dropping dead from heart issues here and there though.

Border collies have a pretty good lifespan, I would say around 14 is not unheard of.

But then there are breeds like dobes and bmd's that don't seem to be so lucky in the health department.

 

[Bordermom]

Sighthounds routinely live into the high teens. That being said you should pick a breed that you can live with, not just one that lives a long time. It's not common for any breed to only live 5 years. If you don't mind me asking, how did your other dogs pass away?

I'm wondering the same thing too..... doesn't sound normal to me.

 

[Miss Bugs]

curious what happened to the other dogs that they lived such short lives, what were they fed, where were they from etc.....border collies in general are an extremly healthy long lived breed..mine act like 2 year olds at 10 and 12 years, ACDs are also a healthy long lived breed.

 

[Willowy]

What did your dogs die of?!? The odds of losing SIX dogs at a young age to natural causes are astronomical. You're either the unluckiest person on the planet, or your dog-keeping practices need improvement. How did you care for these dogs? If a dog isn't well cared for, it's probably not going to live very long.

 

[PatchworkRobot]

What did your dogs die of?!? The odds of losing SIX dogs at a young age to natural causes are astronomical. You're either the unluckiest person on the planet, or your dog-keeping practices need improvement. How did you care for these dogs? If a dog isn't well cared for, it's probably not going to live very long.

Not just this but my question would be where have you been getting your dogs from?

Perhaps they were all just terribly badly bred from equally unhealthy dogs? It could be bad ownership but it could also be bad genetics.

 

[Willowy]

I've known plenty of terribly bred dogs, and even so, most of them don't die THAT young. Like I said, extraordinarily unlucky or. . .?

 

[cshellenberger]

especially mutts - lol! The larger dogs seem to have joint and bloat issues, especially hip displaysia. Of course, now I have a miniature poodle with luxating patellas (back knee joints that pop in and out) and a westie mix with itchy paws. None of them will be perfect, I'm afraid!

Mutts aren't free of problems!

OP if you're looking for a dog that will live longer go to a REPUTABLE breeder that HEALTH TESTS the parents of the dog they produce. Small and Medium breeds do tend to have longer life spans, especailly the terriers. I've had Dobes that lived to 14 years old and Poms that died at 5 due to the complications for Diabetes. It's all about the lines that are bred and the health of said lines.

Also I wonder what happened that so many dogs had such a short life, how they died and where you got them.

 

[cshellenberger]

But then there are breeds like dobes and bmd's that don't seem to be so lucky in the health department.

My family has had Dobes that lived well into their teens, yes, there are some poorly bred dobes that have issues but tht isn't the whole breed. The youngest I've lost a dog was 10 months (brain tumor in a boxer) and the oldest dog in my family was a Chi that lived past 20 (second oldest was a Dobe that lived to 14).

 

[Nev Allen]

I lost a border collie at 15.5 years recently. Our next oldest is a sheltie at 12.5 followed by another BC at 12. The 12 year old is still doing competitive agility and winning.

I have never heard of so many dogs dyeing so young in one household and have to wonder, like everyone else on here, why?

 

[Niraya]

Siberian Huskies are actually a very healthy (very few breed specific health problems) and long lived breed. The average being 12-14 years but MANY live well into their mid to high teens (at present I know a 15 year old Siberian - the longest I've known lived to be 18).

I'm very curious to find out what happened to these other dogs that their lives were cut so horribly short.
Rest in peace.

 

[hanksimon]

I had a Dobie x GSD that lived to 17 yo... he was blind, deaf, and arthritic, but happy and comparatively playful to the end.
I think that Dobies tend to have a longer average life span than most other large dogs. Smaller dogs usually live longer than large dogs.

Research suggests that keeping dogs lean increases the average lifespan. I also exercised my dog 1 hour every day. I gave him lots fresh air and sunshine.

Current dog is a Lab x GSD... and we'll see if my approach was the reason for long life... or the dog

 

[Amaryllis]

Um, that's just not possible. There is no way one person got 6 dogs, some from normally long lived breeds, and had them only live 3-5 years purely through bad luck. Even puppy mill bred dogs last longer than that. Hell, the breeding bitches at puppy mills last longer.

 

[cshellenberger]

Um, that's just not possible. There is no way one person got 6 dogs, some from normally long lived breeds, and had them only live 3-5 years purely through bad luck. Even puppy mill bred dogs last longer than that. Hell, the breeding bitches at puppy mills last longer.

It's possible, but I suspect there would be some irresponsible actions on the owners part.

 

[The Feather Duster]

I would, like others, like to hear back from the OP (who hasn't responded to any of the posts following his), why his dogs died so early in their lives.

Something would seem to be wrong. Bad genetics? Improper dog raising practices? Something that none of us can guess at?

I hope the OP returns and provides more information as to what happened to the lost dogs.

 

[Abbylynn]

I would, like others, like to hear back from the OP (who hasn't responded to any of the posts following his), why his dogs died so early in their lives.

Something would seem to be wrong. Bad genetics? Improper dog raising practices? Something that none of us can guess at?

I hope the OP returns and provides more information as to what happened to the lost dogs.

Ditto!...........................


I have had dogs who lived to 17 years of age and one who died as a pup and one who just died at age 5 and 1/2. I believe it mostly is in the cards we are dealt.

Every living creature faces some sort of health issue sooner or later ... Sadly just some sooner than later. Good breeding definitely helps but is still no guarantee IMHO.

Losing this many dogs ... all with such short lives just does not make sense.