Dogs who live/lived more than 15 years? HOW!?

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

I've seen some doodle owners here who also have another dog at home that are 15 years old or more. A few of them are 16yro, 17, or even 18!! and some of them are large breed dogs! That's amazing!

 

If you're one of these dog owners, or if you've already got answers from others, could you share how you and your dog do/did it?

-Breed

-Dog food brand

-Treats

-Any people food?

-How much exercises (Ex: runs 2 miles a day, hike once a week, etc)

-Any supplements?

 

My two dogs are now 2 1/2 yro and 4 months old. I want to try my best to let them to live in a healthy, long life.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Remember, dog food companies have changed drastically in the past ten or fifteen years; the Free Trade Agreement has allowed many companies to purchase cheaper ingredients from overseas. The quality control is non-existent, the ingredients are coming from questionable sources through third party brokers, and many of the companies have been bought out by corporations. Even cheap foods full of cheap ingredients were from local sources and the processing, inspecting and packaging were done by American companies. So the food does make a difference. The foods that were actually good wholesome premium foods 10 or 20 years ago have drastically changed.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Our Maltese terrier was 18 when we finally put her to sleep.  Rosie was a present to my four year old who had lost her baby brother and remained a constant companion to Jessica for all those years.  She was the runt of the litter was fed Eukenuba, survived a fall onto concrete when she was six, went totally blind from a genetic disease at 5 but was generally healthy and happy all her life.  Rosie could find her way around the house as she knew where everything was.  She slept on my daughters bed all her life.  Didn't do walks, she just used to plonk herself down and refused to move so we put her in a buggy or carried her everywhere.  When it was time to say goodbye our vet came to our house and we had her put to sleep gently in her own home.

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Very neat stories!  Inspiring.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

My previous "doodle" (he was a poodle mix) Zach lived to be 15. He was 45lbs full grown.  We fed him Eukanuba because that was the good food then. That being said I have to believe the exercise is the key.
Zach had 3 walks a day at least, 2 of them were a good two mile walk, the other probably 1. In his final years I made his dog food because that is when people started talking about how the foods on the shelves were junk. When we made the decision to let him go he had Kidney Failure, Bladder stones and Cancer. We had to let him go in peace.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

My family's dog Yoshi is still living with my parents and just turned 18 in June. 

 

- Bichon Frise

- Eukanuba (puppy all the way through senior breed)

- Tons of people food, and the last 2 years her diet has been primarily home cooked people food

- Big back yard, several exploration expeditions a day (she patrols the entire back yard several times a day).  We used to play with her a lot too - she hasn't really been interested in playing the last few years.  Just following people around the house like a velcro dog!

- Lecithin (helps the eye gunk clump up instead of running), glucosamine/chondroitin tabs (last few years, for joint pain)

 

She has been an incredibly healthy dog - has only had ONE big health scare and it was at the age of 16.  Before then she was just taken to the vet for vaccinations and that was it, because she never needed in-between visits.  Now she has more obvious health problems (mostly skin related, but some limb weakness) but what 18 year old dog doesn't!  She also still has almost all her teeth, despite not having her teeth brushed regularly.  She did have a lot of chews though.  She can still climb the stairs and jump over her full height to get onto chairs etc.

 

Here is her in the lap of luxury (my brother's old bed) at Christmas last year:

 

[Kyoko]

Oh, How great!!! It is so nice to hear older animals being comfortable and doing well in their lives.... Happy Belated Birthday, Yoshi!

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

WOW Yoshi sounds so healthy! My parents have a 8 yro Bichon Frise mix and he's already in a bad condition :(

We all blame my dad for giving him all kinds of people food all the time that now he has diabetes and a few other health problems.

Happy Belated Birthday Yoshi!

[Stephanie and Jellybean]

We have a 16 or 17 year old miniature poodle. We have actually lost count of the years. Tried to figure it out by looking at him with pics of the kids for reference. He has never been sick one day ever. Ate Nutro when it was good, but the vet has recently put him on canned food as it is easier for him to digest. Ate table food and still does. Never saw a tennis ball he doesn't go crazy for. I bought him at a pet store on a whim. The most adorable little red poodle puppy marked down because he had been there for over a month and not sold yet. My only regret is that I didn't buy his sister too, who was sharing the space with him. He has one white paw, our " Frankie White Paw". By the way, he loves to steal Jelybeans kibble and hides his treats all over the house still..........he is loved by everyone that meets him. The most awesome dog ever!

[Kyoko]

Check out our "Senior Citizen Club" group, and please join us!

[Lorraine Bromley]

Our good ole girl Jazzie lived until 16. We put her down when she lost control of her bowels and it was really upsetting her. She had some blindness and deafness and struggled on the hardwood to stand as she lost the muscle at the back end. She was a rescue and we got her and her sister from the pound and they were planning on putting them down because they were sick and we got a deal by taking both of them. We took them home and changed food and whalla! Not sick. They ate cheap grocery store bags of food they lived on the farm and slept in the barn and layed on the porch all day. followed dad and the kids everywhere they went. Ran after racoons and barked at shadows. They slept in the basement at night. We moved into the city and had already seperated them and given Cinnamon to a good home ( the same set up as us with 4 boys not 3) She lived until 15. She adapted well to life here and everyone knew her as she did some visiting in the area and was always out front to say hello and keep an eye on things. She didn't go on alot of car rides or get taken with us everywhere we went. But she knew her family and where they were she wasn't far. She didn't get treats. But table scraps. Then a change to half canned food and half dry. All she got was love and not the best of anything. It was all her and the same for her sister. They were happy dogs. Mutts with lab and shepard in them and who knows what. So just love them and let them be strong dogs with independence. The genes are what does it I guess and a little happiness.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Our family golden retriever lived to be 14...almost 15!  He ate Nutro - again, it was thought to be the best. 

Two other family dogs (1 irish setter; 1 cairn terrier) died around age 11-12 due to cancer; one other was hit by a car.

 

I pray mine live longer, but agree genetics have so much to do with it. So far, doodle is healthy, but I am feeding her the best food I can (Fromm), limit treats except for fruits and veggies, and walk her a few times a week, a few miles a day.

 

My biggest advice to extend your dog's life is to be careful what you feed- read the fine print of dog food/treats!!!  My chihuahua ate chicken strips that said made in USA; the ingredients were imported from China and he almost died from the chemicals about 4 years ago.  He has kidney disease because of them and will probably not live to Age 16-18 like many chis live :(  This may not have been as crucial 15 years ago as it is now.

Off the soapbox now :) :) :) :)