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]

My miniature poodle died two months short of her 16th birthday.

The food she ate was Nutro, which was a good food back then, but is not now.

The treat info would also no longer apply.

She got lots of fresh food ("people" food.)

Exercise was daily walks and running & playing indoors...small dogs can do that.

No supplements.

BUT...

My poodle was sired by the number one ranked miniature poodle in America and Canada at the time she was whelped. A lot of it for her was genetics. For example, she had perfect teeth and gums until the day she died, and they were never cleaned or brushed once. She was exceptionally healthy all her life.

No amount of good food or exercise can make up for bad genes.

And I go to the vet for anything and everything. She did not just go once a year for shots. Any little sign of an infection, etc., we were there. No home remedies. I don't know if that made a difference or not.

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

Karen, I agreed with you that genetics is what's the most important! Hopefully we are all the lucky owners who our dogs have good genes.

Thanks for sharing!

[Lisa and Summer]

Before our doodle we had a black lab that my husband got when we were in college. She lived to be 15 1/2 yrs. old. She was a wonderful dog and it almost killed me when we had to put her to sleep. She never had cancer or other serious problems during her lifetime but she got to where she just could not walk anymore and she was incontinent. She ate mostly science diet and eukanuba. She received milkbones and when my dad kept her he would take her to Mcdonalds for a cheeseburger. She exercised a lot. She was obsessed with the tennis ball and played all the time. We took her hiking in the mountains and swimming at the beach. She was our first child and went everywhere with us. She did receive supplements most of the time. We would give her ham and some cheese when we made a sandwich and other than the occaisional  cheeseburger she did not consume any other people food. As you can tell her diet was not the best but maybe she had great genes and lots of love that helped her to live such a long time.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We also had a Miniature poodle (everyone always thought she was a bichon) before we got our girls.  She was our first and only other dog as a married couple.  We got her for our 2nd anniversary.  She lived 2 months short of her 16th birthday.  We bought her in a pet store, but the store didn't normally sell puppies.  She was the only puppy in the store and was just in a playpen in the center of the store.  She was being sold as a Mini poodle without papers.  She moved with us from Las Vegas to Ohio to Connecticut to finally Florida where she passed away.  She suffered from seasonal allergies, different times of year depending on where we lived.   She ate Science Diet and Avoderm, both considered good foods at the time.  She mostly ate treats.  She was normally 15-19 lbs but at one point got up to 24 lbs.  The vet said to change her treats to baby carrots and she lost 5 lbs within a couple weeks.  She was definitely a people's dog, not a dogs dog.  She really didn't have anything to do with other dogs.  She was home alone a lot because we both worked long days.  She survived the PEPCON Rocket Fuel Plant explosion when she was about a year old.  We lived about 1 mile from the plant.  Our garage door and kitchen door were blown in and a 17 foot wall in our Liv Room was cracked between the 1st and 2nd floor plates.  She was in the kitchen behind a 4' gate and we found her under the bed upstairs.  How she got over that gate we have no idea.  She was a great little cuddle bug.  She went to the groomers every Saturday for either a bath, trim, haircut or hot oil treatment.  She ate rawhides, she flew on airplanes (not in the cabin) as we were military and had to go when they said move!   As we never had children she was our baby and we were devastated when we lost her.  Took us 5 years to take the plunge again and then we did double doodles ....... a whole different experience but also a whole different time in our lives.

[F, Calla & Luca]

What a story. That explosion must have terrified her but she obviously overcame it.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

She really didn't seem to have any long term effects from the explosion.  The funny part was our Homeowners insurance paid to send her to doggie daycare every day for 30 days while the contractor was fixing the house.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I meant to put this in the original post about.  This was our little Asti when she was about 1-2 years old and me when I was much younger, like maybe 21 years ago. 

 

[Jennifer and Jack]

16 years is not enough time, Sorry but that is how I feel, I don't know if DK will still be around in 16 years or even if I will be LOL or any of us really but I will tell you the day that Jack dies is not going to be pretty... I have lost a lot of people that I have loved, including boyfriends.

 

I try very hard to have the attitude to enjoy every single day with him like it is our last, this way when the time comes, I will have known I did everything I could to keep him alive, happy, healthy and that he had a fun filled life with a lot of adventures, I think that is all we can do for our babies, I think genes play a big role in it. My vet has a stupid chart in her office probably given to them by Science Diet that has the average life span of a dog and it goes by their size. 

 

 

[Christine & Camus]

My dog Einstein was 16 when I had to let him go due to cancer.

He was a mix of 1/2 lab, 1/4 chow, 1/4 Shepard, his adult weight was 60 lbs.

I fed him California Natural Lamb and rice his entire life.

His treats were carrots and store bought, although I don't remember the specific brands, I bought those that I thought were good ones, and rawhide bones. *

No table food, but he did get cottage cheese, rice and chicken when he had stomach issues (rarely) and he also got vegies.

Exercise - he needed lots of exercise.  For his first 3 years I took him to the park before work and then again after work, then a long walk later in the evening.  Starting at ~ 4 years I was able to eliminate the morning trip to the park and give him a long walk.  His walks were usually 3 miles until he reached 12 or 13 when I cut the walk to 2 miles. And, he loved kids, so he spent a lot of time with my neighbors kids.  They fell in love with him so I gave them a leash and collar.  A couple of times a week they would come by after school with their mother and take him for an afternoon walk.

No supplements, but lots of toys.

He was healthy until the cancer except for a flea allergy.  He was a  dog.   I took him to the vet for anything out of the ordinary. 

He was a very sweet, sensitive, happy, healthy, and truly spoiled boy.

* he did get food the kids dropped!

Jennifer is so right - 16 years is not enough time! This is a photo taken at 16 yrs.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Wow, he looked terrific. What a nice story.

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

Thanks for sharing Einstein's story, I loved it! I'm sure he was a great dog and will continue live in your heart. 

 

[Christine & Camus]

He really was a great dog and he also led me to the doodles!  His temperment was that of the lab so when I was ready to look for I started on Petfinder looking for a lab mix and found Doodles!