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How Long Can Dogs Live?
November 19, 2007 | MississippiMasterpiece

Posted on 11/19/2007 11:27:37 AM PST by MississippiMasterpiece

I'm curious to hear from other Freepers about dogs they've owned that have had long lives. I have a Lab mix that's about to turn 17. She's been to the vet once in her life (to be neutered) and eats whatever I'm having for supper. Last night it was turnip greens, pinto beans with garlic and ham, cracklin bread, dirty rice and venison. She's solid black, except that her feet, muzzle and the hair around her butt have turned grey. She has lived outdoors all her life on the farm and still roams every day looking for miscellaneous mischief. Is my dog unusual or average in terms of age?


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
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1 posted on 11/19/2007 11:27:38 AM PST by MississippiMasterpiece
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To: MississippiMasterpiece
...just gotta be all them turnips!

:)
2 posted on 11/19/2007 11:29:24 AM PST by Frobenius
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

welsh terrier lived to 4. Indoor cats 18.


3 posted on 11/19/2007 11:31:07 AM PST by Blogger (Propheteuon.com)
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To: Blogger

Should have read 14.


4 posted on 11/19/2007 11:31:21 AM PST by Blogger (Propheteuon.com)
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

You’re a lucky person.


5 posted on 11/19/2007 11:31:51 AM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

As a kid, we had a Cocker Spaniel that survived in good health to the age of 19. My father had him put down because he was loosing his eyesight. Never any health problems.

Spoiled worse than any child I have ever encountered.


6 posted on 11/19/2007 11:34:04 AM PST by dearolddad (Opinions are like rectums: everybody has one.)
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

They can live until they die!


7 posted on 11/19/2007 11:35:30 AM PST by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
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To: stuartcr
Really!! That's probably 1/2 decade longer than the average well-cared-for Lab would normally make it.

I did have a mini-Dach make it 16-3/4 years. Even after two back surgeries. He was a real trooper!

8 posted on 11/19/2007 11:35:34 AM PST by willgolfforfood
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To: MississippiMasterpiece
I have a Lab mix that's about to turn 17. She's been to the vet once in her life (to be neutered) and eats whatever I'm having for supper.

That's an amazing age for Labs. Usually only small breeds live to that kind of age.

I'm curious about your statement about visiting the vet. Are you saying that your dog was never vaccinated? In my state you are required to vaccinate for rabies periodically (1 or 3 years depending on the type). Just curious...

9 posted on 11/19/2007 11:35:57 AM PST by Tallguy (Climate is what you plan for, weather is what you get.)
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To: Frobenius

If she’s roaming the farm no tell what’ she’s eating. I just got a lab mix in February and puked up rotten fence post last week. Not to mention carrying around horse apples. Hope she lives as long as your curr.


10 posted on 11/19/2007 11:36:53 AM PST by dblshot
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

Average life expectancy for a lab is 12.6 years, which is pretty much the median for dogs. They’ve been known to make to 17, but that’s very rare. The oldest dog ever was an Australian sheepdog named Bluey that lived to be 29.


11 posted on 11/19/2007 11:37:21 AM PST by Bubba Ho-Tep
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

Why worry? Just enjoy every day.


12 posted on 11/19/2007 11:37:43 AM PST by keat (You know who I feel bad for? Arab-Americans who truly want to get into crop-dusting.)
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

Yep, smaller dogs live quite a bit longer. So to have a big dog live to 17 is quite good. I think 14 is about the life expectancy of the larger dogs.


13 posted on 11/19/2007 11:38:32 AM PST by Always Right
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

I had a 1/2 Beagle, 1/2 German Shorthair mix that made it to 17.


14 posted on 11/19/2007 11:40:15 AM PST by Doomonyou (Let them eat lead.)
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To: dblshot

I should have mentioned that she loves fresh cow manure from newborn calves. The manure has so much undigested milk in it that she laps it up like pudding.


15 posted on 11/19/2007 11:40:49 AM PST by MississippiMasterpiece
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To: MississippiMasterpiece
her feet, muzzle and the hair around her butt have turned grey.

Me too.

16 posted on 11/19/2007 11:41:49 AM PST by toast
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

I think how long a dog wants to live when you feed him turnip greens is the moral question to be answered.

And feeding a dog beans is just crazy. Please don’t tell me you let him sleep on the bed.


17 posted on 11/19/2007 11:42:40 AM PST by Dog Gone
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To: willgolfforfood

My lab will be 12 in jan, other than having 2 knee operations, he’s going strong...just a lot slower.


18 posted on 11/19/2007 11:42:40 AM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: Tallguy
I'm curious about your statement about visiting the vet. Are you saying that your dog was never vaccinated? In my state you are required to vaccinate for rabies periodically (1 or 3 years depending on the type). Just curious... When she was neutered, she had a range of shots, but none since then. I do worm her when she shows signs, but that's it in terms of medical care. She's extraordinarily healthy and borderline obese.
19 posted on 11/19/2007 11:42:50 AM PST by MississippiMasterpiece
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To: MississippiMasterpiece

“I should have mentioned that she loves fresh cow manure...”

My wife always mentions this stuff when Pepper is licking my face ;-)


20 posted on 11/19/2007 11:43:11 AM PST by dblshot
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