longest life

time lord

What common breeds or readily obtainable breed of dogs generally live longest. Most lovers of dogs will of had a dog that lasts beyond the average but I am interested in which breeds live the longest and would there be a concensus on this?
(one offs I think will not reflect the breed in general)

Gloomtastic!

I thought the general rule is the smaller the breed, the longer they live. Something to do with the size of the heart I believe.

time lord

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

I thought the general rule is the smaller the breed, the longer they live. Something to do with the size of the heart I believe.

could be something to that alright but it might only carry for the extremes ie wolfhounds or greatdanes etc.

Birdnuts

Collies and Terrier crosses appear to lead long lives in my experience. I have a 13 year old cairn X who's as fit as a fiddle

Zapperzy

I think some of the oldest recorded dogs are chihuahuas but the problem is that small crossbreeds can live just as long and sometimes longer but nobody has any documentation as to when they were born so nothing can be proven. So most of the recorded longest living dogs are purebreds simply because they have proof of when they were born. For instance I know a small terrier cross who must be about 22 now but as she is a crossbreed and a rescue there is no proof as to when she was born and her exact age.

SingItOut

Small dogs and collies seem to live well past the 15 year mark. Our last terrier, a cairn cross lived to be 19 years old and never any health problems until she was 18. A cousins terrier lived to be 20 and a friends collie is currently 22 and still running the household the collies hearing has gotten worse in the last year as has his coordination but it doesn't stop him enjoying his food or trying to chase the cats!

Sigma Force

I was gonna say collies and terriers as in Jack Russels, there's always a good few elderly collies and terriers about if you go to any popular place for walking dogs.
Like with us humans sometimes it's pot luck but collies and terriers and some cross or mix breeds seem to live the longest. The average life span for a Papillon is around 14 years approx. they generally as long as bred responsibly have a long life span as well.

Saw a lovely sight the other day, an elderly man pottering across the road with his elderly collie and another pooch, they were all old and a little dothery it was so sweet.

BohsCeltic

I had my last Jack russell for 17 years. Some family members had the same breed for much the same time and no health issues at all untill around 15/16. Health issues were basically just losing sight in one eye but the dog still ran around like a pup untill he passed away.

Wibbs

Crossbreeds seem to do well, certainly better on average than purebreeds. Makes sense as to get the "purity" you're narrowing the genetic lines to select for their exterior features, so you'll concentrate the bad as well as the good. Plus there is an element of "hybrid vigour" at play. An extreme example might be breeds like Saarloos, Czech Wolfdogs and Lupo Italiano's with relatively recent wolf ancestry tend to live longer and in better overall health than the German Shepherd stock they come from and have fewer health problems on average. Dingo crosses can be similar. Wolves can make it to 20 in captivity(in the wild a lot less, though 13 is not that uncommon).

Many of the external breed features are dodgy for health anyway. Just look at the state of say the British Bulldog. And they're not alone. The list of genetic damage/problems fully backed by various kennel clubs is looong. Smaller dogs tend to live longer on average than bigger. The giant dogs usually have woeful life expectancies. Though the latter may be down to lifestyle too. I knew an Irish wolfhound raised on a farm that made it to 13 in rude good health, but he was running the fields daily and getting plenty of raw rabbit and the like as well as his everyday dog food. An hour walk and laying in front of the fire with heavily processed diets doesn't cut it so much. Just like people

It seems if you want a long lived doggie, get a poodle/Australian cattle dog/border collie and cross it with a dingo and/or wolf, make sure it's owned by a butcher and away you go.

Jackasaurus rex

Any dog iv seen live very long has been a jack russell cross of some description. hardy little yokes