To People With Long-lived Dogs

[Abigail]

I am wanting to conduct a survey, if you will, in order to have some idea as to what is the best diet to feed a dog ??? I would especially like to hear from owners of dogs that have lived to a ripe old age or who are still with us and are past the age of, say 16 years.

I know that a good diet is not always conducive to longevity as other things can step in the way but it sure must play a role in most cases.

Edited April 18, 2010 by Abigail

[di_dee1]

I am wanting to conduct a survey, if you will, in order to have some idea as to what is the best diet to feed a dog ??? I would especially like to hear from owners of dogs that have lived to a ripe old age or who are still with us and are past the age of, say 16 years.

I know that a good diet is not always conducive to longevity as other things can step in the way but it sure must play a role in most cases.

I am 53, have had dogs all my life. Most have been very long lived. In the last 20 years they have had a farm life but my diet for them has always been the same. A good dry food that is on tap 24/7. A raw component a day whether it is a chicken wing, some beef or lamb offcuts from the butcher, minced chicken carcass and/or meaty bones.

They get the odd raw egg and sardines, suitable table scraps.

Edited April 18, 2010 by di_dee1

[dogbesotted]

I have tried to feed my dogs well..

and they still seem to die before reaching a ripe old age.. i have recently taken in Hairy Beary (maremma aged 10.5. Hairy is spritley, races about like a youngster and has been fed on the cheapest of cheap dried dog food and cooked left over chicken bones his whole life!!!!!! go figure

H

[greytdog]

Beats me. My daccies both lived to 17, which I have been told is quite old. They ate Chum.

I feed my current dog raw meat, chicken frames and premium kibble, and my luck she'll kark it before she gets to 12.

ETA: The cats both lived to 20 and ate Whiskas.

Edited April 18, 2010 by greytdog

[Christina]

Pot luck for sure.

My childhood dog friend, who was a mutt that walked in & stayed lived 19 years, not sure of age when he appeared.

He got chum or pal, nothing else then, or mum dished up the dinner & he got the same. Yes stew with onions, potatoes, bones etc

He also shared my ice cream & chocolate

My many pedigree dogs have lived from 10 to 16 years fed on premium dry, fresh meat/chicken & vegies & some of what we eat. Who knows.

[jata]

well my parents had a Pomeranian that lived till 20 and he was fed on My Dog, Ped Pal etc etc and they also had a Labrador x that was fed the same and she lived till 19 They never got sick, never had surgery and never had any sort of health or skin problems. They did also get raw bones and minced meat but their main diet was tinned food.

[Scarlet]

I had a rough collie who lived to just over 16yrs.

Apart from a broken leg and cancer in his last years he was always healthy and lived on pal, cheap dried food but with lots of bones and fresh meat.

He was very active and got lots of exercise.

[Shmurps]

Lab 16 or 17 ate Pal and food scraps and anything from the butcher or the baker.She was lean as she was on the go with us kids.

One day the butcher gave her a rib cage, mum was driving home from work and noticed her dragging it up the hill. Mum drove past her as she was embarrassed.LOL. No health probs. Annual vet visit. Died old age.

Silky Terrier BYB. 16yrs. Supermarket Dry mum cooked mince, rice and veg.Ingrown eye lash, allergy to wondering dew in the garden. Again anual vet visit.

2 Cockers Spaniels friends pups. Supercoat, then Hills Dental, bones, left over meat and veg. One died at 12, the other just on 16, back legs went. One dental, one dew claw accident again anual visits.

Currently feeding Eagle Pack, chicken carcass, turkey wings, lamb ribs etc.

[Crisovar]

House full of oldies here, all purebred all pretty well linebred, I'd say genetics has to come into it too.

Varied diet, limited vaccinations all would help.

Too many variables to simply claim diet, I groom many teenage dogs who have lived on supermarket foods all their lives.

[ellz]

My parents just lost an old girl a week ago. She was 19. She had eaten supermarket dry foods (mostly chum or home brand), canned food and table scraps for most of her life.

[APBT]

my aunts cattle dog lives of mice and veg she cooks up for him and cooked bone scraps, never health problem and his about 12 now i think, also has been run over 4 times in his younger days with no issues.

[Abigail]

my aunts cattle dog lives of mice and veg she cooks up for him and cooked bone scraps, never health problem and his about 12 now i think, also has been run over 4 times in his younger days with no issues.

I gather she doesn't cook mice for him It is a worry that he is being fed cooked bone scraps though.

This sounds like one dog that has nine lives given that he has been run over 4 times already, well I certainly hope so anyway.

Edited April 18, 2010 by Abigail

[Magstar]

Our last dog lived to be 17. He was a medium sized cross breed. He lived on a diet of chum brand dog food ( canned and dry) and bones. He had no health issues up until his last couple of years. We lived on acreage so he always had plenty of room to run and explore.

[Abigail]

I must say that I am finding the responses very surprising. Who would have thought that a dog fed a diet of Chum or Ped Pal would reach a ripe old age, very interesting.

[stormie]

its funny reading about all the dogs who lived such long lives eating supermarket brands!

we had 3 live to 16. All dogs were outside dogs in the latter parts of their lives.

1 x Golden Retriever - mostly ate Pedigree/Pal but had dinner scraps here and there and occasionally mum would cook up big pots of rice, lamb and liver etc for her. But basic dry food diet was Pedigree Meaty Bites. She never had any major health problems. Was pts due to ongoing spinal arthritis which one day made her immobile.

1 x Golden Retriever - owned by my step dad who worked for Friskies for most of her life. She ate whichever brand of dog food Friskies made, and after merging with our family, ate what the Golden above ate. Other than rupturing both cruciates, and a bout of geriatric vestibular syndrome, was otherwise healthy. She was pts on the operating table, after eating a chicken carcass one night which caused an obstruction when it wouldnt pass out of her stomach. She had vomited in the night and aspirated some, so when we tried to operate, couldn't maintain oxygen saturation without being breathed for, so she was pts.

1 x JRT - fed same as second GR. She was always very healthy. She died after a very hot sydney day, when a tumour she had had growing in her liver, ruptured and she bled out. She died in the car on the way to the vet.

Edited April 18, 2010 by stormie

[Crisovar]

I must say that I am finding the responses very surprising. Who would have thought that a dog fed a diet of Chum or Ped Pal would reach a ripe old age, very interesting.

Before the "super Premium" foods came along there was not a lot of choice of commercial foods, dogs still did well.

During the war when food was rationed, those dogs that were lucky enough to be kept alive in Europe still did well on very meagre rations of things we probably wouldn't dream of feeding our dogs now. Many of the large kennels that managed to survive did so with dogs eating very poorly indeed.

I don't find it surprising at all that dogs live long lives on what we consider to be cheap and nasty foods.

Friends of my family had a Lab that lived till 15 he lived on cooked meaty bones and table scraps, he looked fit and healthy till he died in his sleep, and was still out retrieving ducks at 12.

[Kirty]

Our family dog(Kelpie x Corgi) was PTS at 17 years old. She ate Pedigree dryfood and Pal tins her whole life. She was never sick, never had any problems. She went blind and deaf and had a bit of arthritis in her old age, but thats it. She was vacc'd every year without fail too.

[Ms Genki]

I was blessed with a lovely but grossly overweight 6 year old Samoyed as a teenager. He lived to 13 (arthritis got him in the end) and ate either Pal (shuddering at the memories of opening a can) and rice, mince, carrot and green vegies as well as bones and an orange for dessert. His previous owner had fed him home-cooked meals but was an elderly lady who was unable to provide sufficient exercise to her energetic untrained 50kg+ leash-puller. I consider 13 to be pretty good given the shape that he was in when he came to live with us.

But yes, diet is just one of many factors surrounding lifespan. Genetics, a calm/stressful environment, indoor/outdoor living all play a part.

Edited April 18, 2010 by Ms Genki

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Can't remember where I read it, but apparently dogs who live completely outdoors or in kennels their entire lives have shorted life spans.

[newfsie]

We have always had working kelpies and Newfoundlands.........All were fed the same RAW diet, we cut our own sheep/cattle/chickens, lots of fresh veg/fruit from the garden. All the kelpies live well into the 15-16 years age group, All the newfs till about ten or less for one who had ovarian cancer (7). This has been the way since the eighties, so I think it is a lot to do with the breed. Giants versus Medium dog. All our dogs are very active and all were vaccinated/vet checked etc....All lived indoors.