sandgrubber Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 The thread on help for PhD student got me thinking about canine research I'd like to see done. Top of my list would be a study looking at the life histories of dogs who remained in good health well into old age (eg, 15+ years). People, including myself, often tell stories about this or that dog who was fed rubbish food and given not much care, and still lived long healthy lives. I would love to see a study that systematically reviewed case studies of such dogs . . . looking at diet, exercise, breed, siblings fates (if possible), etc. I wonder if it's just random, or if there are common threads. Has anyone ever seen such a study? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory the Doted One Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 There is a guy who does this thing called 'The Old Grey Muzzle Tour'. He travels the U.S. on an annual pilgrimage to see and talk to the owners of the oldest Rottweilers. He's come up with some interesting ideas into longevity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'd be interested in this too. I started a thread a while ago on this very subject because I'd cared for my whippets, kept them at the right weight on a diet of healthy unprocessed food and Penny got to just over 15 years, but at the same time I knew of 2 big fat labradors that were fed crap, had filthy teeth, their coats always stunk, they continually dragged their backsides along the ground, were riddled with arthritis and yet they out lived Penny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 There is a guy who does this thing called 'The Old Grey Muzzle Tour'. He travels the U.S. on an annual pilgrimage to see and talk to the owners of the oldest Rottweilers. He's come up with some interesting ideas into longevity. Sounds interesting. Does he blog or post his tales/ideas anywhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 There is a guy who does this thing called 'The Old Grey Muzzle Tour'. He travels the U.S. on an annual pilgrimage to see and talk to the owners of the oldest Rottweilers. He's come up with some interesting ideas into longevity. Sounds interesting. Does he blog or post his tales/ideas anywhere? I am very interested in this as well. A link would be great please. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory the Doted One Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Hope the links come up. I'm on my phone. https://m.facebook.com/TheOldGreyMuzzleTour?refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTheOldGreyMuzzleTour http://www.gpmcf.org/MuzzleTour.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory the Doted One Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 It's about cancer research, but he does make other observations about longevity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 I reckon it is the luck of the draw. Honestly I do. Of course if an animal or person gets sick and then looks into diet, exercise, yoga, whatever, that can change things. But in terms of why some people/animals live long lives is pure luck and a helping of good genes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 I reckon it is the luck of the draw. Honestly I do. Of course if an animal or person gets sick and then looks into diet, exercise, yoga, whatever, that can change things. But in terms of why some people/animals live long lives is pure luck and a helping of good genes. Genes are in part luck . . . but dog breeders can/could select for them if the pattern were understood. I've looked and I find it kinda sad that no one seems even to have done research on basic things like searching for lineages with long or short lifespans within a breed. The Old Gray Muzzles guy seems to have made a name for himself on the question of longevity but his publications mostly have to do with cancer and his idea of dog seems to be Rottweiler. He drops hints about whole dog factors, like suggesting that dogs with a social life live longer, but doesn't seem to turn this into science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
temperamentfirst Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 We're working on a health survey, and that is one of the first questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 There's work on humans who live into a healthy old age ... & the interplay of genes and lifestyle, and contributions from each. Great field for study has been Okinawa where a way above average number of people have lived to become centenarians... and to be generally healthy into old age. http://www.okicent.org/study.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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