How old is your dog?

[Upgradable]

We rescued Buck when he was about 4-6 months old. Our best guess is he is a yellow lab/chow mix. We adopted him about 13 years ago. He''s never had a health problem in his life. Just recently he has started to "look" old. I dread waking up one morning when he doesn''t. He is my first dog. I grew up a cat person, but have gotten really attached. Hubby is a farm boy, and though Buck is his dog, when the time comes, he''s ready. Does anyone else have an old dog? How long can I reasonably expect for him to be around?

 

[Irishgrrrl]

We have two dogs, both of whom are black lab mixes. Biko, our boy, is 13 and Turbo, our girl, is 9. Our Great Dane, Caesar, just passed away on April 26, and he was 8. Of course, Danes have a short life span, so Caesar actually lived to a pretty good age.

I think you''re right that Buck is a lab/chow mix! He''s a beautiful boy! And I think, if he''s just now starting to "look" old at the ripe old age of 13, he probably has quite a few good years ahead of him!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/13/2009 5:30:38 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl
We have two dogs, both of whom are black lab mixes. Biko, our boy, is 13 and Turbo, our girl, is 9. Our Great Dane, Caesar, just passed away on April 26, and he was 8. Of course, Danes have a short life span, so Caesar actually lived to a pretty good age.

I think you''re right that Buck is a lab/chow mix! He''s a beautiful boy! And I think, if he''s just now starting to ''look'' old at the ripe old age of 13, he probably has quite a few good years ahead of him!

Ditto! What a sweetheart he is!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Awww Buck is a cutie. I know how you feel. Casper is 15, he acts young. But he''s starting to show his age. I pray he''s around or a few more years.. But if he starts to suffer ill health, and is really having a hard time, I will put him down. It will kill me, but hate to see an animal suffer. We got him when DD was in First grade, DS was in PreK. He''s been the dog that has been with us for everythng... DD is 21 and DS is 19... I can''t bare to think about losing him...

He''s got the best personality, and loves to amuse us. He cracks us up all the time, he loves that.

 

[Upgradable]

Here''s a picture of him sometime between 6 months and 1 year ago. Can you see the difference?

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Well, he does look a touch older in the more recent picture, but it might just be the angle that the pictures were taken from or the expression on his face.

 

[dragonfly411]

He is so cute!!!!

we have my yorkie/ chi (I really think she''s a yorkiepoo but ok) and she is 2 next month!!! OMG I can''t believe I''m saying that.

My mom and grandma both have one each that are 13. I''ll get pics of them tonight

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Our gigantic Pomeranian (12 pounds!) named Phoebe is 10 years old. I can''t find a picture, but when I do I will post it!

 

[dianne]

What a sweet face!!!

I have a Pomeranian who is 14, and a Shih Tzu who is 13. They're so spunky I feel they will outlive me!!

Don't dwell on the "when"....dwell on "now". DH gets depressed every once in a while thinking about the "when"....I just try to not think about it at all.

 

[packrat]

Chicken will be 4 next month. We lost our 3 legger, Sadie, this past November. She was 12 I think.

Buck looks like he gives good lovies!

 

[Upgradable]

Date: 7/13/2009 6:00:01 PM
Author: packrat
Chicken will be 4 next month. We lost our 3 legger, Sadie, this past November. She was 12 I think.

Buck looks like he gives good lovies!

In all honesty, he''s kind of a standoffish dog. Since I''d never had a dog, and hubby wanted one, I wanted to make sure I didn''t have a yippy hyper dog. I told him I wanted a dog like Yeller Dog in the movie Funny Farm with Chevy Chase. It was a yellow lab that was so passive, at one point that had to pull his tail out of the fireplace. Buck was perfect!!!

Since then, we''ve also adopted Roxy. I have no idea her mix! But she is the cuddly dog that I didn''t know I wanted!!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Roxy and Buck are both adorable!

Our older boy is 5 and our pup is 6 months. Byron (older dog) has always been very active, but I noticed just this weekend after a lot of hiking that he was a little stiff to get up. I don''t know if this is because he''s starting to get a little older (for a giant breed) or because I recently switched his glucosomine and chondroitin and the new brand isn''t working as well for him. I do wish our dogs were a little closer in age so that their levels of activity were similar. I notice that my previously-very-active older boy gets tuckered out fairly quickly by the pup.

 

[LostSapphire]

Here is ToTo The Wonderdog.
He is now 16-1/2 years old. He has been THE BEST DOG EVER!

For the last year or so, he's been acting like an old f*rt in a nursing home: whines for his dinner, is impatient, bossy, and just generally irritatingly obsessive.

He is deaf in one ear, mostly deaf in the other. Can't see very well, and has a big lump on his right side. But the vet says he's still in amazingly good shape for such an old guy.

Cairn Terriers sometimes live to 17 or so, so we expect ToTo won't be long with us for much longer...

But he's a total sneak: lately, we've been discussing another puppy. So all of a sudden, he's acting out, like, jumping up on the couch like, "see me Mum, I'm not dead yet" kind of thing. What a goof.

ETA: Upgradeable, your dog is beautiful. Such kind eyes! It's hard to predict their lifespan, as it differs from breed to breed. Your vet can probably give you a rough idea. I can see in the photos that he is getting a bit grey around the muzzle....ToTo started going grey at about age 8 or so...so the grey isn't a predictor of lifespan. He's almost completely white on his face now.

LS

p.s. I would LOVE to see pics of OLD DOGS.
We all ooh and ah over puppies, but there's something about the love of an old, loyal dog that brings tears to my eyes.....

 

[Upgradable]

I love the little grey beards!!! Buck is a strawberry blonde, so he doesn''t have a beard. But Roxy has gotten a beard in the last couple of years.

 

[dianne]

Here's my two furbabies:

Tidbit--Pomeranian, 14 yrs old--she looks shaved but she actually has a thyroid condition and her hair doesn't grow long anymore.

 

[dianne]

This is Heidi, Shih Tzu, 13 yrs old. I took her in 2 years ago when my aunt passed away and no one seemed to want her. I was afraid they would put her down so now she's part of my family.

ETA: Can you see she actually has lips? I have never seen a dog that seemed to have such prominent lips...lol

 

[dianne]

Can you say SPOILED!!??

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 7/13/2009 8:49:54 PM
Author: dianne
Here''s my two furbabies:

Tidbit--Pomeranian, 14 yrs old--she looks shaved but she actually has a thyroid condition and her hair doesn''t grow long anymore.

OMG what a face!!!

And Heidi, well, what can I say? Hang on, I''ve got one of those pics too...just a sec...

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 7/13/2009 9:04:28 PM
Author: LostSapphire

OMG what a face!!!

And Heidi, well, what can I say? Hang on, I''ve got one of those pics too...just a sec...

LS

here they are...the old guy and his little brother...

 

[Erinleigh]

All of your dogs are beautiful!! I''m such an animal lover, and totally have a soft spot for any dog. Our yorkie Charley is 2.5 now and still as crazy as the day we brought him home...lol! Small dogs outgrow some of the puppy crazy evertually, right?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I have a cockapoo who is 14, and who I still call "my puppy" even though she''s old and grouchy now, haha.

 

[Linda W]

Oh do I love all of these doggie pictures. My hubby and I adore dogs. Buck is beautiful Uppy, I know how you feel.

Our Mazie just turned 7 last month, she is a Lhasa Apso.

I wish our dogs, could live just as long as we do.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

DH and I rescued Friday from the kennel when she was 6 months old, 1 month before we got married. Casey joined our family 1 year later at the age of 6 weeks.

12 years and three kids later, Friday is 13 and Casey is 12. Friday has just started to look older, but she really does not act any different. She is also a Lab / Chow mix.

Casey is a Rottweiler Shepperd mix and she does not look or act any different than she did when she was younger.

I had to have my sweet kitty put to sleep a few years ago, he was 15 and I found him when I was 15 years old...that was so hard, and I cannot bare to think about what it will be like when our doggies are ready

 

[MissGotRocks]

Date: 7/13/2009 9:09:29 PM
Author: Erinleigh
All of your dogs are beautiful!! I'm such an animal lover, and totally have a soft spot for any dog. Our yorkie Charley is 2.5 now and still as crazy as the day we brought him home...lol! Small dogs outgrow some of the puppy crazy evertually, right?

I've seen your Yorkie pictured here a couple of times - he is so cute! They finally do outgrow the 'puppiness' but Yorkies play hard and then they sleep hard. This just seems to be a trait of the breed.

I have one too. Chloe will be 14 in September. She is much as LS describes her older dogs to be. She is so impatient and at times acts so helpless. She does have arthritis in her legs which has greatly impaired her mobility. However, she hangs in there and we are willing to accomodate her in any way for as long as she wants to stay with us. We have loved her so; it will be a tremendous heartbreaker to lose her. She sleeps on my bed all day after her morning breakfast and potty time. She wants to get up about four - I call her my movie star! She immediately starts whining for dinner and then whines on and off all evening - wants a drink of water, wants to go out, etc., etc. At 9 sharp she is ready to have her pill and be carried back up to bed. I'm not used to the whining and not used to carrying a dog from place to place but I do it. . .

 

[dianne]

Date: 7/13/2009 9:07:49 PM
Author: LostSapphire

Date: 7/13/2009 9:04:28 PM
Author: LostSapphire

OMG what a face!!!

And Heidi, well, what can I say? Hang on, I''ve got one of those pics too...just a sec...

LS

here they are...the old guy and his little brother...

Adorable! Mine are too small to get up into the bed. Doesn''t stop Heidi from bouncing against the side of it to wake us up when she is ready for breakfast. They each have a bed in the living area of the house and a bed in the bedroom.

 

[rainwood]

Upgradable -

Buck is a very handsome dog. Those pictures do suggest a difference in him. Labs can make it to 13-14, I don''t know about Chows. If this happened relatively quickly, you might want to take him to the vet for a physical. There may be a specific problem that could be treated that makes him feel and look differently.

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 7/14/2009 5:29:25 PM
Author: dianne

Date: 7/13/2009 9:07:49 PM
Author: LostSapphire

Date: 7/13/2009 9:04:28 PM
Author: LostSapphire

OMG what a face!!!

And Heidi, well, what can I say? Hang on, I''ve got one of those pics too...just a sec...

LS

here they are...the old guy and his little brother...

Adorable! Mine are too small to get up into the bed. Doesn''t stop Heidi from bouncing against the side of it to wake us up when she is ready for breakfast. They each have a bed in the living area of the house and a bed in the bedroom.

The 2 Boys are quite small too. ToTo weighs 12 lbs. Robbie is 17 and can jump over 4''. So Toto has a box at the side of the bed to help him get up....if I move it by mistake while cleaning and forget to put it back, he whines..

OMG I could almost start a thread just on THE WHINING these old dogs use on us!!

gotta love ''em though!

LS

 

[packrat]

hahaha the whining! When Sadie was still alive, when she was outside and wanted in, she would sit on the back deck right next to the patio door and hunch way over, like Snoopy from Peanuts when he''s being a vulture..then she''d "Huuuuhh huuuhhh" whine, and make herself shake. She''d have her head way down and look up at us like "Pllleaaase ohh it''s sooo horrible out here".

 

[Little Monster]

Our dog is a 10 1/2 year old pitbull mix (see avatar)... she has definitely aged a lot in the past 2 years by going rather grey, but she certainly doesn''t act her age most of the time. She plays like a puppy with the 2 year old Australian Shepherd next door. Summer & the heat definitely slow her down a bit & she''s quicker to get cranky (stop biting my ear you goofball... I''m an old lady!

)

It saddens me because while I know I''ll be upset when she''s gone, I know my boyfriend will be a disaster

He''s had her since she was 6 months old when he was just out of college. She has moved to 6 different addresses & 3 states with him, and stood by him all the way.

My parent''s dog was a chocolate lab -- he was 12 when he finally went and he was strong and healthy and every bit the puppy he always was until about the last 6 months when he developed a ton of health problems

You just have to love them while they''re around, give them the best possible home & know that some day they won''t be there anymore

Don''t dwell on it -- just appreciate them while they are here!

hugs to your older guy... he''s beautiful!

 

[TheDoctor]

This little guy is 65 lbs. of 10 year old puppy. Still way too much spring in his step!