GSD longevity - Page 1

What is the longest living GSD you have ever owned or bred? I can't seem to get one much past 10. My first died at 7 1/2 from lymphosarcoma, the 2nd a malignant rectal tumor when he was 8, the 3rd 10  years, 4 months, breast cancer.

I have had two females live to 16 years and one male that made it to 14.

One of the veterinarians I went to back in the 80's had a German Shepherd Dog that was 20, one of the other vets in the practice told me that was the age she expected the breed to live to with proper care.

I had a male that was 12 1/2 when he had to be put down , was getting around fine, eating then got over excited one day and had a stroke that left him unable to stand.
Right now I have a female who is even years old today, Happy Birthday, Ajsa ! I plan on doing some retrieving with her in a bit. Been waiting for the sun to get over the hill, it was hot today. Ps,. Besides protection, retrieving is her most favorite activity.:-)

Had a male that was two weeks shy of 14.  Was super healthy all his life.  He was still running 1/2 mile every day behind the ATV with no problem.  Woke up one day and could not get up from lying on his side.

The girl in my sig lived to 14 !/2, and was healthy and active until her last year.

My current male is now 13, and though he's having problems with his hind legs due to arthritis pressing on the nerves, he still likes to play, and has a lot of spunk!  He recovered very well from the bout of labrynthitis he had at Christmas.

Both my old-timers were non-pedigreed rescues.

I let my first girl go when she was diagnosed with, and bleeding out from, a splenic hemangiosarcoma two weeks after her 14th birthday; my second girl made it to 14 years, 4 months and 26 days of age, and her rescued cohort lived to 16 years, 9 months. My present senior is a dog I took in to foster three years ago when he was 5 months shy of his 8th birthday, and he just celebrated his 11th year last month. He has discoid lupus, but so far we've been able to manage it without him needing to be on prednisone, and hopefully our luck with that will hold out. 

In a word, I've been lucky, and I know that, and some of that luck has been financial in nature, too--I've not been forced to make a decision between having to let one of my dogs go or having to go into debt far beyond my means to repay in order to resolve a health issue that could not be merely managed. There have been times in my life when I was in that situation, where coming up with the amount necessary to deal with a bloat and torsion with complications would have been impossible and left me with no other alternative to ending the dog's suffering than to end its life.  But I was lucky in those years, especially, because the dogs I had in those years didn't experience anything that would have taken me to that awful place.  

 

I had a male who lived to 14.  He was on the smaller side, and trim and fit all his life at about 65 lbs.  After him, I had another male who lived to 12 1/2 years.  He was bigger...definitely over the standard height and weighed 100 lbs. when trim and fit.  Both dogs slowed down considerably over the last year of their lives and both started to lose feeling and functionality in their rear legs.  I hope that my current dog, a male, enjoys a long life too.  I have always thought that 10 years is what I expect and every year after is a blessing.

I was chatting with a woman from the UK on FB a few months ago because she posted a picture of a nearly 18 year old GSD. I asked her if he was a fluke or if she knew his lines and/or had others who lived that long. She said she had several GSDs over the years, none related, and the youngest passed away at 16. The others have been 18+. I believe 2 were 18 and one was 19. Naturally, I asked her what the heck she was doing!!! The answer was one meal of kibble with sardines on top, and one meal of tripe. Exercise lightly, not too strenuous, and I don't recall if the shot answer was none ever, or none after puppyhood, but I clearly remember that annual vaccines were not part of their lives. 

Thank you for sharing that info re;  the sardines and the stinky tripe;  I do have to agree regarding the vaccine record but what about rabies.  Of course no annuals  but as the immune spec. vet that Dr. Becker interviewed;  he gave the puppy series of 3 shots I believe int he mid 1970's and none thereafter.  Personally, I like that.  His dogs mostly live to older ages 14, etc.  Nan