# How old will my collie live for



## johnnyb (Apr 9, 2008)

He is ten and his dad was alive and well at 15, hes just a house dog of good health, its something ive been thinking about for a while now.


..............................
John


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## Debbie (Nov 10, 2007)

Hello to you - knowbody can answer your question - its a bit like " how long is a piece of string "
It is boils down to health etc as to how long he will live for.....he may take after his dad and live till 15 but he may live longer etc......no real answer to that sorry


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## silent_dreamer85 (Mar 10, 2008)

What an awful thing to think about! lol Dont worry about that and enjoy him while he is here!


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## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

My parents have had two border collies average life span is 12 years approx. Shep lived 8 years, Leiba lived 12 years there are exceptions like Shep and the parent of your dog.

Its a question I have asked myself how long will my dog live. He is a SBT their average life span is 10 years approx. I know people with SBT at 15 years.

We could apply the same question to humans it used to be an average life span of 70 years approx now the average has raised.

The question I'd like to know is why is the average life span of a dog only between 10 years to 12 years. I know a dog's metabolism is faster than ours at ratio of approximately 6-7 years. However it is a known fact that captive animals live longer than those living in the wild. I would need to find out the average life span of a wolf to make a comparison.

Truth is dogs don't live long enough.

Sue


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## Vixie (Nov 17, 2007)

I have a 14 year old border collie and the only health issue he has is a bit of arthritis (sp?) in his back legs but not much oh and smelly breath LOL I hope he lives a good many more years but as the the other posts say there is no real way of knowing


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## andrea 35 (Nov 22, 2007)

certain factors can have an afect on a dogs age such as diet so as long as he is getting all he needs he should last a few more years yet , my uncles border collie was about 16 before he past and was in good health till the end he just passed in his sleep for no other reason than it was his time to go .


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## Fade to Grey (Nov 10, 2007)

andrea 35 said:


> my uncles border collie was about 16 before he past and was in good health till the end he just passed in his sleep for no other reason than it was his time to go .


thats the way to go isn't it 
no pain or anything.

in reference to the age question, i ask myself that everyday about tess and she's only three 
nah im joking
its like with humans some of us will go on forever and some of us wont see tomorrow no one knows when its their turn we just don't think about it


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2008)

sskmick said:


> .......why is the average life span of a dog only between 10 years to 12 years. I know a dog's metabolism is faster than ours at ratio of approximately 6-7 years. However it is a known fact that captive animals live longer than those living in the wild. I would need to find out the average life span of a wolf to make a comparison.


The average lifespan of a wild gray wolf is 5-6. So domestic dogs do tend to live longer. 

Wolves are susceptible to the same infections that affect domestic dogs, such as mange, worms, rabies, parvovirus and canine distemper but don't get vaccinations like our domestic dogs which is the main reason they don't live as long.


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## jacko (Apr 16, 2008)

it also depends on the lifestyle of your dog... how you take care of them..


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## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

ajshep1984 said:


> The average lifespan of a wild gray wolf is 5-6. So domestic dogs do tend to live longer.
> 
> Wolves are susceptible to the same infections that affect domestic dogs, such as mange, worms, rabies, parvovirus and canine distemper but don't get vaccinations like our domestic dogs which is the main reason they don't live as long.


That's interesting, I didn't realise how short the Wolf's life span was in the wild, so in comparison domestic dogs do really well. Still not long enough though.

Sue


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## johnnyb (Apr 9, 2008)

Hi Everyone

Billy will be 13 in May, he is strong and very fit, he does have a few fat lumps but apart from that ok.

John


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## nic101 (Jun 8, 2009)

our collie was 13 and looked in perfect health.... within 5 days of finding blood in his wee - we had lost hm. (tumour)...

without that i _know_ he would have gone on for many more years


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## bullet (Jan 25, 2009)

johnnyb said:


> He is ten and his dad was alive and well at 15, hes just a house dog of good health, its something ive been thinking about for a while now.
> 
> ..............................
> John


Our old collie had to be pts at 17, his mind was still willing, but his body started to shut down


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## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

My mum's collie x was 17 when she was PTS.

How old the parents live does not have any indication of how long their offspring will live My William died of bloat last week. He was 6. His mum died exactly a year before aged 13 I think and his dad died almost a year ago he was 14.


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## cavmad (Jan 27, 2009)

Kez my old girl was 17 in jan and is still going strong a bit senile and has to be treated like a pup re house training but still chases the ball and plays with some of the younger dogs.


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## johnnyb (Apr 9, 2008)

cavmad said:


> Kez my old girl was 17 in jan and is still going strong a bit senile and has to be treated like a pup re house training but still chases the ball and plays with some of the younger dogs.


Thats great news,, i do hope my Billy last that long in health


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

My collie died at 12 and my collie cross at 13. Floss, standard poodle is 12 and I think she is the last of the litter still alive, though she is very healthy and they have all died of different things. Her mother died at 12.
I dont think there is a hard and fast rule and there is always people that will say their dog lived to 16 or 17 but I think a medium sized dog probably is doing well at 12 or 13.


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