Dog; a Man’s Best Friend: How long do they live?

Dogs are the oldest domestic animals, and their bond with humans over time has shown us immense love and loyalty. The mere word ‘dog’, brings to our mind the sense and images of the purest form of love, happiness, protectiveness, care loyalty, and companionship.  Dogs, over the time have known to be Man’s Best Friend.

Dogs come in different sizes and are capable of various senses, intelligence, communication and different behaviors.

A Dog breed is a set of dogs similar in the form of size, coat color, and behavior. There are over 400 dog breeds recognized in the world today – they are classified into pure breeds, mixed breeds, cross breeds and natural breeds.

So, how long do dogs live? The difference in breeds results in different life expectancies for different dogs.

The life span of dogs:

Despite the human desire, the life span of a dog doesn’t last a human lifetime.
The life span of a dog extends to 10-13 years on an average. However, the life expectancy of dogs varies with the kinds of breeds, the gender of the dog, or most importantly the size of the dog (height and weight).

Mixed breeds, on an average live 1.2 years longer than pure breeds. While on the other hand, Bigger or heavier dogs live less than smaller dogs, because larger dogs grow big very fast and the bodies of larger dogs work harder than the smaller dogs. The small breeds live up to 12 to 14 years while the larger breeds or giant breeds live up to 5-10 years.

Based on several researches, Female dogs enjoy longer lives than Male dogs (2 years longer on the average).

But there are several other influencing factors like diet, exercise, life style, hygiene that have a huge impact on the life span of the dogs. Always keep the information of “veterinarian near me” handy.

Love Them Little Longer

There is no guarantee for how long a dog can live but for the love they share, here are some tips:

1. You can help them living little more by giving them a healthy diet, as it said dogs that eat less live longer.
2. You can make them exercise to have a healthy body which can boost up their energy level.
3. Last but not the least , always remember each and every word of the doctor regarding your dog.