KENNEL TALK

By

Ken M. Blomberg

 

“Dog Longevity”

 

 

 

     We buried another one of our bird dogs last month.  Number two son, Karl had to say goodbye to his first dog, Maddie, a victim of cancer at seven.   After we finished filling the grave, he hung his head and said a few words to himself. 

     “I wish I could have hunted her more,” was all he said to us.

     With such short life spans, it never seems we give back enough, especially when they die early.

     How long do hunting dogs live?  The rule of thumb for gun dogs has always been twelve years, give, or take a couple of years.  At least that’s what I’ve been hearing and saying over the past thirty years. 

     Out of curiosity, a totally unscientific look at my kennel records revealed an average life span of our German Shorthaired Pointers at 11 years.  That accounted for those that died of natural causes at our kennels.  I did not average in several that met early, untimely deaths from other causes.

    Our oldest living shorthair was “Shatze’s Buck”, who was born in February of 1974 and passed away during the deer season of 1989.  He was actually 2 months and 14 days short of his 16^th birthday!  His great-great grandson, “Eau Pleine Buck”, born in 1990, is still hunting well at twelve and a half years old.  Our male shorthairs seem to fair better than the females when it comes to longevity.  They have averaged 15 years.

     My oldest living female was a dog I named “Tina”, who lived to ripe old age of 14 years 8 months.  She was my first female, was never bred and lived in the house most of her life.  Since then, our females haven’t fared so well, with the next eight living an average of 9 years.  The majority of them were used for breeding purposes, averaging 3 litters over their lifespan. 

     So, what do the experts say about gun dog longevity?

     Wisconsinite and nationally known gun dog expert, Dave Duffey, developed “Duffey’s Dog Age Guage” some thirty years ago.  Dismissing the commonly used seven years to one ratio, he relates dog age to stages of maturity.  Up to 8 weeks of age is a dog in its infancy, or equivalent to 1 ½ to 2 human years.  A dog’s childhood lasts up to 8 months, or 2 to 12 human years.  Adolescence in dogs ranges from 10 months to a year, in humans 13 to 16 years.  While humans mature from 21 to 60 years, dogs do so from 2 to 10 years.  Old age in dogs can be considered 11 years and older.  A fifteen-year old dog is the equivalent to a 100-plus year old human.

     Louis L. Vine in his “The Total Dog Book”, sees dogs living an average of 10-12 years, with the small breeds not uncommonly living up to 18 to 20 years.  David Alderton, in “The Dog Care Manual”, says that large dogs typically live 10 years, while smaller breeds live well into their teens.

     The old rule of thumb that for every seven years a human lives, a dog lives one, apparently has biblical roots.  It came from the notion if “man lives three score years and ten”, or 70 years on average and dogs live an average of 10 years, then seven human years equals one canine year.

 

     Winter’s right around the corner.   If you haven’t already prepared, now’s the time to winterize your dog’s sleeping quarters.  Clean, dry bedding and a draft-free doghouse go a long way towards protecting your gun dog from the elements.