Life Span of a BC

[wkumtrider]

I was just curious what the life span of a BC is? My fiance has a BC and I believe he is 10 yrs old. Just curious.

 

Thanks in advance!

[kate40541]

A friend of mine had a female that lived to 16, we had a female that lived to about 16 and my male lived to within 2 weeks of his 15th birthday. Kate is 14 1/2 and doing fine, she retired from actively competing in agility less than a year ago. For the ones I've known 10 is still the prime of life.

 

Suzanne

[aljones]

I don't have any statistics to support this, but I think you'll find quite a few BCs living well into the double-digits. Of the BCs I've had as an adult (my own house pets, not the general-purpose farm dogs of my childhood), I had one make it to 13 1/2, and his half-sister (Kate) will be 13 in April and, although mostly deaf, is otherwise pretty healthy. We think Johnson, a BC mix, will be 11 this year, but he's a rescue whose previous owners weren't sure of his age when they surrendered him to the humane society.

 

I hope your finance's BC has many, many more years to spend with both of you!

[bc friend]

Sara is 15-1/2 and showing signs of slowing down but still has a good quality of life - as shown by digging under two fences in December to go herd a small group of cows w/calves! Her daughter is 12, graying but very active. Most of Sara's female relatives have lived to be -/+ 16; most of the males have died @ 13-14.

[MaggieDog]

My girl Maggie will be 9 in May/June - most people think she's closer to 2yo still. The vet has found no signs of arthritis, her teeth look great, she just had a perfect blood chem panel done a week ago, and the only sign she's getting older is that she's slowed down a bit energy level wise (i.e. she's happy with just one nice walk/day, though she can still go for hours when it comes to hiking and playing with Z). She still competes in agility and serves as a therapy dog. I have no doubt that she'll be around for a long time yet.

[Bo Peep]

Mick- 17 years

Miss Lacey 17 1/2 years

Migraine 15 1/2 years

China 16 1/2 years

 

I had a couple litters out of the Mick/China cross-

I kept in touch with a few though the years, mostly lost contact after 2-3 years.

Darby-UDX 16

Wicket-14-same breeding, same owner- owner died before he did. 15

Vickie- 17

Sioux-Vickie's daughter from only litter- still alive at 13

 

My conclusions, only at best..... believe that medium dogs survive the longest. I just think that if you feed them right give them something to do, and love them- give them something to live for- just like people- they will stay with you. I have never had a dog die on me. I intervened. I "knew" when it was time. No longer the suffering. So. I can't really say HOW long they will last. Only how long they will be happy.

[Skyler]

Most Borders will live into their teens if taken care of, fed well and of course loved like Bo Peep said. It just depends on health factors also. My last BC lived until almost thirteen but fell to pancreatic cancer. He went from completely normal to passing away in my arms within three days. I also agree here with Bo Peep in that intervening is a loving thing. I was going to take him to the vet the next day regardless of the extra test results but he knew I couldnt bare the task at hand and just let go (with my blessing) at home in his favorite spot - my arms.

 

Strangely I later called his breeder to let him know after losing touch about 5 years earlier. He broke down and sobbed over the phone because he lost Tink (Skyler's mother) 3 years earlier to pancreatic cancer. We then both were sobbing. She was also 12 years old and passed away in his arms within three days from being normal. Im trying not to cry now!

 

My suggestion is to have extra testing done when they are older to keep them around as long as possible. The day before he fell ill you would have never known there was a thing wrong with him. Go the extra mile so they can too.

[Pat W.]

We have a male bc that will be 15 in June, he retired from agility at 13.5. He still loves to play agility over 8 & 12 in jumps, tugs ferociously with our 1yr old bc, loves to run with my daughter on her scooter, chases frisbee. He's pretty deaf, can't jump on the bed any more and going down the stairs can be daunting without a human escort. Overall though he's in great condition.

[juliepoudrier]

I have to admit when I read what the OP wrote, my first thought was "I wonder if she's wondering how long before she'll be rid of the dog?" I hope that's not the case, since the replies would indicate that the fiance's dog probably has quite a few good years left!

 

J.

[Debbie Crowder-BaaramuLuke]

Heard someone say once that if a Border Collie made it to two, he'd live forever!

 

Lost my first one at barely nine to IMHA, the next one to a disaster at a trial at age eleven, but his mom is still with me (got her at 4) at 16 years, nine months and three days. I have one girl Beryl, she's eleven. You'd think she was barely 6-7, she's so spry. The rest are 3, 4, 9..and I hope they live forever too.

[luv2napp]

I'm glad to hear so many BC's that are in their early to mid teens. My Katie passed due to Lymphoma, she was turning nine the following week. Broke my heart. Lacee is almost nine now and acts two. I have a great feeling she'll live a good, long life!! God willing.

[Ceredwyn]

My Girlfriend died a month after she turned 11. She had transitional cell carcinoma. She had actually been slowing down for a year or so before that. She had BAD arthritis in her hind legs, but she'd also had a serious injury that predisposed her to that, and the cancer could have been taking its toll long before we knew it was around.

 

Belle is 9 1/2 now, and is much, much bouncier and more youthful than Girlfriend was at that age, despite spending her first 9 years in a puppy mill. She is also quite a bit smaller. God willing and she stays healthy, I'd say she has the potential to be fairly long-lived.

[Liz P]

Ive heard that the actual average life span is somewhere around 11 to 12 yrs old (based on a survey), but obviously some BCs live to be much older and some die much younger. I lost my first BC to cancer at 11 yrs old, but otherwise he had been in excellent health and could have no doubt made it well into his teens. I have read that in people if you can survive your 70s you can expect to live into your 90s. I guess cancers of old age are very common in people 70 to 80 yrs old.

[bc4pack]

My last old guy was a couple of months shy of 15th b'day.

[urge to herd]

Samantha will be 13 in 2 months and is still going strong. A little stiff, hard of hearing, and more inclined to be confused, but still chasing the ball or the frisbee as hard as she can.

 

Shoshone is probably about 12, but we have no way to know for sure. She's got some health issues she's had since we got her, but nothing life threatening. We won't go into the personality quirks at this time.

 

Buzzard Butt is probably going to be 10 sometime in the fall, and he is still able to jump igher than my head, (I'm 5'4") to grab a frisbee or ball. I still get asked if he's a puppy or an adolescent.

 

Ruth n the Bc3

[NorthfieldNick]

My sister's BC is 13 or so, and while she's deaf, and fairly arthritic, she's still a cantankerous, wierd old beast who rules the roost.

 

My friend's BC died at 16 this past fall. He was a stock & trial dog his whole life.

 

Arg... Nick is only 3. I have how many more years to put up with him?! Eh, I love my goofy boy.

[BustopherJones]

According to our vet, a Border Collie who receives proper nutrition and care throughout its life can have a life span in the range of 17 years (plus or minus), barring any other medical problems. Missy (a Border Collie/Belgian Sheepdog mix) is 14 years old, and is still with us despite suffering from cancer (for the last 2 years), Cushing's Disease, and a heart murmur.

[Guest SweetJordan]

Ive heard that the actual average life span is somewhere around 11 to 12 yrs old (based on a survey), but obviously some BCs live to be much older and some die much younger.

Yeah I read that somewhere too. I was actually suprised because I thought it would be higher, but you just never know.

[pammyd]

Interesting

Info about the breed says about 12 years - I am glad it looks like it could be much longer

 

A list I am on is talking about some recarch done on gun dogs, apparently raw fed ones are living an average of 2-4 years longer (I have no info on it tho)

 

So I was wondering

 

Not only what age was your dog but what did you feed it, what size was it and what kind of activity level

 

A quick non scientific bit of recearch - but might be interesting

 

(I agree tho - I think in any critter that love and a reason to live keep em going longer than anything! how many humans make it till that grandkid is born??)

[sea4th]

My Pete boy, my heart dog, lived until 2 days before his 15th birthday. His sire died at 13 and his mother lived past her 18th birthday. I expect Pete's daughter Flick to live at least that long. She'll be 13 this August --

 

A friend of mine's mother lives in England and there is a border collie in her neighborhood who she sees almost everyday walking with her owner. The guy is 40 yrs. old. He got the dog when he was 16. That makes the old girl 24. I've got pictures of her somewhere.

[Skyler]

A friend of mine's mother lives in England and there is a border collie in her neighborhood who she sees almost everyday walking with her owner. The guy is 40 yrs. old. He got the dog when he was 16. That makes the old girl 24. I've got pictures of her somewhere.

 

How wonderful that is! We can all only hope to have our best friends around that long. What a joy that would be and she is still fit enough to walk everyday. Please share those pics!

[sea4th]

Here's the photo she sent me. The old girl is losing her eyesight, but still makes those daily walks. Bless her little heart!!

 

 

[Guest SweetJordan]

She looks very sweet! That's just incredible to me. I'd love to have one of my four legged friends live that long.

Now I'm wondering who holds the world record. I thought it was around 29 but I could be completely wrong.

 

Does this dog live in the country?

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I have a feeling the "average lifespan" figure is skewed. A minority of Border Collies are prone to be lost from accident or catastrophic illness before full maturity. The remainder seem to live into their teens and pass from true old-age disease: loss of heart or kidney function, arthritis, etc.

 

It's like saying the average lifespan in the old Roman world was 35. That implies that the majority of Romans died around 35. In fact many did not live to be adults, then the rest (even the poor) lived into their late sixties to nineties, just like today.

[Liz P]

I have a feeling the "average lifespan" figure is skewed. A minority of Border Collies are prone to be lost from accident or catastrophic illness before full maturity. The remainder seem to live into their teens and pass from true old-age disease: loss of heart or kidney function, arthritis, etc.

 

Asking the average lifespan of a BC is very different from asking how long they can live. If I remember correctly, the survey that said about 11 to 12 years old counted pups who survived to be 8 weeks old and placed in their new homes. Some would have died over the years because of accidents, some from illness or cancer and some would have been PTS by their owners, but others would have lived well into their teens. You have to remember that not everyone is as responsible as you are and that many people are unable or unwilling to treat their dogs for diseases or put the effort into training them. I'll have to do a search and find the survey to see if it said "average" or "median." I think the most accurate picture would come from knowing the median life span of a BC owned by someone actively involved in breed/working clubs (to weed out the least responsible people).