What is the average life expectancy of a labrador retriever

He eats an expensive specially formulated kibble blend. But the most important thing he gets his lots of love and affection. We have a yellow lab who just celebrated her 15th birthday.

She is happy, healthy and spry. Her treats are carrots, apples, etc. We do not feed her table scarps but she has been known to steal boxes of chocolate candy, Christmas bread, platters of cheese etc. Basically she has an iron stomach. However, we keep her weight down to a trim lbs.

At this rate, we are hoping she lives for another 15 years. I hope your girl lives another 15 years too. Thanks for sharing! Our Black Labrador Retriever passed away about a month ago. A few months before he passed we found out he had cancer.

We miss him dearly. Thank you for your condolences. May she rest in peace. Is there anything you would recommend doing that you think has helped your Lab live a long, healthy, and happy life? I think something that has helped him more tho is movement..

Studies show that just a brisk walk improves cognition, I assume its the same for dogs. Thanks for sharing. We used to do three minute walks everyday when our Lab, Stetson was younger. The walks go shorter and less brisk as he got older. He mostly enjoyed getting out and smelling the flowers. Our chocolate lab, Moose is We feed him organic or his tummy gets upset. He gets no table scraps and very few treats. I love my older dogs.

Moose sounds wonderful. I hope you have many more years with him. All the best. I have to agree with Ruth. I am sure the Costco Brand was really a helper towards his health. Purina maybe not so much as it had too many by products and grains. Cooper was 12 years and 3 months old. I would only suggest to all the other owners of labrador retreivers, that they keep the weight managable to about lbs for a Male and for the Females.

The weight on their hind quarters causes disc herniation, especially as the dog becomes senior. I was surprised to find that a Vet who saw my Cooper from 2 months till last year, never commented that he was over weight at 90lbs. I believe that single factor, of not informing me that he was being fed too much, was an oversight by a well respected vet in Chicagoland.

This vet, passed due to Covid in early April. I was somewhat reprimanded by SPAY Illinois, who is a non profit spay neuter vaccination facility, who told me my Lab was 20 lbs overweight. That information was a little late in the game as my pooch was already They were Stern about weight control and proper diet. Thanks to all of you who have commented and I somehow am seeking an answer that comes a little too late for Cooper.

Somehow we all seem to try to find what we did right and what we did not do to protect our beloved dogs. My old girl is nearly Thank you for sharing your secrets to keeping your Lab young and healthy. I am right there with you. My black lab mix has been as heavy as ….

His old vet is dead but always said…he is just a large dog…new vet has not commented on it. As he recommended , I started him on cosequin DS…….. VET says liver.. He is a little incontinent at times…. I think he is having alittle doggy dementia. Kinda sad. Eats Fromm……might have to change that now.. Best to all. She flew through surgery and I got to watch. We walk twice a day and she loves to hunt for small animals with her other friend, our mutt named Bella, and they do it together.

No flea treatments and a large backyard. We use a flea comb. Thrilled to have my beautiful girl who will turn 16 next May! Do you mind telling me about the tumor on her back leg. Doc thinks it spread to lung but I wonder about other things. I have a She has a fatty lump on right side of back leg sort of in the doggy groin area.

She gets around and is on galiprant and cosequin. I am surprised they did surgery on a I am amazed she pulled through being put under,,,my dogs seem like a small baseball.. My Male black lab is almost 12, he is starting to slow down but still lives his walks, people are amazed when I tell them he is almost 12, I do give him cod liver oil and a tramadol every day, he has a mixture of wet and dry food, what ever he wants to be honest, if I put wet food down sometimes he turns around so i put dry food down and he will tuck in, he is spoilt rotten but i dont care :.

My red lab Sunny is 12 on December 31st. The vet said he is the healthiest lab she has ever seen at this age. But does not hike anymore, walk to the park and back does him. I feed him science diet, 1 cup am and pm. Not much human food, unless he pinchrs it! I think the kids have kept him young. He does now sleep a lot and has many bumps and lumps all over him. No cancerous ones. He is due another check up. Just hope we have him for at least another couple of years. My other lab died at 12, due to lymphoma.

Emma, my little yellow Lab is nearly 14 47 lbs enjoys each day. She has arthiritis in her back now so I limit her somewhat she will go like lighting still especilly retreiving She is a very loyal one owner dog. She had total knee surgery TPLO on her one knee when she was 9 months and has had no issues since. This is Donna again letting you know about Summer and how she is doing. Most days she likes to sleep, but she still loves to eat. She now has a accident in the house maybe once ever 3 months due to hard for her to get around like she used to.

She still has spirit and loves us just like we love her. Then there are days you would think she was a pup. She has never been sick and always a great dog and a great friend. I will always love her in my heart forever and remember how great a person she made me! My sweet yellow dog Lawson will be 16 on January 26, He has a little issue with his back legs, our vet has him on joint vitamins.

I hv a chocolate lab tht is al. He would lay on his side. Walking better. We then waited abt a month, and then gave it to him again. And in less than a week he is up, we play, and I know he is feeling better. Today he was jumping around like a pup! I wish you luck with your doggy. Elton clark. My 14 year old Riley who every now and again has unsteady back legs which only was noticed last summer our Vet prescribed 50 mg Deramaxx, it has worked wonders for her. When she hears something she still goes flying to the door to check it out.

I have always kept her trim feeding only Blue Buffalo. She is my companion and hope she has many more years left. She was 11 years and 7 months old and was in severe kidney failure. Seemed to come on quickly.

I had been treating her for hind leg lameness since Sept 8, and she was getting around better with Dasuquin, tramodol, and Rimady. I fed her a home-cooked diet the last year, different high quality kibble before that, and no chemicals on or near her, except for the recent pain meds. I was so upset that her kidneys failed but the vet said it was probably just genetics or age.

She was the best dog and I miss her terribly. My black lab is 17 years old has problems with his back legs but other than that he is very healthy. We only give him dog food and very seldom we give him table food. My first lab was a chocolate named Ben. Great dog and a typical male. He was an escape artist and I spent many hours roaming the block looking for him.

Generally found in some neighbors garbage! He was a rescue at 10 mths and I had him for 12 years. The Program was the flea control of choice back then but he was terribly allergic to the Brewers Yeast in it. If I stayed away from anything with BY he was great. Never did anything special with him diet wise and he got lots of human food both intentionally and stolen lol.

I have a black purebred male and a yellow cross female now. He is 12 and she is They have always gotten mid range food Kirkland, proform, mutt mix whatever is on sale.

I am a firm believer in making sure they have bones to chew regularly and get as much exercise as I can do. We live on a farm so they are out all day, walked morning and night. She has had heart murmurs since a puppy and I was told she would be lucky to make it to 9.

She is in really good shape just starting to slow down. He has pretty bad elbow displaysia, had a large cancer lump removed last year and needs thyroid pills 2x day.

I know neither has a lot of time left but enjoy it while I can. They are my buds and will be sorely missed. Daisy is a She joins me on 4K hill hikes at least days a week. I have always feed her high quality grain free food, pumpkin pure. I adopted my Senor Male Chocolate Daunte when he was already nine years old. He ran away from previous owner and then showed up on my front porch.

The previous owner a young Fellow probably was not into an older Dog who sleeps a lot. I walk him daily a minimum two miles and feed him Kirkland Dog food and Dentix chews for the teeth. McGreevy and his team studied more than 33, Labradors in the UK and found that, across all of them, the most common health conditions were obesity, ear infections, and joint conditions.

The brown-colored dogs, however, had more health problems than the rest. They developed significantly higher incidences of ear infections and skin diseases. Among the chocolate Labs, the prevalence of ear inflammation was twice as high and the pervasiveness of a skin condition called pyo-traumatic dermatitis was four times as common.

All purebred Labradors will inherit several Labrador characteristics that he shares with other Labs. Labradors are pretty lucky in that they inherit a pretty sound body shape.

With nicely proportioned bodies, they are designed well for jumping and running. A Labrador will also not have to deal with breathing issues that result in shortened faces or a small skull that may cause damage to their brains. Temperament is also somewhat controlled by genes. They then, in turn, can pass on these favorable genes to their own puppies. Even though Labradors are a relatively healthy breed, some diseases can influence just how long your Labrador Retriever will live.

And, it also affects how healthy that dog will be during his lifetime. Certain diseases like CNM and hip dysplasia can be tested before you use the dog for breeding. However, other diseases, like cancer, do not have tests available, and Labrador Retrievers tend to be more susceptible to some cancers than other breeds. A dog DNA test can often be revealing in terms of genetic predispositions your dog may have. Like any pedigree dog breed, specific genetic disorders have established themselves within the Labrador Retriever breed, which is largely due to breeding dogs that are closely related.

Typically, a little dog will live longer than a big dog, which is a quirk of nature that is not entirely understood. But the reverse happens when you compare large mammal species like the elephant. For a domesticated dog, having a large size is a bit of a disadvantage. As a large to medium-sized dog, a Labrador will probably not live as long as a Chihuahua. Also, regular preventative care such as booster vaccinations and parasite treatments help keep your dog well. The Longest Living Dogs.

Breed has a part to play. For example, cross-breed dogs live longer than purebreds, but there are exceptions. Breeds with cricket-score life expectancies include poodles, whippets, and Jack Russell terriers. These guys even out-bat the mutts, in terms of how long they live. Sadly, size seems to have an inverse effect on lifespan. Those gentle giants such as the Great Dane, Bernese Mountain dog, Irish wolfhound, and Mastiffs rarely get to double figures.

One theory behind this is that their extended growth in early life to reach those giant sizes uses up a good proportion of their allotted lifespan of cell function. But, how long do Labrador Retrievers live? Well, they are a large breed, rather than a giant dog. No more, no less. Labrador Retrievers are a breed at heightened risk of some hereditary health problems. They then start on a vicious cycle where eating becomes their main pleasure in life. Over time the pounds pile on, which sadly does shorten lifespan.

This is why health testing plays such an important role in extending Labrador Retriever life expectancy and quality of life. Screening schemes exist for hip and elbow dysplasia, PRA and other inheritable conditions.

This enables breeders to use only parent dogs that are free from inheritable conditions for breeding.