How old does .......

[elaine.e]

Josh was 16 years and 51 weeks when he died. I had hoped to get him past his 17th birthday, but it wasn't to be as he became very sleepy and floppy one night and was PTS the following morning. It was just down to old age and his whole system shutting down.

My lovely Sam wasn't quite 11 when I lost him 9 years ago and it still breaks my heart to think about it. It was all very sudden and the last few days of his life were painful for him before he was properly diagnosed and I made the decision to let him go  .

Losing Josh was actually easier because he was so very old and I'd been expecting it for a long time. I cried buckets on the day but then I was pretty much OK and just remembered all the good times.

[Carol09]

There does seem to be a wide span of ages till they part from us.  We do well with pets, our hamster was nearly 3 (not bad for a dwarf that should only last 2 yrs max), and we currently have 2 cats one female who is 17 and one boy who is 14 and definitly no signs of getting old.  Hoping Jay is with us as long.

[I love cockers]

My Blue is 11 and over the last 12 months I think she has really aged - before she was 10 we hardly ever visited the vets and people often used to think she was a puppy when i said she was 8 /9 - they always thought i was meaning months rather than years.

[black taz]

dont even want to think about loosing either of my two.  Kelly is 13 this week, she is a border collie cross so i am hoping to have her for a long while yet.  She has slowed down this year, but still loves her walks and otherwise fit and healthy.

[waggytails]

Millie is 14 years and 4 months, we had a close call last November when she got a respiratory infection, but she is doing well at the moment.  I used to set goals in my head, if i could get her to 12 and then 13 and now she is 14 I'm not setting any more goals just counting my blessings every day.

[Ainslie]

Oh my goodness, this thread is so sad.  Our Ainslie is only 7mths old and I think of him as getting old and grey along with us, but that doesnt happen    How sad.

[KatieJean]

We are on our 6th and 7th cockers but they are only just over a year old.
We lost our others between 10 and 13 1/2. All too young, But a lot luckier than many people have been.

[Lily Freya]

We lost our fist cocker, Lily, at 9 years 8 months....... and, we honestly thought she would live much, much longer.

We had a cat, before ever having dogs, and it lived until it was 19....................  How I wish Lily could have lived that long. xx

[julesph]

I must agree with ladylola that we should enjoy every minute of time with our dogs because in truth we never really know do we?  I lost my lovely Springer boy Bracken at what we think was 12/13 years last year but like another poster's dog, he had been badly abused as a young man and we did not get him until he was about 9 or so. It was a gradual decline and we were expecting it and so we were as prepared as you can be.  However, in March we lost our beautiful Springer Lucy who was just 8 and who we thought we would have for may years to come.  It was sudden and horrible and the pain was worse because it was so very unexpected.

We have 4 Spaniels now - 2 Cockers and 2 Springers and we make sure that we cherish the time that we have with them.  I hope that they live long and happy lives and that when it is their time to leave us, it feels 'right'  because it is old age and they are ready.  I too think that the average age for both breeds is about what people have been saying here - 12-14 years.

[chanellie]

Makes me rather annoyed when they talk about "an old dog" and it is 6yrs old, "mature" maybe but saying old will make people think it could be on its last legs and I feel could loose a lot of dogs the chance of years in a good home.
Molly has promised me she s going to live for ever

[dog22]

I suppose we never quite know how long we have with our beloved babies.I had a heinz dog aged 11 when i got her and she lived to 16/12.A bonus.When I got Benji he was 3/12.I always thought he woud go to at least 14 and then suddenly he got pancreatitis.I read up on it and it said that he would have a 50/50 chance and so I thought he would be fine.He died aged 11.That was unexpected.Whatever time we have with them is wonderful.We shouldnt get hung up on how long they will live.They are here with us.We take each day as it comes and feel glad they are sharing it with us.I feel I could have given Benji more time with us and feel guilty about it,but it was clearly his time and he knew that and accepted it gracefully....what a dog.If you have them for a day or several years they know love and share that love with you and you miss them so much when they do go.Sorry to go on.

[Lily Freya]

I suppose we never quite know how long we have with our beloved babies.I had a heinz dog aged 11 when i got her and she lived to 16/12.A bonus.When I got Benji he was 3/12.I always thought he woud go to at least 14 and then suddenly he got pancreatitis.I read up on it and it said that he would have a 50/50 chance and so I thought he would be fine.He died aged 11.That was unexpected.Whatever time we have with them is wonderful.We shouldnt get hung up on how long they will live.They are here with us.We take each day as it comes and feel glad they are sharing it with us.I feel I could have given Benji more time with us and feel guilty about it,but it was clearly his time and he knew that and accepted it gracefully....what a dog.If you have them for a day or several years they know love and share that love with you and you miss them so much when they do go.Sorry to go on.

You are not going on at all...........you have said what most of us would say.....we are just so lucky to have had them in our lives.