Just curious how old your seniors are?

[LDB158]

Hey everyone! I'm just curious as to how old your senior dogs are and if anyone knows who has the oldest shepherd on the board? And what kind of diets are they on?

Speedy is 6 yo, so I'm not really sure he would be considered a senior yet. He's going gray around his face (getting himself a little grey beard) but is still full of energy.
Sadie is only 2 1/2 yo, still a baby.

I haven't had a senior Shepherd yet, Speedy is 6 yo, but still acts like a giant puppy.

I'm kinda interested in comparing diets to how old your dogs are. I figured the healthier a dog eats, the healthier he is in old age, therefore the longer he lives.

[JKlatsky]

Ike is not super old at almost 8, although he sure does not act like a Senior. Very little gray on his face and energy to wear my younger dogs out When he came to us in December he was on Pedigree LB and in pretty terrible shape. We put him on Natural Balance Fish and have just switched him to TOTW. He's doing well now.

[arycrest]

I don't want to admit that Mac is a senior. He's 9 yrs10 mnths old and very gray. He's currently eating Innova w/some canned EVO 95% beef (or whatever it's called). He takes Dasaquin for his joints.

[Cassidy's Mom]

The oldest senior I've had was Sneaker. She died in 2000 at two days shy of 14-1/2 years old. I know there are members who've had dogs in the 14 year old range and even older, but they're not that common, unfortunately.

We fed Sneaker Science Diet because we thought it was a good food - we didn't know any better back then! Of course, when we got her in 1986, there was nowhere near the amount of great food choices we have now.

[elisabeth_00117]

Beau turned 13 on March 8th of 2010, so she is 13 years and 3 months old.

She was weaned to raw (prey model) when she was about 4-5ish weeks old by the breeder and my parents continued this throughout her life.

I think she looks fantastic (although has extra weight) for her age. She is still spunky and active. She swims weekly at the vet on a water treadmill and goes for 2-4 walks per day for about 20 minutes each way.

Here are some photo's I took of a couple weeks ago (2ish?) at my Grandpa's house:

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/y...May28009-1.jpg

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/y...May28004-1.jpg

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/y...May28002-1.jpg

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/y...May28005-1.jpg

[Trina]

Wow! Beau looks great.

Our last shepherd died at 9 yrs 3 months old. He was on Canidae Senior supplemented with home cooked chicken. He looked excellent with only a little gray around the muzzle and still loved to play, although he had slowed down a bit from the crazy zoomies of his youth to a more stately trot. In fact, the night he passed away, I had been tossing his toy for him for about 1/2 hr - hr ? not sure how long because I was reading a book and it was a very leisurely playtime.

Our shepherd before that died just weeks shy of his tenth birthday. He was on Purina One dry and Pedigree can (this was over ten years ago before we became educated about such things.) But Axel was a beautiful dog with a black shiny coat and still liked to go for long walks.

Currently, our senior at home is our mixed breed Tora, who is 12 1/2 yrs old. She looks great, but has slowed down considerably. She still likes to go for walks, but nothing more strenuous than that. She eats Wellness Core with some home cooked food added (like baked chicken breast or turkey meatloaf.)

Our current GSD is Max who turned four yesterday. He's still basically a kid.

[blord]

Ellie will be 11 next month. We feed her Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato and give her joint supplements. She has almost no gray, but is starting to show her age. She has a harder time getting up and down now, but she still gets those spurts of puppy energy that surprise us all. Love her!

[ruger]

Cody is 10 years and a couple months now. He's really gotten grey the past couple of months and he has pannus which affects his eyes, but he's still happy and loves to go on short walks.

[GROVEBEAUTY]

The two dogs in my avatar are my senior dogs at 9 years 3 months. They are on Canidae senior with some canned mixed in. They also are like puppies and still play with the puppies. A touch of joint problems on cold days, but nothing serious.

[Catori]

My girl Lucky is 13 years old, and still has the mentality of a young pup even when her body doesn't exactly want to cooperate. She still tries to run with the neighbor's 3 year old lab. My poor and silly girl.