Twelve years is a nice life.

[SABELLESMOM]

Last night the exercise park was PACKED! My friend, her Rottie Remington, her Catahula, her 3 kids, my husband, Sable and I went for a nice leisurely walk. It was hot. The trail was very busy and we had many occasions for people to notice the 2 Rotties and 1 Catahula bahaving nicely.

One dear lady and her 2 children (bikes & training wheels) stopped us. With tears in her eyes she asked if they could see our Rotties. They'd recently had to put their boy of 12 long years down.

What a lovely life this dear dog must have had! These were wonderful, intellegent and gentle folk, I can picture having doted on their dog. I'm happy he lived as healthy and long a life as he did, God bless him.

They went on their way smiling and talking about looking for another Rottie, from a rescue perhaps, or maybe a shelter. We were all happy to hear the magic number of "12," though. I know there are some who fortunately live longer, but 12 is good. Generally you hear 8-9, instead.

[frontierrots]

I agree, the national average is 8.5 years. But I have a few oldies here :)

Angelica is 12 1/2 and has bladder cancer (almost 2 years post diagnosis) and she recently got in trouble for stealing my husband's lunch. She is doing well :P

Molly is 11 1/2 and was diagnosed in Feb with squamous cell carcinoma of the upper jaw (given 3-6 months to live) and she is doing great

Elisha just turned 10 and has grade II/VI SAS and she is a spaz

Tune is 8 1/2 and shows no sign of quitting either

Just ask Gretchen (Bostonrott) as she just saw them all yesterday! :)

Oh and we also have a 17 year old Lab mix LOL But a Rottweiler she is not

[SABELLESMOM]

Sounds like you have a very healthy family of Rotties! I'm encouraged. My girl is 2.5 and we have a pup on the way. So our family is still quite young. Jazmine, who lived with us for a while, is 8 now.

Your 17 year old lab mix is testament of her good care. We had a Greyhound/Rhodesian that made it to 16. We put her down after a severe stroke, poor thing. We still miss her, particularly when February rolls around.

I love to hear people who've had their dogs a long time.

[debbiej]

wow! that is a heart warmer. congratulations and to what to you attribute their wonderful long life to? I always want to know when I hear of good full aged dogs. I had a lab that lived to 13, and my old sharpei is 8, which is quite old for them. But I've lost 2 to very fast cancer.

[jakesfostermom]

This is so great to read! 12 years is a good life...and Diane, you have to be the first person I've known of who has that many rotties over 10! My fingers are crossed that we have the same life span with Jake....and the others....we have a rough decision facing us in the next few weeks...our old Dal is 15 + and she's preparing us now.....

Thanks for the warm fuzzy this morning!

[Alaskan]

I had a siberian husky/samoyed mix male dog the size of a large german shepherd that we had to have put to sleep two years ago at the age of 17 YEARS OLD.

I now have a very active, healthy male rottie that will be NINE years old in August. He shows no signs of slowing down yet so I'm hoping he lives into the double digits too.

I also have a giant Alaskan Malamute male that just turned 2 years old and ofcourse still acts like an overgrown puppy.

I know of two people that have had female rotties who lived to be 15 years old in recent years before one had to be put to sleep and the other just died one afternoon on her own.

[Brooke&Ryan]

It is wonderful to hear of Rottweilers living to twelve. If only all of our dogs could be so lucky.....

[toobad]

Originally Posted by Brooke&Ryan

It is wonderful to hear of Rottweilers living to twelve. If only all of our dogs could be so lucky.....

Isn't that the truth

[chivas]

My Chivas lived to be 2 months shy of her 11th birthday. Roxie was somewhere between 10 -12 ( a rescue so we dont know).
My daugther's husband's mother put her 15 yr old male rottie down last year due to a stroke.
My very good friend in Germany just lost her 14 yr old female rottie.

I have a 33lb mixed breed who will be 16 yrs in July. Except for some arthritis, vet said he could VERY WELL see 20!

On the flip side, I know of someone who lost their 3 yr old male rottie to osteo. And about 80% of the people who contact me concerning osteo lose their dogs by the age of 8 yrs.

I dont believe breeding has alot to do with it. With the rotties I have known living to 11-15 yrs, only Chivas had a known pedigree. All the others were rescues and probably BYB.

Kim

[ILoveRotts]

Oh I pray for 12 years.

Especially with my Drakey - who is somewhere around 9. We're waiting to hear if the tumor that was removed from his side is cancer (though I'd be surprised if it wasn't). I pray I get a few more years to spend with him. He is my sole mate! Especially after losing my Rusty at 6 from cancer. It's just too short.