Doggone Etiquette—

A Longer Life

By Bardi McLennan

A Word to the Dog:

How long you will live is a topic you dogs never worry about. As far as we humble folk have been able to figure out, dogs do not pay much attention to their future. That is, beyond when you’ll be called for dinner, or how much longer you’ll have to wait for the kids (or your boss) to come home. Thinking about next week and planning for next month is left up to your VIPeople. A certain smell, sight or taste that comes your way can make you remember something that happened in the past that was frightening, fun or clever. But that’s history, not the future. For the most part, your days go from morning walks to meals to playtime (we hope!) until finally the day ends and everybody goes to bed. Wisely, you live contentedly one day at a time.

A Word to the Dog’s Owner:

This subject of canine longevity came up in two books by Ted Kerasote, Merle’s Door — Lessons from a Freethinking Dog and Why Dogs Die Young and What We Can Do About It. He notes that dogs in Europe appear to live longer than those here in the States, which immediately makes one wonder why. It can’t be just the food dogs are given since they are fed pretty much the same basic foods here and over there. Routine vaccines are also the same. It seems the only thing that differs is that we are apt routinely to spay/neuter our dogs, whereas in Europe they do not.

No fully controlled study has been made of any of this, but considering the amount of time and money we spend on the physical well-being and general welfare of our dogs, it would be interesting to find out whether or not it is true and, if so, what it is that does make the difference. Could it possibly be simply that European dogs get more socialization and exercise due to the fact that dogs are allowed almost everywhere with their owners? That’s a possible answer and something Kerasote strongly feels we should be allowed to do.

Relying on spay/neuter would appear to be essential here in the States due in large part to the fact that so many of our shelter dogs come from unknown sources, bringing with them as many unknown genetic health problems. So spay/neuter is not just a matter of preventing unwanted litters of pups, but of eliminating the possibility of future health issues. Altering the male or female, by the way, does not change the dog’s basic temperament. An aggressive male, for example, will remain a challenge whether left intact or not.

Studies on the length of dogs’ lives are probably underway, but it’s good to remember that the dogs themselves are unconcerned about it. Keep up the annual visits to the veterinarian and regardless of your thoughts on routine annual vaccinations, definitely be sure the rabies shot is up-to-date. (It’s an excellent mandatory requirement for licensing Rufus since that dread disease occurs in our area wild animals rather too regularly.)

Your dogs will still be anticipating what comes next in their order of today, especially the good stuff they enjoy, but as far as they’re concerned, next year can take care of itself. As for next month, or summer sunshine, well, that’s what dreams are made of, and we can at least hope that all our dogs do enjoy such dreams regardless of how long they may live.

Until next time — BE GOOD!

—Bardi

Bardi McLennan bred, trained and showed Welsh terriers for 30 years, during which time she wrote a monthly column on canine behavior in Dog Fancy Magazine. In addition to contributing to numerous dog publications, she has written 15 books on dogs, the latest being Rescue Me!, which received the ASPCA Humane Issues Award in 2008.