How long do dogs live? Can we make dogs live longer? How can we extend a dog’s life? Let’s find answers to all these questions and more.

If your dog is getting older, you might definitely want to improve your dog’s life expectancy. Dogs have always been the man’s best friend and seeing the innocent lives leave, is one of the hardest experiences which no one can prepare us for.

If adding a few years to your dog’s life had been possible, we know, you would have given a few from yours so that they did not have to leave you ever. However, since that is not possible, we can only try and take care of them properly and look for better ways to make the dog live longer.

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The lifespan of dogs varies as per their breed and also depends on their genetics. However, with proper care, medical attention and oodles of love you can definitely hold their paws for a few extended years than average.

Hence, if you are looking for a list of things to do to help a dog live longer, we have got your back!

Ways to Make Your Dog Live Longer

1. Keep the Calories Intermediate

Unlocking the secrets of the World’s longest living dog, a moderate calorie diet and thorough exercise is the key to a healthy and happy life. Max, the World Record Holder dachshund had died at 29 years of age, surpassing the average 12 to 15 years of life expectancy.

As per the owners, Max was provided with healthy home-cooked foods mostly. The calorie intake depends directly on the breed of the dog and should be regulated as per the vet’s instruction.

However, to help your dog live a long and happy life, try to avoid sugary products, by-products of meat, canned food products with over-the-brim fillers and preservatives and try to keep the diet as natural as possible.

Dog foods that extend life comprises of green, leafy vegetables which suit their health. Though they can be fussy while having them, it is the responsibility of the owner to feed them with love!

2. Care for Their Health (Physical and Mental)

Both physical and mental health is the second secret to extending a dog’s life. Regular exercise and a healthy mind are both interconnected in certain ways. Just like humans, exercising in dogs keeps their metabolism rate to normal, helps them burn extra calories, and keeps them fit for the long run.

For this, many owners also buy doggy treadmills to help the dogs exercise even on days when they cannot go out to exercise. Just the same way, an active dog is known to be happier from within, and has a healthy mind.

A dog that is bored and not attended to will tend to be saggier and more depressed which decreases their lifespan by a number of years. However, to prolong your dog’s life, you need to cater to both its physical and mental needs.

Read: Important Tips on How to Travel with Your Dog

3. Hygiene and Grooming

It is often said that “the longest living dog was the healthiest of them all.” While this is true, it all comes down to the parents how they take care of their fur-babies.

One should regularly brush their dogs in order to keep fleas and mites at bay. Regular brushing helps in better blood circulation and prevents any chances of tumors or lesions and also helps in better heart health.

Apart from that, the owners should mandatorily groom their dogs to increase the average lifespan of a dog. Besides, special care needs to be taken for oral and dental hygiene as these are the den for bacteria brooding. The accumulation of plaque causes bacteria build-up and thus makes them fall sick easily thereby reducing their lifespan.

Even the longest living dog breeds need to be taken care of, to have an extended dog life.

4. Obey the Vet

Of all the people, the vet knows best what should be done to help your dog live a long and healthy life. Thus, the dogs should be made to visit the veterinarian in case of any abnormal behavior or change in their diet.

In most cases, the treatments for the furbies get unduly delayed because of the absence of any proper symptom. Although normally the dogs may behave a bit moody, yet sudden and persistent changes should be reported to the vets immediately.

Most dogs don’t live long enough because of the undetected worm infestation and thus tend to get sick more often. However, since visiting the doc everyday is never possible, thorough checking for any possible symptom is one of the best tips to increase your dog’s lifespan.

Over-vaccination can never increase the life of a dog and thus, no dog owner should indulge into one. Every breed has a certain requirement and every owner should respect and stick to the necessary only.

5. Provide them with Supplements

One of the best tips to help your dog live longer is to provide them necessary supplements, of course on the vet’s recommendation. Several supplements are available in the market which keeps diseases and worm infestation at bay.

Supplements to prevent cancer have also risen in popularity because these rightly make your dog live longer. Apart from that, some of the necessary supplements to help your dog live a long and healthy life comprises of- glucosamine, omega fatty acids, antioxidants, probiotics.

The omega fatty acids are required for a proper functioning of heart and keep the joint problems at bay for longer period of time. Besides, the antioxidants prevent the formation of free radicals and maintains normal body metabolism. The probiotics helps in providing good helpful bacteria build-up and glucosamine prevents joint inflammation.

Also See: Ways to Get Rid of Fleas on Dogs

Wrap Up – Increase Your Dog’s Lifespan

Hoping for our dog’s long life is not a crime, after all, they are the best friends we need in life. Since it is not possible to have them throughout our lives, we can at least do something to extend a dog’s life a little more than average.