Dogs Ages- A question ?

At what age do you consider a dog still to be a youngster , when do they become middle aged and what constitutes an oldie ?

There are probably some stats related to this but just generally ? and also I know some dogs are forever young at heart like us humans !

I think Axel is young at 4 and a half, I don't think he'll be middle aged until about 6-7. It's probably generally counted to be when they slow down a little big...then oldie's for me are 10+...unless a giant breed, then I'd say 8+. Just my thoughts

Going from my own breed, I'd say Collies can be young till after 4, something seems to click after that and they can become middle mature aged around 4/5 (not all though ) but thats been my experience

Old age with Collies that I have had tend to come from 14 upwards

I think it depends on the breed and the individual dog.
Kyiro was only 4 in October but he has behaved like a 90 year old since I got him when he was just 3.
Some breeds don't live s long as other breeds too so they usually age much quicker.

Ollies breed are considred middle aged by 4 and old at 6.

Ollie has become old in our eyes now since he became unwell 41/2 but other bernese we have met have been older and full of the joys of spring it must all depend on health as much as anything else I suppose much like us humans

Try telling my 11yr old collie she is getting on

I think it really depends on the breed, large breeds are going to get old alot quicker than small breeds.

My 12 year old Border Collie has just started flyball and he's really enjoying it, so he's not old. My 15 year old Border Collie has showed signs of getting old in the last year, so I'd say they are old from about 14 years old.

My 5 year old Border Collie seems to be quite sane and sensible along side her 10 month old daughter, they do seem to settle down between 3-4 years old, so I'd say that's when they become middle aged.

My Kerry Blues are aged 9 and 10 and haven't "aged" in the sense of slowing down it seems!

We still go for an hour and a half long walk sometimes which they have no problems keeping up and certainly never lag behind! Parker can run like the wind off his lead and they both still like playing with toys.

This is why I wouldn't personally want a giant breed-they do age much quicker than some dogs. My manager had a Newfie that she lost at 6 as had to be put to sleep with bone cancer. Couldn't do with losing a dog at such a young age and they do tend to only live to about 8 I have been told.

My two have just turned 4 and have certainly matured a lot in the past year I think - but they're still playful and full of energy. I'd call them young adults rather than adolescents, but not quite middle aged yet!

I don't consider any dogs to be 'old' Once you get into that mind set you start making different decisions about them and what their needs are. Fine if they have a physical problem but not otherwise.

My older dogs get the same running etc that the younger ones do ---within reason if they have physical problems.

Numbers of time I have met people on a ploddy walk with an overrweight dog and been told it is very old----usually turns out to be anything between 8 and 12. Because they think it is old it has become old.

It is a soapbox of mine---sorry!

rune