Curious question I think! Wonder who has the oldest Deerhound on the forum, we have Lana she was 12 on the 31st of March. I would be interested to hear of other oldies out there.
Regards Annette

That is a fine question Annette. My oldest at the moment is a male, nine years. He's looking forward to his tenth birthday in July. Still going strong!

The oldest deerhound I've heard of was 16.

I know he is not on the forum, but I think the oldest Deerhound belonged to Andy and Astrid Anderson, she was 15. Sid might be able to verify this, or correct me if I am wrong.

There was an even older one than Andy and Astrid's Cistean (Astrian Bacaiche)recently - her pet name was Megan, she was reputed to be of Ardkinglas descent and thought to be nearly eighteen when she died last year. She was a rescue, so her age is unconfirmed. What I did notice about her was that she was much smaller than current hounds - only 27" to the shoulder, if memory serves. She certainly looked like an Ardkinglas hound.

That is amazing, though could it be possible she was a Lurcher of Ardkinglas DH descent?

Lurch8252 wrote:


Don't think so - she looks like the genuine article. Have a look in the 2007-8 archives here tighgadhar.blogspot.com/

The KC Deerhound mortality survey quotes, if I remember correctly, a single 16 year old (16 years and 9 months) as oldest, which is an absolute outlier. The ages go up continuously to 15 years plus, then stop, which would correspond with modern experience or expectations.
The very exceptional time we have been informed of a Deerhound older than that magic border of 15 to 16 years, the owners have not been able to prove its age with registration papers, or even if it's a pure Scottish Deerhound.
Its interesting to speculate on the effect size has on dog breeds' longevity or the lack of it - dogs not being the same as elephants of course, thank heavens.

That's right Richard. As I said, the oldest deerhound was 16...and it belonged to Rusty. She told me so herself.

<<She told me so herself.>>

Yes, people tell us all sorts of things.
Is there any proof?

This news of old deerhounds is great, but it all seems to be of dogs that have since passed away, and some with no hard evidence apart from hearsay (some say i'm fat but it's not true!!). With Lana she is still alive and well and living in luxury, something she knew nothing of for the first 7 years of her life, having been a fully working dog with a gamekeeper (no finery there)She also comes with papers tucked under her wing. SO....is there an older deerhound out there? Not pushing up daisies and not fibbing about it's age.
Hi Annette x

This news of old deerhounds is great, but it all seems to be of dogs that have since passed away, and some with no hard evidence apart from hearsay (some say i'm fat but it's not true!!). With Lana she is still alive and well and living in luxury, something she knew nothing of for the first 7 years of her life, having been a fully working dog with a gamekeeper (no finery there)She also comes with papers tucked under her wing. SO....is there an older deerhound out there? Not pushing up daisies and not fibbing about it's age.
Hi Annette x

Richard wrote:


Can you imagine doing the weekly poo-pick in the garden if they were?...

Annette, Our oldest is 12 1/2...her 12th birthday was September 28 2009. She is pictured at www.fernhill.com/whats-ne...-january-2010/. Scroll down....and still going strong.
We have had several 13-14 year olds, males and females, but that was in the 1970s and 1980s. My proudest moment was a litter of 9 where all but one (who died in an accident) made it to 11. Again that was in the 1980s. Hard as we try, and its a huge factor in making breeding decisions as I am convinced that genes are the # 1 factor in longevity, its hard to get that consistency any more. ~Barb

craigy wrote:


Here I go again....sorry but cant help but disagree with you on this...I feel that all information on Deerhounds ages,whether living or dead,factual or anecdotal,of pet,show,or working lives are all of equal merit in order to obtain the full picture of this topic...
Information on dogs of yesteryear would enable us to see trends within the breed as regards longevity,as Richard says,"consistency is hard to acheive" in today's hounds lifespan...so all info would be useful in order to see if this is indeed true....

In 2006/7 we did a survey on longevity which was published in the North American "The Claymore". Anyone who wants a copy of that please ask at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Prior to that, the excellent survey that Dr John Dillberger did for the North American club registered maximum age for both males and females as 14 years, which answers to both experience and expectation. See www.deerhound.org/ Health Issues, Survey, Lifespan.
I suspect that ages of 16+ rely heavily on lapses of memory - this breed is notorious for amnesia
Richard

Richard wrote:


Whoa! I never thought to be sceptical about this information! You may have a point Richard. I certainly didn't demand to see any papers. What cheek that would be!

See I wouldn't be proud of having a really old deerhound myself, because I suspect it would mean the poor thing was feeble beyond belief, toothless, blind, incontinent, etc.

What interests me moreso is the quality of the old dog's life, which I'm sure is a motherhood statement that all would agree with. We know that large breed dogs age out early. These especially old deerhounds are anomalies.

I think , I heard about Rusty's old girl , too - seem to remember that she was Rusty's last homebred deerhound , mus have died about 4 years ago or so - perhaps that helps .

I know the great grandmother of the pups we have here at the moment is alive and well and she's thirteen and a half, which I think is a great age for a Deerhound.

Pam

hairybeasty wrote:


If you had read the 1st question, it asked if anyone had an older deerhound, and was in 'General deerhound chat'. It was not a question asking for 2010 deerhound census, in the 'lets all live by facts and figures' section. Maybe you're looking at the wrong site and need a one where 'fun and interest' are not the order of the day.

Also Lana is fit, healthy and doing very well. no need for the carpet scrub yet

Craig

Hello,

It is very interesting thread.

What is normally older for Deerhound bitches ( 10 years ?)?


Best regards
Joerg and Yoki