You might be reading this article because you want to bring home a Labrador or you want to know more about your Labrador.
Many people want to know about Labrador lifespan. This curiosity exists because they just wanted to know, how long will the doggy friend stay with them.
They have many questions like How long do labradors live? What is the average lifespan of a Labrador? and many more. I will answer all the questions comprehensively in the below article.
Labrador lifespan- How long do labs live
One of my Labs lived for 14 years and the other one passed away at the tender age of 5. There are certain factors that determine your Labrador lifespan.
In spite of the various factors, i can surely say that a healthy labrador can stay with you for a decade. But it is important to consider the factors that determine how long your labrador lives.
The two important factors are Pre-birth factors and Post-birth factors
1. Pre-birth factors
Pre-birth factors are the genetic factors that are inherited and responsible for your lab’s health, its agility, its strength, colour and texture of its coat, the shape of its ears and tail, body size and also its lifespan.
You cannot expect a child to be fully healthy if his parents are unhealthy. The same applies even to your Labrador. Hence genetics play one of the major roles in determining your Labrador lifespan.
Labrador genetics
Genetics play an important role in your lab’s life. Your Labrador breed genetically belongs to the medium to large breed category which has an impact on your lab’s lifespan.
Big dogs have a lesser lifespan when compared to small dogs. Hence this is a limiting factor. In any case, a labrador cannot live as long as a chihuahua.
Mixed breeds or mongrels live longer than pure breeds. The genetic diversity in mixed breeds keeps them genetically healthy and tend to live longer than pure breeds. As a Labrador retriever belongs to the pure breed category this is another limiting factor.
Every dog inherits some favourable and undesirable genetic traits from its parent dogs. Because of inbreeding between dogs that are closely related, Labradors are at a greater risk of inheriting some genetic diseases.
Some of the Genetically inherited diseases are Hip dysplasia, Elbow dysplasia, Progressive Retinal Atrophy(PRA), Centronuclear Myopathy(CNM) and Exercise Intolerance and Collapse(EIC). Proper tests need to be conducted on adult labradors before breeding practice to stop passing on undesirable genes.
2. Post-birth factors
Post-birth factors are the factors that affect your lab after entering this world.
Factors include lifestyle, nutrition habits, diseases that affected your lab, vaccination, activity levels, oral health and environmental factors that cause stress. All these factors play a vital role in determining the average lifespan of your Labrador.
Out of all Pre-birth and Post-birth factors, you need to know regarding the important factors that can have a significant impact on your Labrador lifespan.
Labrador Nutrition
Nutrition plays a major role in shaping your Labrador’s health. Even though your Lab became a member of the family you need to remember the fact that it is an animal. Hence feeding human food out of love towards him will cause harm to him.
It is an animal and it needs to be feed on its diet. Diet care and nourishment need to be taken from its puppy stage in order to improve its lifespan. Check our guide to Proper labrador feeding
Your lab feels like eating all the time and you are tempted to feed him looking at his innocent face. Feeding is not important, feeding the right quality and quantity is important.
I have seen many labs that look chubby and cute, but are they in good health? No. Excess feeding leads to obesity in labradors which is a major common problem. Labradors are more prone to obesity because of their burning appetite. Obesity makes the way for other serious health risks.
A Labrador with the right quality and right quantity of nutrition and a slim waistline will increase the lab’s average lifespan.
Labrador Exercise
Labradors are high-energy breeds that require a lot of exercises. Lack of proper exercise and sedentary lifestyle in labradors causes various health problems and curtails its lifespan.
Exercise is very important to manage its weight and high energy. Many studies indicate that stress due to boredom and lack of exercise will have a significant impact on your Labrador lifespan. For more understanding check out our article on how much exercise does a labrador need
How long do yellow labs live?
Since i have raised yellow labs, i come across this question from many people. What is a yellow lab life expectancy? I tell them that a yellow lab lives for 10- 14 years approximately. Then other questions come into place like, What about chocolate lab lifespan? and black lab lifespan.
The lifespan of your Labrador is not dependent upon its coat colour.
Even though the colour of your labrador coat is genetically determined the risk of genetically inherited diseases is not dependent on its coat colour. Only pre-birth and post-birth factors which i have discussed above will have a profound impact on your labrador lifespan.
A Black Labrador or a Chocolate Labrador has the same lifespan as your Yellow lab with the same amount of proper nutrition, exercise and care.
Lab mix Life expectancy
Lab mix-breeds enjoy a certain amount of genetic hardiness when compared with purebred dogs. The process of mixing two genetic materials enriches the health of the offspring and enhances the lifespan of your dog.
A Labrador mix with proper nutrition, care and exercise can outlive its purebred counterpart by 3-4 years. The oldest labrador mix named Bella lived for 29 years. This is the oldest known labrador.
8 Tips to improve your Lab life expectancy
1. Choose your Labrador from a reputed breeder and make sure that its parents are health tested.
2. It is important to make checks regarding the diseases that can be genetically inherited.
3. Feed high-quality nutritious food for your Lab. I prefer feeding homemade food suitable to its body
4. Stay away from excess commercial foods and treats as they contain preservatives.
5. Maintain your dog’s gut balance.
6. Make sure that your lab is slim by giving him the right quantity of food and prevent obesity.
7. Exercise your lab to keep him mentally and physically active. Physical activity reduces the amount of mental stress and boredom in your lab.
8. Monitor vaccinations properly and make sure that your dog is not given excess and unnecessary vaccinations.
Whatever care taken and nutrition provided your loving Labrador cannot stay with you forever. This fact needs to be accepted. But with all the care and tips said above you can let your lab live its life to the fullest.
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