Shikoku Lifespan?

Ajax

On the shikoku facebook group there is currently a 17 y/o and 15 y/o Shikoku female. I've also seen a video of a15 y/o male. I don't know if the breed has been in the US long enough for a proper longevity survey, but I'm interested in the average Shikoku lifespan. I find the 10-12 years cited on Wikipedia (plenty of other things wrong with that article) on the low end for a medium sized dog.

Without stirring up too many sad memories, how long have you seen Shikoku live to and what were the causes of death, alternatively how old is your Shikoku?

justin

Would also love input on this as I found the 10-12 years to be pretty low (although 17 seems a bit high).

Crispy

My boy is 10.5 years old - he'll be 11 in November, and he's still going strong. He's happy to hike any day and walk every day. He still tires out my young Kishu boy.

His sire did pass at 11, from unknown causes, in his sleep.
His dam passed on the cusp of 17 or so, though the breeder didn't say what she passed of. I assumed old age, since there was no comment.

I've seen as old as a nearly 20 or newly-20 year old Shikoku on Instagram who just recently passed, too.

For every very elderly dog that we see, though, I think it's important to remember that the 10-12 year life expectancy may be due to some of the tragic losses of the young dogs with neurological conditions and anything else that can cause a premature death.

justin

Thanks for insight @Crispy! So it seems that 10-12 may be a bit premature. Our shibas are 12 & 13 and still going strong so I would think that a shikoku could at least live up until ~15 or so on average.

Calia

Given that the breed is still relatively new outside of Japan, there's probably not enough data of Shikoku passing of old age to give an accurate life span. I've noticed that unless it's a toy breed, if the breed lifespan is unknown then the general guess is around 13 years.