How Long do Bichons Live? – Bichon Frise Life Span!

Hi, my name’s Irena and I live on the beautiful island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea.

I have a wonderful dog called Sherlock and three cats, Hammie, Dimitris and Ebony.

Today I’m going to talk about the lifespan of Bichon Frises.

What are Bichon Frises?

Bichon Frises are small dogs with a white powder puff appearance. They have a double coat. The undercoat is soft and dense, and the outer coat is curly.

They are friendly and agile dogs who don’t like to be left alone for too long and who like to play.

If you have children, they are ideal pets as they enjoy both going for a walk and playing with a ball in the yard.

Bichon Frises enjoy performing and they respond well to training, but it is best to train them with positive reinforcement and not harsh tactics.

Give them a treat if they do well and they’ll continue to enjoy their training.

Take them to an obedience class and they will love it. Make sure that you train them to come when called as they love to run.

How Long do Bichons Live?

If you are thinking of getting Bichons you need to know their life span.

There are many factors that affect their longevity, including their breed, size, and general health. So how long do Bichons live?

Generally, the lifespan of Bichon Frises is 12 to 15 years. Like most small dogs they have a longer lifespan than larger dogs.

Life stages of Bichon Frises

Bichon Frises are puppies until they are around one year of age when they are considered to be fully grown dogs.

Small dogs like a Bichon Frises aren’t senior dogs until they are around 10 to 12 years of age.

How to Ensure a Happy and Healthy Life for a Bichon

Illnesses and Ailments

A Bichon FriseThe most important thing to do to ensure that your Bichons have a long life is to ensure that they are healthy.

You need to visit your vet when you adopt them and work out an immunization schedule.

Some dogs might be sensitive to some of these vaccines so keep an eye on your pups after they have had their injections and visit your vet if they have any ill effects.

Bichons can suffer from some genetic diseases such as bladder troubles, allergies, and hip dysplasia. It’s a good idea to take your dogs to the vet for check-ups.

Look up the symptoms of any potential diseases and keep an eye on your dogs.

If you discover the disease earlier, you can hopefully treat it or slow down the progression of it.

With reference to the eyes, Bichons can suffer from eye problems such as eyelids and lashes which turn inwards causing irritation to the eyes.

If you do find this problem, use a warm cloth to wipe away any discharge from the eyes. If this doesn’t help you will need to visit your vet.

Finally, you will need to keep an eye on their teeth. Dogs can start suffering from tooth related diseases from as early as 3 years old and you don’t want your Bichons suffering.

Brush their teeth regularly, at least twice a week. It is best to go to your vet to buy a toothbrush and toothpaste specifically designed for dogs.

Bichons can suffer from tooth-related health issues such as early tooth loss and gingivitis, so it is important to keep on top of this.

If you have difficulties brushing their teeth seek professional help. After all, it isn’t that easy to do.

Diet and Exercise

Feed your Bichons a high-quality diet that is full of protein, vitamins, and omega fatty acids.

Cheap dog food can contain empty fillers like wheat, corn, and soy which have no nutritional value whatsoever.

Check their weight regularly by running your hands over their sides and feeling for their ribs.

You should be able to feel them so if you can’t, your dogs are overweight, and you will have to reduce the amount of food they eat.

To ensure a long life, exercise your Bichons every day. They are very active dogs so give them toys to play with while they are indoors.

It’s great if you have a yard for them to play in with you. If you leave them alone outside, make sure that the yard has a secure fence around it.

Bichons love children and get on well with other pets so playtime will be fun for them.

They do get miserable if they are left alone for a long time, so they’re not the best dogs to get if everybody in the family is out all day.

Grooming

It is a good idea to brush your Bichons every day as that will stop their fur from tangling and mats from forming.

The legs need attention as your Bichons tend to lick and chew their legs.

The best tool to use is a pin brush with which you should brush upwards. End with a slicker brush so that you can remove as much of the natural curl as possible.

Check the nails and eyes of your Bichons often, at least once a fortnight. Every 2 weeks you need to trim their nails.

If you don’t feel confident doing this, like me, take them to a groomer.

Final Thoughts: How Long do Bichons Live

A Bichon FriseYou will be very lucky to own Bichon Frises as they are very gentle and loving dogs. They live for a long time for dogs as do most small breeds.

To make sure that they do achieve a long-life span take them to the vet often to make sure that they are healthy and to have their vaccinations.

Give them good quality food, exercise them regularly, clean their teeth, trim their nails and groom them.

If you do all these things you should ensure that your dogs live a longer life which is what you want.

Dogs don’t live as long as people so you are going to experience heartbreak as I have done and I’m sure that many of you reading this have gone through this as well so the best thing we can do is do our best to keep our dogs alive for as long as possible.

Thank you for reading how long do Bichons live, have a great day!