Who lives longer - pure or cross breeds?
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We have been asked this question several times, so decided to do some investigation into it.
From what we have found out, nobody really knows! The information we could find was anecdotal rather than anything scientific.
We did find out that in US, some of the pet medical insurance companies have started to keep statistics about both health and longevity, so hopefully we will have something concrete in the next few years based on these statistics. However, how accurate will these really be? If we bear in mind that not all people can afford pet medical insurance, will we only be looking at the statistics of owners who can afford medical care and high quality food which could contribute to longer lives? If so, then we doubt that the results will be completely accurate, and it would be great is an independent survey could be done.
What is apparent is that smaller breeders, in general, have a longer lifespan than larger dogs.
Why do larger breeds have shorter lives?
According to an article we read by Dr. Ernie Ward, he says "In the April 18 issue of the scientific journal “The American Naturalist,” biologists at Germany’s University of Göttingen explored the relationship between size of dog breeds and life expectancy. Researchers analyzed data on over 56,000 dogs representing 74 breeds that visited North American veterinary teaching hospitals. The scientists found that larger dogs appeared to age at a faster rate than smaller dogs. Interestingly, the research concluded that every increase in 4.4 pounds (2 kg) reduces life expectancy by approximately one month.
That has yet to be definitively determined. Lead researcher Cornelia Kraus has been quoted saying that larger dogs’ lives “seem to unwind in fast motion.” Her research found that bigger breeds died more often from cancer than their tinier canine cousins. Kraus speculates that because large breeds grow faster and age quicker than small breeds, that abnormal cell growth found in cancers would be more likely. Another possibility is that larger dogs start aging at an earlier age, thus developing age-related diseases earlier. Kraus also postulated that larger dogs may simply live riskier or more dangerous lifestyles than dogs carried in handbags, thus leading to earlier mortality.
So it does seem as if the smaller breeds live longer and we would presume this to be true for cross breeds as well, as long as the contributing breeds were also small.
Longest living dogs
According to the well known Guinness World Records, the oldest dog was Bluey, who was a cattle dog and lived on a farm. Blue lived to be 29 and a half years old.
Unofficially, there was Maggie, who lived until 30 - apparently the paper work was lost.
On the cross breed side, both Bella and Max lived far beyond the breed standard longevity.. Perhaps there is something in cross breeds living longer, or perhaps dogs that do have extremely long lives are much like us humans - its all down to the genes! A study on humans from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine looked into 500 people who had lived to be 95 or older and identified common genotypes, rather than lifestyle variable, that caused them to live longer than others - perhaps this also applies to dogs.
Max, mentioned above, was a Beagle/Daxi/Terrier cross and lived to be 29 years and 282 days old. The other dog we mentioned above, Bella, was a Lab Retriever cross (the actual cross not known) adopted from a shelter and she lived to be 29 years of age.
Here are the 10 longest-living dog breeds:
From what we have found out, nobody really knows! The information we could find was anecdotal rather than anything scientific.
We did find out that in US, some of the pet medical insurance companies have started to keep statistics about both health and longevity, so hopefully we will have something concrete in the next few years based on these statistics. However, how accurate will these really be? If we bear in mind that not all people can afford pet medical insurance, will we only be looking at the statistics of owners who can afford medical care and high quality food which could contribute to longer lives? If so, then we doubt that the results will be completely accurate, and it would be great is an independent survey could be done.
What is apparent is that smaller breeders, in general, have a longer lifespan than larger dogs.
Why do larger breeds have shorter lives?
According to an article we read by Dr. Ernie Ward, he says "In the April 18 issue of the scientific journal “The American Naturalist,” biologists at Germany’s University of Göttingen explored the relationship between size of dog breeds and life expectancy. Researchers analyzed data on over 56,000 dogs representing 74 breeds that visited North American veterinary teaching hospitals. The scientists found that larger dogs appeared to age at a faster rate than smaller dogs. Interestingly, the research concluded that every increase in 4.4 pounds (2 kg) reduces life expectancy by approximately one month.
That has yet to be definitively determined. Lead researcher Cornelia Kraus has been quoted saying that larger dogs’ lives “seem to unwind in fast motion.” Her research found that bigger breeds died more often from cancer than their tinier canine cousins. Kraus speculates that because large breeds grow faster and age quicker than small breeds, that abnormal cell growth found in cancers would be more likely. Another possibility is that larger dogs start aging at an earlier age, thus developing age-related diseases earlier. Kraus also postulated that larger dogs may simply live riskier or more dangerous lifestyles than dogs carried in handbags, thus leading to earlier mortality.
So it does seem as if the smaller breeds live longer and we would presume this to be true for cross breeds as well, as long as the contributing breeds were also small.
Longest living dogs
According to the well known Guinness World Records, the oldest dog was Bluey, who was a cattle dog and lived on a farm. Blue lived to be 29 and a half years old.
Unofficially, there was Maggie, who lived until 30 - apparently the paper work was lost.
On the cross breed side, both Bella and Max lived far beyond the breed standard longevity.. Perhaps there is something in cross breeds living longer, or perhaps dogs that do have extremely long lives are much like us humans - its all down to the genes! A study on humans from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine looked into 500 people who had lived to be 95 or older and identified common genotypes, rather than lifestyle variable, that caused them to live longer than others - perhaps this also applies to dogs.
Max, mentioned above, was a Beagle/Daxi/Terrier cross and lived to be 29 years and 282 days old. The other dog we mentioned above, Bella, was a Lab Retriever cross (the actual cross not known) adopted from a shelter and she lived to be 29 years of age.
Here are the 10 longest-living dog breeds:
- Chihuahua - average lifespan 15 - 20 years
- Yorkshire terrier - average lifespan 13 - 16 years
- Toy poodle - average lifespan 12 - 15 years
- Pomeranian - average lifespan 12 - 16 years
- Shih Tzu - average lifespan 10 - 16 years
- Beagle - average lifespan 12 - 15 years
- Australian Sheepdog - average lifespan 12 - 15 years
- Jack Russell terrier - average lifespan 13 - 16 years
- Dachshund - average lifespan 12 - 16 years
- Lhasa Apso - average lifespan 12 - 14 years
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“What breed is he? is often the first question people ask about a dog, but the answer is often terribly inaccurate,” said the author of a new genetic study of shelter dogs.
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