Which dogs live the longest?

If you want to spend as many years as possible with a dog, you should opt for the Lancashire Heeler breed: It lives to an average age of 15.4 years - making it the longest-lived dog breed on average, as the team writes in "Scientific Reports", according to an analysis by a working group led by Kirsten M. McMillan from the Dogs Trust in London. By contrast, the situation is worse for breeds such as bulldogs, which live for less than ten years.

For their study, the team analysed data from 584,734 British dogs, almost half of which had died. The scientists obtained the figures from dog insurance companies, vets and breeding registers. When analysing the data, they took into account the age, sex and breed of the animals. They then categorised the dogs into small, medium or large animals and also took their head shape into account. The length of the muzzle proved to be particularly important. In total, the data from 155 pedigree dogs and mixes were included.

On average, the dogs lived for 12.5 years, whereby, as with humans, the females lived longer at 12.7 years than the males at 12.3 years. However, the differences were more significant when head shapes and sizes were taken into account. Small breeds with long muzzles fared much better here than medium-sized dog breeds with flat muzzles: The average age was 13.3 and 9.4 years respectively.

Tibetan spaniels, various terriers and dachshunds, among others, lived to a relatively old age, while St Bernards and Pinschers, as well as bulldogs, had rather short lives. On average, Caucasian Ovcharkas, a herding dog breed that, according to the figures, died after an average of 5.4 years, had the shortest lifespan - although they are considered to be robust. However, their behaviour is considered difficult due to poor training, which is why their short life may be linked to factors other than their genes.

Many popular pedigree dogs, of which the twelve most popular varieties made up half of all animals, reach a very high age of more than 13 years. To the surprise of McMillan and Co, purebred animals with an average age of 12.7 years even outperformed the mixed breeds with an average life expectancy of 12.1 years. Previously, it had been assumed that their more diverse genetic make-up could give them better health.

Unsurprisingly, the breeds with depressed noses are short-lived: They are known to frequently suffer from health problems related to their restricted breathing. This probably impairs their sleep, which weakens their immune system and reduces their overall life expectancy. The researchers emphasise that their data is limited to the UK and therefore may not be completely transferable to other countries.

Spectrum of science

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