For dog owners, having an idea of the life expectancy of their companion can allow them to take various measures at different key stages of its life (a different diet, less sustained physical activity, etc.) in order to maintain it. in good health. Members of the Royal Veterinary College have therefore applied themselves to defining the life expectancy of dogs in the United Kingdom based on a sample of more than 30,000 canids according to breed, sex and sterilization. The objective of such a study is to allow the owners of “develop realistic expectations for the typical remaining lifespan of their dogs through knowledge of life expectancy“. Which then guides them, in the company of veterinarians, on the most appropriate medical decisions to be made.
18 breeds and 30,563 dogs studied
For this study, the researchers decided to approach the problem of life expectancy differently from other studies of the same kind, in the form of a mortality table. “Instead of offering a single value for the mean age at death, a life table is a tabulated expression of life expectancy and probability of death at different age groups in a given population.“, in the words of the authors of this study. This format is for example used by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee). It is then possible to follow, for each age, the probability of death in the year and to infer the overall health of the group. This study provides the first table of its kind for British dogs. It uses the anonymised VetCompass database and translates the life expectancy of 18 breeds and crosses from after 30,563 canines of which 47.7% were females and 57.4% were sterilized.
The Jack Russell in the lead
According to the results obtained, the life expectancy at birth for British pet dogs was 11.23 years, and this figure decreased with age. Indeed, the probability of death at each interval of year increased almost systematically (except at the very beginning of life). The females keep up to 12 years a life expectancy higher than that of the males. Then, it became identical for both sexes. The study reveals that sterilized dogs had an overall better life expectancy.
For dog owners, having an idea of the life expectancy of their companion can allow them to take various measures at different key stages of its life (a different diet, less sustained physical activity, etc.) in order to maintain it. in good health. Members of the Royal Veterinary College have therefore applied themselves to defining the life expectancy of dogs in the United Kingdom based on a sample of more than 30,000 canids according to breed, sex and sterilization. The objective of such a study is to allow the owners of “develop realistic expectations for the typical remaining lifespan of their dogs through knowledge of life expectancy“. Which then guides them, in the company of veterinarians, on the most appropriate medical decisions to be made.
18 breeds and 30,563 dogs studied
For this study, the researchers decided to approach the problem of life expectancy differently from other studies of the same kind, in the form of a mortality table. “Instead of offering a single value for the mean age at death, a life table is a tabulated expression of life expectancy and probability of death at different age groups in a given population.“, in the words of the authors of this study. This format is for example used by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee). It is then possible to follow, for each age, the probability of death in the year and to infer the overall health of the group. This study provides the first table of its kind for British dogs. It uses the anonymised VetCompass database and translates the life expectancy of 18 breeds and crosses from after 30,563 canines of which 47.7% were females and 57.4% were sterilized.
The Jack Russell in the lead
According to the results obtained, the life expectancy at birth for British pet dogs was 11.23 years, and this figure decreased with age. Indeed, the probability of death at each interval of year increased almost systematically (except at the very beginning of life). The females keep up to 12 years a life expectancy higher than that of the males. Then, it became identical for both sexes. The study reveals that sterilized dogs had an overall better life expectancy.
The breeds that had the best life expectancy at birth were Jack Russells (12.72 years), Yorkshires (12.54 years), Border Collies (12.10 years) and English Springers (11.92 years). ). Conversely, French Bulldogs, particularly fragile, had a life expectancy at birth of only 4.53 years. Small point of semantics: “life expectancy at birth equals average lifespan“of the dog, explains to Science and Future Kendy Tzu-yun Teng, co-author of this study published on April 28, 2022 in the journal Scientific Reports. “We have calculated the life expectancy for this age (0 year, editor’s note) using all dogs that are still alive up to that point. As all dogs in this setting are alive at birth, the life expectancy at that time corresponds to the average lifespan of all dogs“, remarks the researcher.
Life expectancy at birth of 18 breeds and a set of crossbred dogs, UK (click image to enlarge). Credit: Sciences et Avenir
Differences by country
This study is only focused on UK dogs as the average life expectancy may differ between countries. Thus, a Labrador lives on average 14.1 years in Japan against 12.5 years in the United Kingdom and 10.5 years in Denmark. And in France ? “Life expectancy at birth is fairly comparable in France, explain to Science and Future Dr. Benoît Hédan, veterinarian and research engineer in the dog genetics team at the Rennes Institute of Genetics & Development (CNRS). But concerning the French Bulldog, in France as in the United Kingdom, there is a very great heterogeneity of longevity, in particular due to the existence of more or less brachycephalic dogs. These hypertypes are responsible for health problems (respiratory, cardiac, etc.) but their effects can be limited to a certain extent by surgical operations which, in particular, prevent the dog from having too long a soft palate.. Operated dogs therefore tend to live longer.
However, the figures of this study have a limited scope because of canine fashions, which vary between countries. “When a breed is popular, then there are many young dogs and few old ones. This automatically results in an over-representation of the mortality of young dogs because they are more numerous at their age. Conversely, in a race in decline, the life expectancy increases artificially“, notes Dr. Hédan. Small or even miniature breeds are, for example, more present in Japan than in the United Kingdom.
However, even within the same breeds, the life expectancy of dogs in Japan is higher than in the UK. “These differences between countries can come from a difference in culture of the owners and the veterinarian, for example on euthanasia or on the contrary, on the continuation of a heavy therapeutic follow-up, such as chemotherapy, emphasizes Benoît Hédan. And some countries are more interventionist than others in terms of prevention. For example on the policy of early sterilization or not, which can affect the health of the animal“. Obtaining a homogeneous and global picture of the life expectancy of dogs therefore seems difficult.