Flat-faced dog breeds, including French Bulldogs and Pugs, have the shortest life expectancy, a new study has found. According to vets at the Royal Veterinary College, brachycephalic dogs don't live as long due to the increased risk of breathing problems, skin fold infections and spinal disease they face.
The smaller breeds of dogs tend to live the longest. Yorkshire terriers, Chihuahuas, Dachshunds, Toy Poodles and Lhasa Apsos are the breeds who typically live the longest with these averaging a lifespan of up to 20 years. This is much higher than the average lifespan of a dog which is between 10 and 13 years.
Australian Cattle Dogs
Bluey, an Australian cattle dog, entered the Guinness Book of World Records by living to the ripe old age of 29 years and 5 months, setting the record for oldest dog ever.
If you're also wondering about the shortest- and longest-living dog breeds, keep in mind that size can make a difference, too. The gentle Bernese mountain dog, usually between 60–110 pounds, lives an average of seven years, while the feisty Chihuahua, who weighs about 3–6 pounds, might be your pal for up to 18 years.
Also known as the “Ideal Dog Breed,” or the Cava-poo-chon, the Forever Puppy preserves the adorable puppy appearance and size throughout its life. A few of the breeds used to craft the perfect Forever Puppy include Poodle, Cavachon, Cavapoo, Bichon Frise, Cockapoo, and Shih Tzu.
“We conclude that large dogs die young mainly because they age quickly.” Professor Elgar says that a larger dog, because of its size, may put more strain on its physiological processes, meaning they tend to wear out more quickly.
Dogs, in fact, have been known to live over the age of 20 (140 human years), and the oldest dog on record was 29 (or 203 human years). The oldest human, on the other hand, managed to stay around until age 122. 2) A 1-year-old dog is more of an adolescent than a 7-year-old human.
Medium-size dogs align more with the overall average dog lifespan of 10-13 years. But some medium-size dogs can be very long-lived; the oldest dog on record was a Rafeiro do Alentejo named Bobi, who's 30 years old and counting! Medium-size dog lifespans and diseases of concern vary from breed to breed.
1. Maltese. These gorgeous white-haired pups — which first originated from Malta — are known for having a longer life expectancy due to their small size. While they generally live for around 15 years, research by Paw Leaks found that the oldest Maltese dog to have ever lived was 20-years-old.
On average, dogs live for 10-13 years which is roughly equivalent to 60-74 human years, although there is no hard and fast way of working this out.
At 30 years and 266 days old, a Portuguese dog named Bobi was crowned the world's oldest dog ever on February 1, breaking an almost century-old record, per Guinness World Records (GWR). The previous titleholder, an Australian cattle dog named Bluey, was born in 1910 and lived for 29 years and 5 months.
Well, dogs are in possession of faster metabolisms and hearts that work harder than our own. Because of all this extra work, dogs age faster and, consequently, live shorter lives. It also means they grow up more quickly. A dog that's a year old is the equivalent of a human child ready to start school.
The aging profile of dogs varies according to their adult size (often determined by their breed): smaller dogs often live over 15–16 years (no longer than 20 years), medium and large size dogs typically 10 to 20 years, and some giant dog breeds such as mastiffs, often only 7 to 8 years.
According to one tradition, Epimenides of Crete (7th, 6th centuries BC) lived nearly 300 years.
RESULTS. Men aged 92 to 93 had an overall 6.0% chance of surviving to 100 years, whereas the chance for women was 11.4%. Being able to rise without use of hands increased the chance for men to 11.2% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 7.7–14.7) and for women to 22.0% (95% CI = 18.9–25.1).
A 16-year-old dog, depending on his size, is roughly the equivalent of an 80- to 123-year-old person. Like elderly humans, your dog is moving more slowly and sleeping more than he did in his spryer years.
Small dogs are considered senior citizens of the canine community when they reach 11-12 years of age. Their medium-sized friends become seniors at 10 years of age. Their larger-sized colleagues are seniors at 8 years of age. And, finally, their giant-breed counterparts are seniors at 7 years old.
As a general guideline, though, the American Veterinary Medical Association breaks it down like this: 15 human years equals the first year of a medium-sized dog's life. Year two for a dog equals about nine years for a human. And after that, each human year would be approximately five years for a dog.
So a 7-year-old dog would be roughly 62.1 human years old.
Licking is a natural and instinctive behaviour to dogs. For them it's a way of grooming, bonding, and expressing themselves. Your dog may lick you to say they love you, to get your attention, to help soothe themselves if they're stressed, to show empathy or because you taste good to them!
In Dr. Urfer's study, small dogs had a longer median lifespan at 14.95 years, medium-size dogs lived an average of 13.86 years, and large dogs lived 13.38 years.
Small Breed Dogs
Smaller breeds, like the Chihuahua and Maltese, which are popular due to their portability, are considered on average to be less than 20 pounds (9.07 kilograms) and have an average life expectancy of 10 to 15 years.