Pour les propriétaires de chien, avoir une idée de l’espérance de vie de leur compagnon peut leur permettre de prendre diverses mesures à différentes étapes clés de sa vie (une alimentation différente, une main le queins activité… In good health. Therefore, members of the Royal Veterinary College have come forward to determine the life expectancy of dogs in the UK based on a sample of over 30,000 dogs according to breed, sex and sterilization. The aim of this study is to allow owners ofDevelop realistic expectations of their dogs remaining lifespan by knowing their life expectancyWhich then guides them, in the company of the vets, on the most appropriate medical decisions to make.
18 breeds and 30,563 dogs were studied
In this study, the researchers decided to approach the problem of life expectancy differently from other studies of the same type, in the form of a mortality table. “Rather than providing a single value for life expectancy at death, the life table is a tabulated expression of life expectancy and the probability of dying at different age groups in a given population.‘, in the words of the authors of this study. This format is used for example by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee). It is then possible to follow the probability of death per year and to infer the overall health of the group, this study presents the first-of-its-kind table for British dogs. It used an anonymous VetCompass database and translated the average life expectancy of 18 breeds and crosses after 30,563 dogs of which 47.7% were female and 57.4% were sterilized.
Jack Russell in the lead
According to the results obtained, the average life expectancy at birth of British domestic dogs was 11.23 years, and this figure decreases with age. In fact, the probability of death increased in almost every period of the year (except for the beginning of life). Females maintain a life expectancy of up to 12 years higher than that of males. Then it became identical for both sexes. The study revealed that sterilized dogs had a better average lifespan overall.
Pour les propriétaires de chien, avoir une idée de l’espérance de vie de leur compagnon peut leur permettre de prendre diverses mesures à différentes étapes clés de sa vie (une alimentation différente, une main le queins activité… In good health. Therefore, members of the Royal Veterinary College have come forward to determine the life expectancy of dogs in the UK based on a sample of over 30,000 dogs according to breed, sex and sterilization. The aim of this study is to allow owners ofDevelop realistic expectations of their dogs remaining lifespan by knowing their life expectancyWhich then guides them, in the company of the vets, on the most appropriate medical decisions to make.
18 breeds and 30,563 dogs were studied
In this study, the researchers decided to approach the problem of life expectancy differently from other studies of the same type, in the form of a mortality table. “Rather than providing a single value for life expectancy at death, the life table is a tabulated expression of life expectancy and the probability of dying at different age groups in a given population.‘, in the words of the authors of this study. This format is used for example by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee). It is then possible to follow the probability of death per year and to infer the overall health of the group, this study presents the first-of-its-kind table for British dogs. It used an anonymous VetCompass database and translated the average life expectancy of 18 breeds and crosses after 30,563 dogs of which 47.7% were female and 57.4% were sterilized.
Jack Russell in the lead
According to the results obtained, the average life expectancy at birth of British domestic dogs was 11.23 years, and this figure decreases with age. In fact, the probability of death increased in almost every period of the year (except for the beginning of life). Females maintain a life expectancy of up to 12 years higher than that of males. Then it became identical for both sexes. The study revealed that sterilized dogs had a better average lifespan overall.
The breeds with the best life expectancy at birth were the Jack Russell (12.72 years), Yorkshire (12.54 years), Border Collies (12.10 years) and English Springers (11.92 years). Conversely, the life expectancy of French bulldogs, especially fragile, at birth was only 4.53 years. Small point of semantics: “Life expectancy at birth equals average life“The dog, explains to Science and the future Kendy Tzu-yun Teng, co-author of this study published April 28, 2022 in the journal Scientific Reports. “We have calculated life expectancy for this age (0 years, editor’s note) Using all the dogs that are still alive at that point. Since all dogs in this place are alive at birth, the average life expectancy at that time is the average lifespan of all dogsresearcher notes.
Life expectancy at birth 18 breeds and group of crossbred dogs, United Kingdom (click image to enlarge). Credit: Science et al
Differences by country
This study focuses on dogs in the UK only as life expectancy can vary between countries. Thus, a Labrador lives an average of 14.1 years in Japan versus 12.5 years in the United Kingdom and 10.5 years in Denmark. And what about France? “Life expectancy at birth is somewhat comparable in France, Explanation for Science and the future Dr. Benoit Haydan, a veterinarian and research engineer on the canine genetics team at the Wren Institute of Genetics and Development (CNRS). But with regard to the French Bulldog, in France as in the UK there is a very large variance in longevity, particularly because there are more or less muscular looking dogs. These excessive patterns are to blame for health problems (respiratory, heart, etc.) but their effects can be somewhat limited by surgeries which, in particular, prevent a dog from getting a soft palate too long.. So dogs undergoing surgery tend to live longer.
However, the numbers for this study have a limited range due to canine fashion, which varies between countries. “When the breed is popular, there are many small dogs and a few old dogs. This automatically results in an over-representation of puppies’ mortality because they are more numerous for their age. On the contrary, in a race that declines, life expectancy increases artificiallyDr. notes. Hidan that small or even miniature breeds are found, for example, in Japan more than in the UK.
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 the difference in the culture of the owners and the veterinarian, for example in euthanasia or, conversely, from continuing intensive therapeutic follow-up, such as chemotherapy, Benoit Haydan confirms. Some countries are more intrusive than others in terms of prevention. For example regarding the policy of early sterilization or not, which can affect the health of the animalIt therefore seems difficult to obtain a homogeneous and comprehensive picture of the life expectancy of dogs.