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In recent years, I hear more and more about dog breeds plagued by inherited diseases leading to very short life spans. What breeds are considered healthier (with dogs living longer), and which are the worst in that respect? I am referring to larger dog breeds such as Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans, Boxers, Cane Corso, Dogue de Bordeaux, Bull Mastiffs, etc? (I heard people claiming that on average Boxers tend to live the shortest life. Is it true?)
Are pit bulls (the average, under 65 lbs) healthier because of a more diverse background?
Another intriguing question is why small breeds live longer? After all, they also suffer from inbreeding...
And last, what about the so called "designer" breeds? Is a "labradoodle" naturally healthier (expected to live longer) then a Labrador or a Poodle?
Start with picking a well-bred dog (of any breed).
Then feed it well and make sure it gets the vet care and exercise it needs.
I agree with the article's stance on not vaccinating more than every 3 years.
I have discussed this with my vet and I refuse to allow my dog to get any more yearly rabies shots.
In my experience, cattle dogs are the longest-lived breed. I'm always hearing about members of this breed that have lived to nearly 20. And they don't tend to have a miserable old age.
Inbreeding, size, structure and owner care all play a role.
Also keep in mind that a longer life is not always a quality life. Some of these smaller dogs you speak of have multiple issues, expensive ones when not and even when bred properly. Mixed breeds can be a good bet but it seems if you can identify the involved breeds as to the health concerns, it is best to avoid a tendency for this or that in all the contributing breeds. I have heard that a lot of labs have serious health problems yet I have seen them on senior adoption listings where they are 14, 15 or even one 17 year old. I would base my choice not on the longevity of a dog but by the health risks that they have. We had a 70 lb. English Shepherd that lived for 13 1/2 years, 12 of those years were as a extremely healthy dog to the max and the most wonderful dog I will probably ever have since these current two...............
Also keep in mind that a longer life is not always a quality life. Some of these smaller dogs you speak of have multiple issues, expensive ones when not and even when bred properly. Mixed breeds can be a good bet but it seems if you can identify the involved breeds as to the health concerns, it is best to avoid a tendency for this or that in all the contributing breeds. I have heard that a lot of labs have serious health problems yet I have seen them on senior adoption listings where they are 14, 15 or even one 17 year old. I would base my choice not on the longevity of a dog but by the health risks that they have. We had a 70 lb. English Shepherd that lived for 13 1/2 years, 12 of those years were as a extremely healthy dog to the max and the most wonderful dog I will probably ever have since these current two...............
Interesting, English Shepherds are quite rare... Do you live in the US?
i think popularity plays a HUGE part in health of breed...
rarer breeds less popular breeds an breds stil primarily use only for their origioanl purpose are generally much healthier than those "adopted" into the pet/popular market.
i think alot of this has to do with natural selection...for exaple true working farm dogs wouldnt be kept around long enough to breed IF they wernt healthy enough to work...lines form long standing lines that have worke multiple geerations on the same farm means that "breeder" (farmer in this example) has been naturally breeing for better dogs, afterall he needs a healthy long lived dog to keep up with the work its bred to do and not need the vet every cople of mnths for a split toe nail or broken this or upset tummy ect...
same goes for breeds tht havent made the "populatiry bus" without the market for these bres breeding is kept low key, theres no rush to "mass produce" a demanded product andso dogs that are used for breding are generally dogs that are proving themselves woth while in the long run.
as a breeds popularity climbs so does demand, like all in emand products those who care more about the $$ signs pick up on this trend buy up stock ad pump out as much product as possible...there not waiting to see if that parent dog is worthy of reprducing, they dont care if it can do the ob t was bred to do or f itll cost its owners a small fortune i health care down the line, all they want is quick production fo the in demand product and when that happens like any mass produced product...QUALITY drops.
this is why doodles and other designer mixes are NOT healthier despite all the "hybrid vigor" bull...
most (if not all) of these designer mutts are being "produced" by "mass production facilities" for the "pet market" (in otherwords, backyard breeders and uppymiss who dont health or temperment test the parents)
while hybrid vigor is a real thing...without KNOWING the breeing stock is the best of the best through the natural selection of breeding only those animals that are able to "keep up" and no medical testing when thats uavailable, the best of the best ARNT being bred...instead its the cheapest of the cheap because places looking to make a profit want the biggest output for the lowest investment.
id say if your looking for a truly "healthy" breed look for a small to medium bred (less stress on the structural and iologocial systems) who are rarer and/or still activly used in their desired feild...
health testing is a great start, and through medical advances lines riddled with issues from bad breeding practices are impriving slowly...
(the doberman is a prime example of a once very healthy breed that i beive due to a sudden suge in popularity a number of years back was almost made etinct by breedes literally forgetting to breed for that "goal" that the origioal dobie was bred for...thankfully due to genetic testing there are some strong advances and returns in some GOOD liens but there still riddled with genetic messes and i doubt well ever have TRULY genetically healthy dobies back)
Rear them naturally. Mine get no vaccines beyond 16 weeks, no flea chemicals. I have done this for multiple generations and have literally had zero allergies or other chronic issues that plague modern dogs. I currently have 2 old dogs that have already lived beyond their breed expectancy, and both still look 5 years old, are active, healthy with zero issues.
That being said, you cannot bypass genetics altogether, but you can certainly help those genes out by not constantly assaulting the dog with chemicals, flea neurotoxins, and vaccinations.
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