My Girl and I had an unexpected trip to the vet this weekend. She’s ok! Turns out the snazzy new harness I bought her was irritating a skin tag on her elbow. She seemed unperturbed, it wasn’t until I saw she was licking blood away that I realized something was amiss. Needless to say the harness has been thrown out, the vet gave us a cleaning solution and special ointment to treat the area, and I’ve been apologizing profusely ever since. While we were sitting in the vet’s waiting area, an adorable French bulldog came in with her papas. She was a sweet thing, but my goodness did the sound of her breathing permeate the room. The poor baby! And I thought back to French bulldogs being named America’s new favorite breed, and all the comments about the health woes of brachycephalic breeds. Well, the results of a new study make it official, as they found that small, long-nosed dogs live longer:
By a nose: Once size, face shape and sex were taken into account researchers found that overall small, long-nosed female dogs tended to have the longest lifespans among pure breeds, notching up a median of 13.3 years. However, breeds with flat-faces — a trait that has become fashionable in recent years — had a median lifespan of 11.2 years, and a 40% increased risk of shorter lives than dogs with medium-length snouts, such as spaniels.
The interaction of the key features: “Whilst previous research had identified sex, face shape and body size as contributing factors in canine longevity, no one had investigated the interaction between the three or explored the potential link between evolutionary history and lifespan,” said Dr Kirsten McMillan, the first author of the research from the charity Dogs Trust. Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, McMillan and colleagues report how they analysed data from 584,734 pure and crossbred dogs — 284,734 of which had died — gathered from 18 organisations, including rehoming and welfare organisations, breed registries and pet insurance companies.
The results: Taking into account all breeds and crossbreeds, the team found the median canine lifespan was 12.5 years, with female dogs living slightly longer than males. To delve deeper, the team looked at dogs from 155 pure breeds, finding larger dogs tended to have shorter lives than smaller dogs, while the length of a breed’s nose also mattered. Indeed, while miniature dachshunds had a median lifespan of 14 years, the figure was 9.8 years for French bulldogs. Experts have long said that brachycephalic breeds are prone to a plethora of health problems, including breathing difficulties and skin problems.
This was surprising: The team also found the median lifespan for pure breeds was longer than for crossbreeds, at 12.7 years and 12 years respectively, a result that is at odds with the idea that crossbreeds might be healthier because they have greater genetic diversity. However, they were unable to consider different types of crossbreeds, meaning data for dogs of unknown parentage was combined with data from “designer” mixes such as the labradoodle that may have far more inbreeding, potentially muddying the waters.
More data to gather: While the team did not have data on how the dogs died, they hope the study will spur others to unpick the risk factors behind the variations in lifespan. McMillan noted the differences were probably down to a complex mix of biological factors, such as body shape and genetics, as well as environmental factors including diet, exercise and training.
How to use these results: “In general, these results help potential owners, breeders, policymakers, funding bodies, and welfare organisations make informed decisions to improve the welfare of companion dogs,” she said. “But more specifically, I think this provides an opportunity for us to improve the lives of our canine companions. We are identifying groups that desperately need attention, so we can zone in on these populations and work out what the problem is.”
Obviously there are a lot of mitigating factors that play into a dog’s life and health. So while My Girl lucks out with the key factors this study points to (being a girl, small, and bearing the nose of a dachshund), her weight is over what it should be. To the point where if one more person stops to ask if she’s expecting I’m gonna snap, “We’re not pregnant, we’re FAT!!” The kid loves food. She treats our walks like scavenger hunts — a remnant, I think, from the first 1.5 years of her life when she had to fend for herself — and inhales her food bowl when I put it down. And her figure isn’t all bad! She’s very shapely, she’s even been called sexy by our neighbors! It’s just that she could do with a canine tummy tuck. But at this point, she’s about to turn 12. So when the vet tells me to cut back her food portions (which aren’t that large to begin with) my impulse is that I don’t want to make her deprived and miserable, all in the name of extending her life. Quality of life matters for our pups, too, a point I thought the researcher deftly made in her last quote. She didn’t outright say “we need to stop breeding flat-faced dogs,” but she hinted at it in palatable words.
Photos credit: Nataliya Vaitkevich, Damir Mijailovic, WKN, Dominika Roseclay, Zuriel Trej and Sarah Chai on Pexels