There's an urban legend that a human's (homo sapien) year is equivalent to seven dog (Canis lupus familiaris) years, but it is a misconception, different breeds and sizes of dogs have different life spans.
Dogs usually age according to their adult size (often determined by breed): Smaller dogs often live to over 15 years, medium size and larger dogs typically live between 10 to 13 years, and some giant dog breeds such as mastiffs, often only live 7 to 8 years.
Sorted by breed
| Breed |
Exp.
(yrs) |
| Afghan Hound |
12 |
| Airedale Terrier |
11.2 |
| Basset Hound |
12.8 |
| Beagle |
13.3 |
| Bearded Collie |
12.3 |
| Bedlington Terrier |
14.3 |
| Bernese Mountain Dog |
7 |
| Border Collie |
13 |
| Border Terrier |
13.8 |
| Boxer |
10.4 |
| Bull Terrier |
12.9 |
| Bulldog |
6.7 |
| Bullmastiff |
8.6 |
| Cairn Terrier |
13.2 |
| Cavalier King Charles Spaniel |
10.7 |
| Chihuahua |
13 |
| Chow Chow |
13.5 |
| Cocker Spaniel |
12.5 |
| Dachshund |
12.2 |
| Dalmatian |
13 |
| Doberman Pinscher |
9.8 |
|
| Breed |
Exp.
(yrs) |
| English Cocker Spaniel |
11.8 |
| English Setter |
11.2 |
| English Springer Spaniel |
13 |
| English Toy Spaniel |
10.1 |
| Flat-Coated Retriever |
9.5 |
| German Shepherd |
10.3 |
| German Shorthaired Pointer |
12.3 |
| Golden Retrievers |
12 |
| Gordon Setter |
11.3 |
| Great Dane |
8.4 |
| Greyhound |
13.2 |
| Irish Red and White Setter |
12.9 |
| Irish Setter |
11.8 |
| Irish Wolfhound |
6.2 |
| Jack Russell Terrier |
13.6 |
| Labrador Retriever |
12.6 |
| Lurcher |
12.6 |
| Miniature Dachshund |
14.4 |
| Miniature Poodle |
14.8 |
| Random-bred/Mongrel |
13.2 |
| Norfolk Terrier |
10 |
| Old English Sheepdog |
11.8 |
|
| Breed |
Exp.
(yrs) |
| Pekingese |
13.3 |
| Pomeranian |
14.5 |
| Rhodesian Ridgeback |
9.1 |
| Rottweiler |
9.8 |
| Rough Collie |
12.2 |
| Samoyed |
11 |
| Scottish Deerhound |
9.5 |
| Scottish Terrier |
12 |
| Shetland Sheepdog |
13.3 |
| Shih Tzu |
13.4 |
| Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier |
13.2 |
| Staffordshire Bull Terrier |
14 |
| Standard Poodle |
12 |
| Tibetan Terrier |
14.3 |
| Toy Poodle |
14.4 |
| Vizsla |
12.5 |
| Weimaraner |
10 |
| Welsh Corgi |
11.3 |
| Welsh Springer Spaniel |
11.5 |
| West Highland White Terrier |
12.8 |
| Wire Fox Terrier |
13 |
| Yorkshire Terrier |
12.8 |
|
Sorted by life expectancy
Exp.
(yrs) |
Breeds |
| 6 |
Bulldog, Irish Wolfhound |
| 7 |
Bernese Mountain Dog |
| 8 |
Bullmastiff, Great Dane |
| 9 |
Doberman Pinscher, Flat-Coated Retriever, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rottweiler, Scottish Deerhound |
| 10 |
Boxer, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, English Toy Spaniel, German Shepherd, Norfolk Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Weimaraner |
| 11 |
Airedale Terrier, Corgi, English Cocker Spaniel, English Setter, Gordon Setter, Irish Setter, Old English Sheepdog, Samoyed, Welsh Springer Spaniel |
| 12 |
Afghan Hound, Basset Hound, Bearded Collie, Bull Terrier, Cocker Spaniel, Dachshund, German Shorthaired Pointer, Golden Retrievers, Irish Red and White Setter, Labrador Retriever, Lurcher, Rough Collie, Scottish Terrier, Standard Poodle, Viszla, West Highland White Terrier, Yorkshire Terrier |
| 13 |
Beagle, Border Collie, Border Terrier, Cairn Terrier, Chihuahua, Chow Chow, Dalmatian, English Springer Spaniel, Greyhound, Jack Russell Terrier, Pekingese, Random-bred/Mongrel, Shetland Sheepdog, Shih Tzu, Wire Fox Terrier, Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier |
| 14 |
Bedlington Terrier, Miniature Dachshund, Miniature Poodle, Pomeranian, Tibetan Terrier, Toy Poodle, Whippet, |
Source: Michell (1999)
A mongrel has an average life expectancy of 13.2 years in the USA and much of Europe.
Apart from breed, or lack thereof, several other factors can influence life expectancy:
Diet - There is some disagreement as to the ideal diet. The oldest dog on record was Bluey, an Australian Cattle Dog, who died at 29 in 1939. In the 2000s, at least two dogs were still living at 27 or 28 years old, but one was fed a purely vegetarian diet and one fed primarily on kangaroo and emu meat.
According to a study by the British Veterinary Association (author AR Michell, the president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons), spaying and neutering also has an effect: "Neutered bitches lived longest, though entire bitches lived longest of dogs dying of natural causes, with neutered males having the shortest lifespan in each category." Neutering reduces or eliminates the risk of some causes of early death, for example pyometra in bitches, and testicular cancer in males, as well as indirect causes of early death such as accident and euthanasia (intact dogs may roam more and be more aggressive), but also raises the risk of death from other conditions (castration favours prostate cancer in males, and neutered males have the highest rate for this condition).
"The mean age at death (all breeds, all causes) was 11 years one month, but in dogs dying of natural causes it was 12 years eight months. Only 8 per cent of dogs lived beyond 15, and 64 per cent of dogs died of disease or were euthanased as a result of disease. Nearly 16 per cent of deaths were attributed to cancer, twice as many as to heart disease. [...] In neutered males the importance of cancer as a cause of death was similar to heart disease. [...] The results also include breed differences in lifespan, susceptibility to cancer, road accidents and behavioural problems as a cause of euthanasia." |
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