Flat-faced dog breeds have lowest life expectancies and terriers live longest, study finds

Flat-faced dog breeds such as French Bulldogs and Pugs have some of the lowest life expectancies, while Jack Russell Terriers and Yorkshire Terriers live the longest, a major new study has found.

Researchers analysed more than 30,000 records of dog deaths from veterinary practices across the UK between 2016 and 2020.

They found that Jack Russell Terriers had the highest life expectancy (12.72 years), followed by Yorkshire Terriers (12.54 years), Border Collies (12.10 years), and Springer Spaniels (11.92 years).

At the other extreme, French Bulldogs had the lowest life expectancy (4.53 years), around three years less than other flat-faced breeds that also lived shorter lives, such as English Bulldogs (7.39 years) and Pugs (7.65 years).

Kendy Tzu-yun Teng, from National Taiwan University, who co-authored the study alongside Dan O'Neill from the Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire, said the findings could help inform dog-lovers when choosing their pets.

She told The Independent: “Breeds with the least life expectancy at age 0 were all flat-faced breeds, such as French Bulldog and Pug.

“Although we have come to understand that the health and welfare of flat-faced breeds are relatively poor compared to other breeds, our result made the case even clearer that owners should ‘stop and think before buying a flat-faced dog’.”

Across all dog breeds, the average life expectancy at age 0 for male dogs was 11.1 years, four months shorter than the estimate for female dogs.

Dogs that had been neutered had a higher life expectancy (11.98 years for females and 11.49 years for males) than those that were not neutered (10.50 years for females and 10.58 years for males).

The authors suggested the increased life expectancy for neutering could possibly reflect more responsible dog owners and better care.

Mr O’Neill said: “Types of dogs with extreme body shapes such as flat-faced dogs lived substantially shorter than dogs with more typical dog-like body shapes.

“This may be due to severe health issues linked with extreme body shapes and suggests that owners should aim to purchase dogs with moderate body shapes to give these animals the best chances of high innate health and long lives.”

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Studies of dog life expectancy have been carried out in Japan and Denmark, but the team behind the latest research said the breed structure of dog populations can vary widely between countries, so international comparisons were not always useful.

For example, on average, Labrador Retrievers lived 14.1 years in Japan, 12.5 years in the UK and 10.5 years in Denmark, they said.

Accurate information about dog life expectancy could help rehoming shelters inform prospective owners about the length of time they can expect to look after the animal, the researchers said.

The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.