What is the average life expectancy of a dog?
Devin Donnelly
2025-08-04 14:22:56
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On average, companion dogs live for 12.5 years. Across all purebred dogs, median life expectancy was 12.7 years. This was slightly shorter for crossbred dogs at 12.0 years.
The study reports life expectancy for 155 breeds. Body size plays a role in longevity. Small and medium-sized breeds were found to live longer, with lifespans of 12.7 and 12.5 years, respectively. Large-sized breeds were found to have a 20% increased risk of shortened lifespan at 11.9 years. Female dogs were found to live longer than male dogs, with females living 12.7 years and males living 12.4 years.
Lurline Osinski
2025-08-04 11:11:50
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The average dog lifespan is 14 years, but there are reports of some living into their 20’s. Size-wise you’re looking at, on average: Small dogs living between 7-14 years Medium dogs living between 8-13 years Large dogs living between 5-13 years. Assuming that your pet leads a healthy, active life that isn’t cut short because of disease or trauma, they could live a very long time indeed. There's no way to know for sure how long a pet might live – it's a bit like asking 'how long is a piece of string'. We can make estimates based on studies that have been done previously, but every pet is different and these ages should only be taken as a rough guide.
Norma Kassulke
2025-08-04 11:07:18
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On average, dogs live for 10-13 years, which is considered roughly equivalent to between 60-74 human years. The researchers found that small, long-nosed female dogs tended to have the longest lifespans among pure breeds overall, with a median lifespan of 13.3 years. But breeds with flat-faces 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. Amongst the 12 most popular breeds, which accounted for more than 50% of all recorded pure breeds in the database, labradors had a median life expectancy of 13.1 years, jack russell terriers had a median life expectancy of 13.3 years, and cavalier king charles spaniels had a median life expectancy of 11.8 years. Pure breeds had a higher median life expectancy than crossbreeds (12.7 years compared to 12.0 years), while female dogs had a slightly higher median life expectancy than males (12.7 years compared to 12.4 years). Small, long-nosed dogs have the highest life expectancies in the UK, while male dogs from medium-sized, flat-faced breeds such as English bulldogs have the lowest, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports.
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