Often a consideration to be taken into account when owning a dog is how long they will live, or their life expectancy.
Unfortunately, it is a fact of life, that people will generally outlive their dogs, although if you are elderly or suffering from something that may affect your life expectancy, you should make sure there is plan in place for your dog to be cared for in the event you are no longer able to.
When owners have spent many years with a faithful dog, a common question that arises is "How long will my dog live?".
Averaging everything out, you can expect a dog to live to be between 10 and 13, of course dogs with a medical condition may have a much shorter life, likewise there will be many that live longer. Life expectancy is not only dependent on health, but also on breed.
How long a mixed breed dog will live is harder to calculate, on the whole smaller dogs will enjoy a longer life than larger breeds. Analysis by weight found that dogs under 10 kilos had a longer life expectancy than those weighing more.
Most popular pure breeds (or pedigrees) have had their average life expectancy calculated:
| Breed | Expectancy (years) |
|---|---|
| Afghan Hound | 12 |
| Airedale Terrier | 11.2 |
| American Staffordshire Terrier | 12.3 |
| 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 | 15 |
| Chow Chow | 13.5 |
| American Cocker Spaniel | 12.5 |
| Dachshund | 12.2 |
| Dalmatian | 13 |
| Doberman Pinscher | 9.8 |
| 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 Pinscher | 14.9 |
| Miniature Poodle | 14.8 |
| Random-bred/Mongrel | 13.2 |
| Norfolk Terrier | 10 |
| Old English Sheepdog | 11.8 |
| Pekingese | 13.3 |
| Pomeranian | 14.5 |
| Pug | 16 |
| Rajapalayam hound | 11.2 |
| Rhodesian Ridgeback | 9.1 |
| Rottweiler | 9.8 |
| Rough Collie | 12.2 |
| Samoyed | 11 |
| Scottish Deerhound | 9.5 |
| Scottish Terrier | 12 |
| Shetland Sheepdog | 13.3 |
| Shiba Inu | 14 |
| Shih Tzu | 13.4 |
| Siberian Husky | 13.5 |
| 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 |