How long will your dog live? (Pet dog life expectancy ranking)

Have you ever wondered how long your dog can live? How long can it walk with you or cuddle with you?

An in-depth survey of the life expectancy of pet dogs found that the top three are: Jack Russell Terriers (also known as Jack Russell Terriers), with an average life expectancy of 12.7 years; followed by Border Collies: 12.1 years; and Springer Spaniels: 11.9 years.

In contrast, some fashionable dogs that are popular among Internet celebrities have a shorter lifespan and will cause early heartbreak. The shortest-lived breeds are four flat-faced dogs - for example, the French bulldog has a life expectancy of just 4.5 years; the English bulldog: 7.4 years; the pug: 7.7 years; and the American bulldog: 7.8 years.

These dogs are all affected by several life-limiting conditions, such as breathing problems, spinal disease, and difficult childbirth, all of which can affect their overall lifespan.

Here are some of the pet dogs' life expectancy rankings from birth:

Jack Russell Terrier 12.72 years

Yorkshire Terrier 12.54 years

Border Collie 12.10 years

Springer Spaniel 11.92 years

Crossbred: 11.82 years old

Labrador Retriever: 11.77 years old

Staffordshire Bull Terrier: 11.33 years old

English Cocker Spaniel: 11.31 years old

Shih-tzu: 11.05 years old

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel: 10.45 years old

German Shepherd Dog: 10.16 years old

Boxer: 10.04 years old

Beagle: 9.85 years old

Husky: 9.53 years old

Chihuahua: 7.91 years old

American Bulldog: 7.79 years old

Pug 7.65 years old

English Bulldog 7.39 years old

French Bulldog 4.53 years

Although age lists like the one above (18 breeds and some hybrids) have been done before, this is the most detailed and complex to date because it is based on a huge database of veterinary records in the UK called VetCompass. It is a monitoring system run by the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and currently has information on 20 million animals.

The above rankings are for reference only, and there are exceptions

There are many factors that can affect the length of a dog's life, so the so-called average lifespan can only be used as a guide and is partially useful. For example, the life expectancy of a Chihuahua is only 7.9 years, so you might think it doesn’t make much sense to rescue and adopt a 6-year-old Chihuahua, since you’d probably only have 2 years left with it, based on life expectancy.

But veterinary records show that a considerable number of Chihuahuas die at a very young age, thus lowering their average life expectancy. This means that a Chihuahua that is already 6 years old will likely live much longer than the average lifespan of 8 years. We know some Chihuahuas live to be 15 or 16 years old.

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