Standard Poodle Lifespan

[sandgrubber]

see http://www.canine-ge...m/lifespan.html for full details

This guy conducted a web based survey of standard poodle owners. His findings showed some interesting things:

* cancer and bloat account for about three quarters of all deaths

* average lifespan is a bit over 11 years

* more inbred dogs are much more likely to suffer bloat

* only 9.1% of dogs die of old age

I find this interesting. Not sure if I believe the data though. The author (now deceased) was active in the Canine Diversity Project, which clearly affected the questions asked, but I'm not clear if it affected study results. I sure would like to see the equivalent for other breeds.

Comments, anyone?

Edited October 10, 2011 by sandgrubber

[Steve]

This isnt consistent with the result we have for standard poodles via our health surveys

There are around 100 responses and of them 47% were breeders the rest pet owners - not one listed with bloat .

2 with cancer. There were only 1 or 2 diagnosed with HD as well. I would also expect that in Australia they were reasonably closely bred. It looks to me that this breed in comparison to many others is doing pretty well. The results may be affected by any number of things but one fo the things our survey is showing across the board is that Australian breeders should be judged on their dogs and not what is supposedly going on in their breeds in other countries.

[Zug Zug]

I do know a few standard poodles (bred in Aus) who have bloated. So while it didn't show up in your survey, it is an issue in the breed here.

[Are You Serious Jo]

What was his definition of old age? Also, if you live long enough you get cancer, you see it in pet rats because they reach their maximum age because of good care. That is why we see so much cancer these days in humans, we are living longer and it is inevitable.

[sandgrubber]

What was his definition of old age? Also, if you live long enough you get cancer, you see it in pet rats because they reach their maximum age because of good care. That is why we see so much cancer these days in humans, we are living longer and it is inevitable.

Old age was 'old age' as reported by owners, so it could mean lots of things.

[Christina]

These kind of surveys are often done with not enough dogs to make it relevant.

When a small number is used, say 300 the results may show up to be vastly different on the next 300 so I would want to know the number of dogs used before I believed this to be accurate. If it was in the region of thousands it would be credible.

[Are You Serious Jo]

Exactly, unless old age is strictly defined it is meaningless and especially prone to error with owner reporting.

[poodlefan]

My friend's SP died of bloat.

[capanash]

Interesting.

We have had Std Poodles for 12 yrs. 3 of our dogs have had bloat, early diagnosis and successful surgery. From our first litter, 2 died of bloat before the age of 3 (this litter was a total outcross).We have done a lot of reading about bloat in Std Poodles, the breed is in the top 10 for bloat, and decided not to continue with that line due to the high incidence of bloat on one side of the pedigree. Most literature suggests that the chance of bloat doubles when a first degree relative is affected.

[poodlemum]

I do know a few standard poodles (bred in Aus) who have bloated. So while it didn't show up in your survey, it is an issue in the breed here.

That's true - over 17 years of breeding, 2 dogs I bred died of bloat. Over the years 4 of the Standard Poodles I have owned have died:

1 at age 14 from cancer

1 at age 7 from a burst abscess on his prostate gland

1 at age 17 - nothing in particular wrong with her, just old & tired

1 at 11 from complications following surgery to remove a tumour.

So I would have to disagree with the survey - the problem causing the death of the dog at 7 was a fluke. The dog who died at 11 was otherwise healthy and could have been expected to live another 5 or 6 years, at least.

[Steve]

Very interesting especially as the pet owner repsonse was so high.

Better duck in and ad the dogs to the survey when you get a minute

[curly]

Interesting article.

If you read the whole thing, the results are based on averages and percentages, so the numbers are different from what we see in the real world. For instance, I've found that 14 is the average lifespan out of all the poodles I know. There was one toddling around at age 17. Few well cared for dogs are going to die of 'old age', simply because we care enough to put them to sleep before they start to suffer. (Unless the question was something like 'did you put your dog down because it was old?' rather than 'did it die in it's sleep of old age')

The percentage of bloat seems very high. Although big dogs, especially with deep chests, are more prone to bloat, there are many other factors which you'd expect owners and breeders to be aware of. Yes, the tendency to bloat is considered to be inherited, so 'has this dog ever bloated' should be one of the important before-breeding questions. Like 'is this dog nervous?' - another possible cause of bloat. (I actually go further, after looking at health tests, with 'does it have allergies, lack of brains, hyper-active and so on. But that's just me.)

Interesting, too, the results regarding inbreeding. The least inbred group had lower incidences of bloat and longer lifespans.

[Poodle Mum]

I have had Std Poodles for 19 years as pets & have bred,

15yr old girl euthed after back legs wore out from being old!

11yr old euthed with inoperable spleenic tumor, bloated at 9 yrs...successful surgery

11 yr old daughter of above euthed this year with IMHA, bloated at 7yrs then at 9yrs. Has surgery on the first bloat.

None I have bred.... that I know of have bloated. But have lost 1 to IMHA at 18mths & 1 to eplilepsy.

I know of many Std Poodles in Australia that have died from bloat.....some breeders just don't like talking about it.

Have 5 Std here now & bloat worries me more than cancer.

Edited October 11, 2011 by Poodle Mum