sandgrubber Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 (edited) The Finnish Kennel Club keeps lots and lots of statistics and has recently made their databases available in English for searching. I've been browsing cause of death data by breed and was a bit shocked by data on JRT's that seem to show twice as many dying of accidents as of old age. Similar proportions show for other small terriers. See http://jalostus.kenn...x?R=345&Lang=en I know the earthdog types are prone to snake bite in Australia . . . anybody have any idea why they are so accident prone in Finnland? Or is there something strange going on here? Btw, the data are fascinating. I wish more KC's kept and published such records. You can look up other breeds by scrolling to the group and breed, then clicking on health statistics (to the right of screen), then scrolling to "Cause of Death" statistics. They have other health stats as well. Beware, you may not like what you see. Not sure why, maybe it's because the data include accidents, lost dogs, euthanasia for behavioural reasons, etc., but the numbers shown make most breeds look shorter-lived than you might expect. Edited May 25, 2013 by sandgrubber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tintin Jac Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Based on my extremely limited knowledge of the breed (I have had 1JRT who was quite possibly a cross) I am not surprised at all. He was completely fearless and impulsive. Among his list of attempts to kill himself were: Running at top speed into a door which wasn't there the day before Running in front of the 4wd wheel as it started, resulting in a very squashed head with several holes in his head Taking a flying leap off a 4 wheeler after a rabbit. He caught the rabbit but did his cruciate ligament Doing the other cruciate ligament because staying still wasn't an option Getting stuck about 15 metres up a tree chasing a possum Killing several snakes Playing chasey with my TB And the list goes on How the hell he lived to old age is a mystery. He was the best little dog but gave me several very big headaches! I think it's such a great idea to keep stats like that. I wonder how they re collected and how reliable they are. Being in Finland, they've probably got all the ins and outs sorted. I imagine it would be much more difficult to keep stats like that here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Terriers can be tenacious little dogs... with a very high pain threshold to boot... T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korbin13 Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Cars maybe? My old JRTx wasn't a car chaser but I do know a couple of JRT's that are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 terriers of mine have always been the ones who've lost eyes, broken toes, got torn up by other dogs ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosepup Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 (edited) Edited cos I'm dumb. :D Edited May 26, 2013 by moosepup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 A friend who breeds JRT's has always said they write cheques with their mouths that their bodies can't cash. JRT'S were very popular down here quite a few years ago I worked in a vet hospital at the time. Most died from snakes and dog attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakkjackal Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Not every dog and their cause of death gets reported -- informing the KC is completely optional, although recommended. It could be that people are more likely to report their dogs deceased in an accident instead of passing because of old age as that would be the "norm". Just speculating. Terriers and small dogs in general are in a way more prone to fatal accidents; smaller things will kill them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Yes I agree. I remember a UK whippet club sent out a questionnaire to every whippet breeder and owner they could find in the UK. They got lots back and out of the Whippets who didn't die from old age, something like 80% died in accidents and 60% of those was from running into things at speed resulting in things like broken necks/backs etc. the numbers are probably not exact but pretty close from memory. That was a wake up call for me and yes I have had one Whippet run into a few solid objects including trees at speed. On another occasion two collided and one ended up requiring TPLO surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 I see that tibetan spaniels are listed under small companion dogs. Their accident rate is 1/5 death from old age. As others have said, reflects breed traits & how that leads to how they're kept. Tibs tend to be inside dogs... in-home companions. So less likely to encounter the perils of the outside world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 I'd say it's a combination of them being terriers, small and nuts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl85 Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 I agree with all that was posted above...I only just lost my little girl this weekend and even at 11 she was absolutely fearless, it's likely that her non existent fear of cane toads got her in the end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwp4me Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 My husband always reckons, Terriers got more guts than brains, so to say - too much courage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share Posted May 26, 2013 Sounds like score one for nature in the nature vs nurture debate! Hmm. High propensity to die in late adolescence due to high activity levels, impulsiveness, fearlessness, and tendency to attack. Good thing they're bantam weights. In a big dog (or a human) these features would be scary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clover Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 I am so sorry to hear at Tessa GG . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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