Half of all dogs are still alive at 12.5 years, according to the largest study of its kind: 584,734 UK dogs. But breed changes that enormously, from the Lancashire Heeler at 15.4 years down to the Caucasian Shepherd at 5.4. Size, skull shape and sex all shift the odds too.
The longest lived and most at-risk breeds the study named.
Population statistics from UK veterinary records, not a prediction for an individual dog. Weight, dental care and veterinary attention all move the odds for your own dog.
How long do dogs live?
The best single answer is a median of 12.5 years. That comes from a 2024 study of 584,734 dogs on UK veterinary records, which is the largest analysis of canine longevity published. Median means half the dogs were still alive at that age.
| Group | Median life expectancy |
|---|---|
| All dogs | 12.5 years |
| Purebred | 12.7 years |
| Crossbred | 12.0 years |
| Normal muzzle (mesocephalic) | 12.8 years |
| Flat-faced (brachycephalic) | 11.2 years |
Two of those lines surprise people. Crossbreds came out slightly below purebreds, against the usual hybrid vigour assumption. And flat-faced breeds lost about 1.6 years compared with normal-muzzled dogs, which is a large gap for a single physical trait.
Females outlive males by a few months in this data, and among purebreds small dogs outlive large ones, the reverse of the pattern across mammal species generally.
Which dog breeds live the longest?
| Breed | Median |
|---|---|
| Lancashire Heeler | 15.4 years |
| Tibetan Spaniel | 15.2 years |
| Shiba Inu | 14.6 years |
| Papillon | 14.5 years |
| Lakeland Terrier | 14.2 years |
| Schipperke | 14.2 years |
| Border Terrier | 14.2 years |
| Italian Greyhound | 14.0 years |
| Miniature Dachshund | 14.0 years |
Which breeds are most at risk of early death?
| Breed | Median |
|---|---|
| Caucasian Shepherd Dog | 5.4 years |
| Presa Canario | 7.7 years |
| Cane Corso | 8.1 years |
| Mastiff | 9.0 years |
| St Bernard | 9.3 years |
| Bloodhound | 9.3 years |
| Affenpinscher | 9.3 years |
| Neapolitan Mastiff | 9.3 years |
| Bulldog | 9.8 years |
| French Bulldog | 9.8 years |
The giant guarding breeds dominate the bottom of the table, with flat-faced breeds close behind. Those are two different mechanisms: sheer body size in one case, and airway and spinal problems that come with a shortened skull in the other.
A note on the scary French Bulldog number you may have seen
An earlier and smaller UK study reported a French Bulldog figure of 4.53 years, and it went around the press. It is real but widely misread. That study measured life expectancy at birth using life tables, and the French Bulldog population in the UK had just exploded in size, from 2,771 Kennel Club registrations in 2011 to 39,266 in 2020. A breed whose population is overwhelmingly young contributes a disproportionate number of young deaths to that kind of calculation, which drags the figure down.
The larger 2024 study, using median survival, puts the French Bulldog at 9.8 years. Still well below average, and the breed does have real airway and spinal problems, but not four and a half.
Why do small dogs live longer?
Across species, bigger animals usually live longer. Within dogs, it reverses, and large breeds die younger. The leading explanation is growth rate: large breeds compress an enormous amount of growth into a single year, and faster growth appears to bring earlier age-related disease, including cancer. Other candidates include differences in IGF-1 signalling and overall cancer burden. None of this is settled.
What actually changes how long your dog lives
Breed and size are decided when you choose a dog. These are not:
- Keeping them lean. The most consistent finding in canine longevity work. Excess weight brings joint disease, diabetes and heart problems forward.
- Dental care. Periodontal disease is among the most common diagnoses in dogs and drives inflammation elsewhere.
- Veterinary checks, twice a year once they are senior. Dogs hide illness, and six months is a long time late in life.
- Parasite control and vaccination. Dull, and it prevents the deaths nobody writes articles about.
- Exercise and enrichment. Muscle protects older dogs, and mental work keeps them engaged.
- Choosing a breeder carefully, especially with flat-faced breeds, where the parents’ airway conformation matters more than anything you can do later.
To see where your dog sits in human terms, our dog age calculator converts their age by size and shows when they count as a senior.
What this data does not tell you
- It is UK data. Breed popularity, breeding practices and euthanasia decisions differ elsewhere, so the figures travel imperfectly to the US.
- It covers dogs registered with vets, so dogs who never saw a practice are missing.
- Rarer breeds rest on smaller samples with wider uncertainty than the popular ones.
- It describes populations, not individuals. Plenty of Bulldogs reach 13, and plenty of Border Collies do not reach 10.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average lifespan of a dog?
Which dog breed lives the longest?
Do French Bulldogs really only live 4.5 years?
Do mixed breed dogs live longer than purebreds?
Do female dogs live longer than males?
Where these numbers come from
- Median life expectancy by breed, type, sex and skull shape: McMillan et al., Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death, Scientific Reports 14:531 (2024), covering 584,734 UK dogs across 155 pure breeds.
- The 4.53 year French Bulldog figure and life expectancy at birth: Teng et al., Life tables of annual life expectancy and mortality for companion dogs in the United Kingdom, Scientific Reports (2022), from 30,563 dogs that died between January 2016 and July 2020, where life expectancy at birth across all dogs was 11.23 years.
- Why small dogs live longer: the American Kennel Club’s Why Do Small Dogs Live Longer?