Are there any dogs breeds/types that you've always been intrigued by, even if you don't plan to own one? Mine are the Clumber Spaniel, Basset Hound, Airedale Terrier, Saluki, Bedlington Terrier, English Setter, Gordon Setter, and the Keeshond.
The breeds I love but would never own are: Siberian husky - they are beautiful and highly intelligent creatures, but I don't want a dog who takes perverse pleasure in outsmarting me at every turn. My dad had one while I was growing up and I fostered a husky/shepherd mix for 6 months (pure husky brain). It is also way too hot for them here. Irish Wolfhound - I just can't bear the thought of losing them so young. Newfie - I adore them, but again, it is way too hot for them here. And I don't want to deal with the hair and drool. And they die too young. Samoyed and Bull Terrier - I knew one each that lived in the neighborhood. They were such amazing dogs. But as I learned more about the breeds, I realized that these two were "outliers" of the breed. They didn't follow the breed standards for personality and temperament. Something I have since learned to pay attention to when falling for a particular dog. Breeds I love and used to think were off the table but now would own: Jack russell terrier - if I can handle a 60lb giant JRT, then I can handle a small one. Poor Dog, my white shepherd lab - she loved JRTs. She watched Wishbone and Eddy on Frazier. If she saw one when we were out, she would be entranced by them. But working full time, having a JRT was just not a smart move. I got her an akita instead - she loved him, but never gave up on having a pet JRT. Airedales are great dogs! I had a co-worker who had two and they were the sweetest dogs in the world. I also fostered one and my Mom adopted her - another sweetheart.
Irish Wolfhounds are another one for me! I think the shorter lifespan of some pets is the price we pay for joy and good times. We had Luna, the senior dog that we adopted, for not quite three years...but I would gladly adopt another senior (if we could ever get another dog).
If it's a senior dog, I'm OK with the limited time - I'm prepared for it. I've done it a few times. But to get a puppy and know you'll have only 6-8 years is heartwrenching to me.
I wonder if Irish Wolfhounds always had such a short lifespan? I heard once that Chihuahuas are not living quite as long, due to bad breeding over the years.
I know several Chihuahuas who are in their mid teens and always think of them as long-lived dogs. I do think it's luck of the draw though, I lost two of my Cavaliers under 10 years, but three of them made 14, the rest were somewhere in between. I lost my Löwchen girl at 10 but the boy was 17 when his dementia became too much for him. He was still sound in body and had a full set of white teeth. I always had a yen to have a Deerhound, but a Lurcher was the nearest I got to it. I like a Welsh Terrier in a smart strip too. In my later years I could easily have been won over by a Pem. Corgi but my OH wasn't a fan of the breed. For dog sports, I think a Coltriever, (BCxGR), would have been my first choice.
There was a time when I might have liked a Corgi, but we had a bad experience with a crazy neighbor who owned one. Including two incidents when her dog came charging over to attack our Cocker Spaniel. Her dog probably did not represent the breed well. But they still are not on our list of preferred breeds/mixes.
@Azalea I was looking on Kindle this morning when I spotted some results from a dog life expectancy study. (over 30,000 dog deaths in a 2016 veterinary survey. I was surprised to see your comment confirmed, as the predicted life expectancy of Chihuahuas is given as 7.9 years. I worked with Chi's in the 1950's and though many of them weren't as tiny as they are these days, they were sturdy and long-lived little dogs. I suppose we could argue that the dogs in this study were all at the end of their lives because they had serious health conditions - the dogs that were at home in their teens are bound to be under-represented - but these ages are certainly less than I would expect. I would be appalled to pay £3k for a Frenchie if it was going to die at 4.5 years! It's hard to read due to the format, but this is it.
Thank you for sharing! I've been seeing French Bulldogs everywhere in the past two years or so. They seem to have exploded in popularity.
I looked up that study. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10341-6 It's a bit misleading because it isn't stating an overall life expectancy average for the breeds. Instead it looks at an annual life expectancy (and probability of death) similar to what human life insurances do. The numbers shown on that illustration represent the annual life expectancy of breeds at age 0-1. Frenchies have an extremely low life expectancy at that age because of serious disorders that they may be born with, such as spinal disease, that are likely to result in early death. However at age 10-11, the life expectancy is 1.5 years. Chihuahuas at age 0-1 have a life expectancy of 7.9 years. However, at age 15-16, their life expectancy is 1.5 years. JRTs at age 0-1 have a life expectancy of 12.9 years. At age 14-15, they have a life expectancy of 1.5 years. Terriers as a group have the highest life expectancies overall. Not that they will live longer than any other breed, but that they don't have factors that affect their life expectancy negatively at any given age. The toy group has a lower life expectancy at age 0-1, but a similar life expectancy at older ages. The hound group has a similar life expectancy at age 0-1 as the toy group, but that drops as the dogs age. I didn't dig in too deep so cannot say if non-health death factors accounted for some of the differences. Working breeds had the lowest overall life expectancy at all ages. This may be because they are more likely to be mortally injured in their day to day lives. Likewise, the chihuahuas life expectancy at age 0-1 may be due to the likelihood of their running loose and/or lack of obedience training and being kept under leash control. Once they reach 5-6 years old, those risks may be reduced enough to significantly increase their life expectancy.
Ah, you have made sense of it now Toed! Most of the giant breeds do have much shorter lives. Multiple reasons but cancer plays a big part in this. Toy dogs, (and Corgis), have a reputation for long lives, which is why I have left it too late to even have a retiree in those breeds!
I had a nice post all written up and then Tornado-dog decided I needed a hug. Wiped the whole thing... Maybe I don't need another dog after him. I've thought that as I get older, a smaller dog would be more desireable. I normally go for shepherds and shepherd mixes, but they can be a lot to handle even when well mannered. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of small breeds I really like. I like the terriers, but they may be more energy than I want at that point in life. A beagle would be nice but we don't get many around here for adoption. So, the thought occurs to me that I could potentially get a nice gentle adult wolfhound. The shorter lifespan won't be a negative at that point. The size is really only an issue if they collapse. And a dog that size could actually help me balance.
