A parade of Dogues de Bordeaux arrive at Crufts. They are not likely to live too much longer.
Some numbers from the UK Kennel Club Breed Health survey of (N = 71 dogs) gives a glimpse of the extent of the health problems associated with this breed:
- The average Dogue de Bordeaux is dead from disease or veterinary intervention at the age of 3 years 10 months.
- The median age at diagnosis for all Dogue de Bordeaux disease occurrences was just 1 year and 10 months.
3 comments:
I looked at the document and thought that with four dead dogs, there wasn't much that could conclusively be said. Then I looked at the age distribution of all the dogs. Such a sharp drop off by 2 years tells its own story of a shocking rate of early failure.
With a 16.5% response rate, it's hard to interpret the Breed Health Survey results. Not saying the Dogue is healthy... just that the data are bad...and include only five deaths. Because three of the reported deaths were in quite young dogs, the average age of death is low. Failure of owners to participate in the health study is, perhaps, a more significant story.
As I noted a decade ago, the average KC age of death for Dogues in their 2008 health survey was 5.48 years.
See >>https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2008/11/national-dog-show-salutes-genetic-wreck.html
In fact, this number is probably generous: very few dog live past age four. See Figure 3 at >> https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media/749296/dogue_de_bordeaux.pdf
As one web site notes: "However, perhaps the most notable trait about the Dogue de Bordeaux and potentially the one that is the greatest cause of discussion surrounding the breed is that they hold the dubious distinction of being potentially the breed with the shortest lifespan, out of virtually all recognised breeds. The average lifespan of the Dogue de Bordeaux is just five to seven years-even many giant breeds (which share short lives as a trait) usually reach an older age than the Dogue de Bordeaux. In fact, dogs of the breed reaching the age of seven years old is so unusual, that the American breed club for the Dogue de Bordeaux collates a list of dogs of the breed that make it to eight years old, so unusual is this occurrence." See >> https://www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/why-does-the-dogue-de-bordeaux-have-such-a-short-lifespan.html
The Dogue de Bordeaux and Great Dane have the shortest life spans of any breed in the UK. See >> https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023313004486?via%3Dihub
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