# Why do small dogs live longer than large dogs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-small-dogs-live-longer-than-large-dogs/339385>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 10, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-small-dogs-live-longer-than-large-dogs/339385 "2006-01-10T21:42:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![StewieGriffin420](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@StewieGriffin420](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StewieGriffin420)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-small-dogs-live-longer-than-large-dogs/339385/1 "2006-01-10T21:42:53Z")

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???

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**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-small-dogs-live-longer-than-large-dogs/339385/2 "2006-01-10T22:15:44Z")

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Cite?

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-small-dogs-live-longer-than-large-dogs/339385/3 "2006-01-10T22:36:37Z")

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> [@dolphinboy](#):
>
> Cite?

[This page](http://www.pets.ca/pettips/tips-46.htm) shows life expectancies of various dog breeds. I don’t know where they got the data, but I think I’ve seen the exact same data elsewhere.

Based on that data, breeds with life expectancy \< 9 yrs are:  
[ul]  
[li]Bernese Mountain Dog (7.0)[/li][li]Bulldog (6.7)[/li][li]Bullmastiff (8.6)[/li][li]Great Dane (8.4)[/li][li]Irish Wolfhound (6.2)[/li][/ul]

Life expectancy \> 14 yrs:  
[ul]  
[li]Bedlington Terrier (14.3)[/li][li]Miniature Dachshund (14.4)[/li][li]Miniature Poodle (14.8)[/li][li]Tibetan Terrier (14.3)[/li][li]Toy Poodle (14.4)[/li][li]Whippet (14.3)[/li][/ul]

To me it looks like a pretty strong correlation between size and life expectancy.

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**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-small-dogs-live-longer-than-large-dogs/339385/4 "2006-01-10T22:51:12Z")

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I’ve always assumed it was because, since volume increases by cube while surface area increases by square, a big dog’s heart has to work a lot harder than a small dog’s does.

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**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-small-dogs-live-longer-than-large-dogs/339385/5 "2006-01-10T22:56:46Z")

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Does anyone know how they get those numbers?

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-small-dogs-live-longer-than-large-dogs/339385/6 "2006-01-10T23:25:43Z")

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[Here](http://www.thepetprofessor.com/articles/article.aspx?id=1971) is a bigger list to check when Fido will peg out.

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-small-dogs-live-longer-than-large-dogs/339385/7 "2006-01-10T23:42:35Z")

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> [@don't ask](#):
>
> [Here](http://www.thepetprofessor.com/articles/article.aspx?id=1971) is a bigger list to check when Fido will peg out.

It’s exactly the same as the list I linked to.