Longevity

How long will my Dachshund live? That's a question we'd all like to be able to answer and, of course, the answer is "it depends"!

The Kennel Club's 2004 Health Survey reported a median age of death of 12.7 (from 245 reported deaths). The Dachs-Life 2012 median age of death was 11.8 (from 27 dogs who died between Jan. 1st and Mar 31st 2012). DachsLife 2015 did not collect any data on age or cause of death.

A paper published in the Veterinary Journal in 2013 based on VetCompass data showed a median age of death of 13.5 for Miniature Dachshunds (sample of 25 dogs).

The following data are from our on-line health reports of dogs that have died since Jan. 2010 (for our most frequently reported conditions):

    • The mean age of death for “old age” reports was 15.5

    • The mean age of death due to Cardiac conditions was 9.4 (average age of diagnosis was 7.2)

    • The mean age of death due to IVDD conditions was 5.7 (average age of diagnosis was 5.6)

    • The mean age of death due to Neurological (non-IVDD) conditions was 9.7 (average age of diagnosis was 6.2)

    • The mean age of death due to Cancer conditions was 9.54 (average age of diagnosis was 9.0)

Overall, Dachshunds are a long-lived breed and therefore our surveys are likely to show up diseases of old age such as blindness and deafness. Conditions such as heart disease and cancers/tumours are largely reported as issues of old age, rather than an early-onset breed predisposition.

The average age of death from all reported deaths 2010-2012 was 8.75 years.

Note: The averages calculated here are the Mean. The KC's 2004 survey reported a Median age of death as 12 years 8 months. The results presented here are not directly comparable with that 2004 survey.

Our Dachs-Life 2012 Survey only had 27 deaths reported, with a Mean age of death of 11.0 years and a Median age of death of 11.8.

A further analysis of 93 deaths reported in our online Health Report (at 8th June 2012) showed a Mean age of death of 9.0. Mean and Median age of death for conditions where there were 5 or more deaths were as follows:

Note: Neurologic (Non-IVDD) includes Epilepsy and Lafora Disease.

It is important to recognise that average age of death reported in the online survey is likely to be lower than in the population as a whole. The median age of death reported in the KC's 2004 survey was 12.7 (245 dogs) and in Dachs-Life 2012 was 11.8 years (27 dogs).

A useful site with further information on Canine Longevity is here.