little dogs“Eat your vegetables!” and “Drink your milk!” Every parent wants their kid to grow up big and strong to lead long, healthy lives.
But when it comes to our dogs, it’s looking like the opposite might be true. According to the Live Science journal, “Large breeds often die young compared with smaller ones.” You’re probably nodding along, thinking “That makes sense.” But the real question here is: why?
Look everywhere else in nature. Time after time, you’ll find that the bigger animal is the longest survivor. Blue whales grow to the wise age of eighty, while brine shrimp live life in the fast lane until about age one. So why is it that dogs are the exception?
“Among dog breeds,” writes David Choi of Life Science journal “an increase of 4.4 pounds leads to a loss of approximately 1 month of life expectancy.” The reason for this is still a little fuzzy. Just by observing the patterns, most researchers suspect that the answer lies in the growing process. As Live Science points out, cancer stems from abnormal cell growth. And since big dogs have more growing to do, the risk of cancer dramatically increases in these larger breeds. It will take a lot more research before we know anything for sure.
Whatever the reason, small, or big, or somewhere in between, we still love our dogs. And at Town N Country, our goal is to keep your pets as healthy and happy as possible – for every stage of their life.