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I'm pretty sure this targeted at the fact that larger dogs in general live shorter lives than small dogs. I don't think this has anything to do with the genetic issues caused by some breeding.


From the article, "In large- and giant-breed dogs, breeding for size caused these dogs to have highly elevated levels of IGF-1, a hormone that drives cell growth. High IGF-1 effectively drives these dogs to grow large when they’re young, but high IGF-1 levels in adult dogs are believed to accelerate their aging and reduce their healthy lifespan."


What's your point? Are you against that they used deductive reasoning on an existing data set?


Wolves in captivity can live up to 16 years. In the wild, 12 years. One presumes that 11 year old wild wolves don't have the health problems that plague 11 year old large dog breeds.

Giant dog breeds humans have made rarely have such long life spans, with dogs like Saint Bernards, Great Danes and Irish Wolfhounds living 8 to 10 years.

That is living indoors, with access to regular medical checkups, and without parasites.

FWIW Wolves are huge, up to 160lb.


The breeding for all dog species is very poor. It is rare to find a breeder that even knows what they're doing let alone one who actually is trying to build a strong breeding stock for the future.

Wolves in the wild are lucky to make it to 7 years. A 12 year old wild wolf is exceptionally rare.


Fair, 12 years is the upper bound with 7-8 being more typical.

But 7 to 8 years is the upper bound of many large dog breeds who are pampered and have excellent medical care.

There are many large dog breeds that will never make it to 12, but a pampered wolf will.

My overall point is that even for the overall category of "large canine", we've reduced the lifespan of domesticated dog breeds.




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