Be a good dog and you'll live a long, healthy life

Easy-to-train dogs tend to have longer lives

source: New Scientist vol 206 no 2757,
24 April 2010 p14

Vicent Careau, a researcher from Canada's University of Sherbrooke, has found that dog breeds classed as easy to train tend to live longer. He compared mortality and longevity data for different breeds, and found that bichon frises, poodles and German shepherds, tended to live longer than beagles, pomeranians and other breeds seen as difficult to train. He first controlled for the size of these breeds, since smaller breeds tend to live longer. Careau also found that breeds perceived as aggressive tend to burn calories faster, ie to have a higher metabolic rate.
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