From The Wall Street Journal:
Cancer is all too common in dogs, especially golden retrievers: 60% of them die of it, more than twice the average rate for all breeds. That includes lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells; osteosarcoma, a cancer of the bones, and hemangiosarcoma, a particularly nasty cancer of the cells that line the blood vessels whose first symptom may be sudden death.
"A dog can be literally chasing a ball in the backyard, come in for a drink of water and collapse and be dead within minutes," says Rhonda Hovan, research facilitator for the Golden Retriever Club of America.
While it's tempting to see cancer as the Curse of the Golden Retriever, all breeds have their health scourges. Bulldogs have respiratory problems; dachshunds have back issues; Labrador retrievers have heart disease and diabetes and even with a much lower rate of cancer, die at roughly the same age as goldens.
... All purebred dogs are essentially inbred. And the genes become more concentrated with each generation, because most pet dogs aren't bred and breeders select only a few dogs with the most desirable traits to reproduce.
"It's possible that some trait that we desire in goldens is linked to something that puts them at risk for cancer. We just don't know what it is," says Ms. Hovan, who has also bred goldens in Akron, Ohio, for the past 30 years.
A couple of bits here: The American numbers seem to be quite a bit higher than the U.K. numbers, where just under 40% of Golden's die of cancer, not 60%.
The second bit is the notion that "all breeds have their health sourges" is nonsense. Not true.
Some breeds of dogs are famously healthy, while some breeds are notoriously unhealthy. For example, the Border Terrier is a very solid and healthy dog that lives, on average, to age 14, while Bull Terriers are dead, on average, between the age of 6 and 7.
Does that mean that any dog lives forever? Of course not. But the idea that it's a "pick your poison" kind of situation, or that all decisions are equal is parent nonsense.
You want to pick a healthy breed? Here's a simple set of tips that will save you money, time and grief in the long run.
.
The second bit is the notion that "all breeds have their health sourges" is nonsense. Not true.
Some breeds of dogs are famously healthy, while some breeds are notoriously unhealthy. For example, the Border Terrier is a very solid and healthy dog that lives, on average, to age 14, while Bull Terriers are dead, on average, between the age of 6 and 7.
Does that mean that any dog lives forever? Of course not. But the idea that it's a "pick your poison" kind of situation, or that all decisions are equal is parent nonsense.
You want to pick a healthy breed? Here's a simple set of tips that will save you money, time and grief in the long run.
.
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