Golden Years - Some vets think golden retrievers are dying younger than they used to.

[Ziggysmom]

https://slate.com/technology/2023/10/golden-retriever-lifespan-dying-younger-dog-health.html

"In the early 1970s, Michael Lappin fell in love with a dog Americans had steadily embraced over the 20th century: the golden retriever. As a young veterinarian working in small-town Massachusetts, he saw many of the fair-coated dogs come through the practice, and like so many others, he couldn’t resist them. There’s a reason they’re now one of the most popular breeds in the country.

“They’re always in love mode; they always do things to please you,” Lappin told me. In his early days as a vet, golden retrievers were also, he remembered, notably long-lived for large dogs: He’d see them thrive well into their teens, up to 17 years of age. They could be with families for nearly a generation at a time.

But somewhere along Lappin’s long career, he said something changed: Goldens were not living as long. He started seeing many of his golden retriever patients die of cancer before they hit 13. Many succumbed to the disease when they were even younger.

Years of anecdotal reports from other golden lovers as well as scattershot studies seemed to support the idea that something was wrong: Were the big, sweet dogs now perishing earlier than their forebears? Why?

Today, there is a consensus among veterinarians that golden retrievers have some of the highest rates of cancer of any dog breed. Perhaps, according to data spanning from the ’80s into the 2000s, the highest. But Lappin’s other observation—that golden retrievers’ lifespans have collectively and perhaps dramatically dipped—remains more contentious, years after he first started voicing his belief on a bigger stage. Across the country, veterinarians and researchers are puzzling over the question of how long these dogs live and why they die the way they do. Multiple long-term and retrospective research studies are now devoted to finding answers, including one led by the owner of a golden retriever who lived into her late teens. Lappin, now known to many as “the golden retriever guy,” has entered his own goldens into one study that has invested millions into the cause."

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. I've had 4 Goldens and 1 black lab over my life.

I only had 1 Golden that died at 7. Bone cancer, Broke his hind leg jumping for a ball. Reset the bone in surgery with pins, He didn't make a strong recovery, The vet autopsied the bone and it was cancerous, Sucked putting KC down. The rest all lived into their mid-teens.

[dem4decades]

2. I have 2, 13 year old brother and sister. The female is my girl, the male is my wife's.

They've been in good health, the male had some hip issues and my girl was healthy as can be, till 2 days ago. She started stumbling around and unable to walk very well. We hope it's an ear infection, she seems to be getting better, I hope so.

I'm not good at goodbyes. And I know that others have recently experienced untold horror, with sons, daughters, babies and grandparents cruelly killed but my dog is a family member and life comes at you fast, love those near you while you can.

[marybourg]

3. Once a breed becomes very popular, it becomes the victim of

inbreeding and consequent disease.

[Rebl2]

4. Yep