For Dogs

Nobody has ever measured how long a doodle lives. Size answers this question and the word doodle does not, and here is what that means for your dog.

Later than almost any breed, but the published numbers disagree with each other more than for any other dog. Here is both answers, and which signs actually arrive first.

Around nine, from real breed records. Plus the gene that makes this breed hungrier and slower-burning, and what that means for the years before.

Seven and a half, from real breed longevity records. Plus the mortality figure that no consumer article seems to publish.

Around eight or nine by the standard rule. Also the breed where that number helps you least, and the lifespan figure you have probably seen is misleading.

Around eight, and here is the arithmetic. Plus why the two years before that matter more, and the one early change worth learning to spot.

Seven is the number everyone repeats. It is not the rule vets use. Here is the real definition, where it comes from, and how to work it out for your own dog.