Healthiest Breeds....

I realize that mill bred or BYB dogs of any breed are going to have an increased chance of health issues, but which breeds, in your opinion, are healthiest in general?

I find a lot of the "older breeds" in general are quite healthy especially if they haven't gained much popular or havent hit a trend to be bred to meet buyer demands at any point. Of course every breed has its health concerns but some, like a good old school Canadian Inuit Dog have far fewer than a more modern man made breed like today's English Bulldog

JRTs seem to be a pretty hardy bunch... even the badly bred ones that come through rescue. Eye issues and patella's seem to be the biggies when it comes to issues.

curs as a group, feists, working terriers as a whole, fieldbred sighthounds, bull & terriers (pitties & staffybulls moreso than EBT and amstaffs in between), feildbred hounds, workbred herdingdogs especially mcnab, koolie, queensland heelers & stumpies.

I would agree with terriers, not many problems in wires and less in others...

I dunno if this is true or not.. but as far as i've noticed, the less popular the dog is, the more healthy the dogs are in general

Patricia McConnel has a section in "The Other End of the Leash" about well-built dogs, and what makes them healthier. Basically it ends up being a dog that is built pretty much like a wolf, but smaller - 40-60 pounds I think. The dog would have prick ears (floppy ears tend to hold in moisture and have more infections), long nose (short-nosed breeds like pugs tend to have breathing difficulties and cannot handle hot weather), a back that's length is proportional to the length of the legs, a chest that's not too deep, long and thick tail, relatively narrow shoulders (not wide shoulders like bulldogs), etc.

Besides that, I do agree that the less popular a breed is the healthier it is.

Schipperke is probably the healthiest bred.

Basenjis. The breed has very few health issues and all the good breeders are dedicated to health testing.

I can't agree...pitbulls/staffies, because of their popularity have an array of health issues...especially skin conditions with the blue colored ones. They are also prone to Hip Dysplasia, Elbow dysplasia, cardiac problems such as murmurs, and again with the skin issues - alopecia and things like that although it's not as common as the others, is still a problem. I also consider mental unsoundness a health problem - and we all know that some of them don't have the correct temperament.

That...basically describes Rosey. 50lbs, full prick ears, long nose, body is proportional to legs and all that.
For her breed.. she's a mix lol. Border Collie/GSD/terrier/water dog. And at 11 years old, no health problems.

One of the reasons I decided on the Alapaha is due to how healthy they are. HD isn't the norm in the breed, which I think is pretty **** hard to find in a large dog. They also don't seem to succumb to cancer like most other bully breeds, and I haven't seen many with skin problems. Most of the Alapahas I've met (who have passed) and have heard stories about have lived to around 13-15. Which is what I'm REALLY hoping for with my dogs now.

I'll agree the less popular a breed generally the more healthy they're going to be. That said I've mainly had mixes and they've been quite healthy.

I love the retriever breeds but many seem to be less healthy--even less popular ones. Flat coats have a *very* high instance of cancer. The average life span is something like 7 years, and apparently the cancer seems to be unpredictable, as even long lived parents can produce a pup that dies young.

agreed

and cancer as well (mast cell tumors, lymphoma)

i'm not sure how much OFA stats are worth in this case, but both Amstaffs and APBTs rate with a higher incidence of hip dysplasia than do tested German Shepherd Dogs. I think bully breeds tend to deal with a higher amount of dysplasia better than many other breeds due to their heavier muscling, but still. And yet so many old style pit bull breeders dismiss hip dysplasia as something that doesn't exist in the breed because their dogs don't show signs of it and therefore won't test for it. Sad.

We have been messing with flaky skin or allergy issues with Sally since we got her. It seems like quite a few people I've met with a pit/pit mix finds that the dog has skin/allergy issues.

American Pit Bulls, Schipperkes, Jack Russels.

I would have to agree with terriers, JRTs, etc. Geeze, since i work for a vet i mainly see the unhealthy ones, so its hard for me to think of a breed we see less.

This is exactly what I was thinking! Lol

a health problem is only a health problem if it actually affects the dog's quality of life. dry & flaky skin wasn't (isn't) a health problem to the old dogmen because it didn't affect a dogs record in the box. likewise it doesn't significantly affect them when hanging off the ear of a hog or semi wild bull. i have to agree that health issues in pits is new due to mastiff crossbreds being bred back into the lines. the old dogs were very healthy & vigorous. also high DA doesn't mean they have mental health issues. that's like saying hunting dogs have mental health issues because they bite other animals.
also a persons opinion is going to be based on their experiences, something i realized w/ Sis, because her breed is notorious for health issues but Sis is dealing w/the very best bred dogs in her breed. my experience w/ pitties has been almost entirely fighters & catch dogs where major health issues cull themselves. so to me they are very healthy dogs.