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Support & safety portalThe standard poodle is the largest of the three poodle size types, and is a tall, large and leggy dog that is instantly recognisable thanks to their woolly, thick coats that are often groomed and clipped into distinctive patterns!
Originally produced in Germany as a water dog, the poodle is more commonly associated with France, where the breed standard was established. The breed is very versatile as a whole, and can turn its paw to a wide variety of working roles including herding and retrieving, and is also good at canine sports such as agility and flyball. The poodle, however, is most widely owned as a good all-round family pet, and is very popular worldwide.
Like all pedigree dog breeds, the poodle can be prone to a range of genetically inherited health problems, and issues that present themselves more within the poodle breed than in most other breeds. In this article, we will look into these in more detail, as well as presenting some data for the standard poodle’s average longevity. Read on to learn more.
Within the UK, the standard poodle breed as a whole has an average longevity of 11.5-12 years, putting them right in the middle of the average range for dogs of a similar size. It is also worth noting that the stillborn rate and early death (within one week of birth) rate for the standard poodle is lower than the average across dogs of all breeds.
In the UK, the most common causes of death for adult standard poodles were recorded as cancer at 30%, old age at 18%, GDV at 6%, and heart problems at 5%.
While the standard poodle is generally a healthy breed of dog that does not suffer from more hereditary conditions than most other breeds, and significantly less than many, the breed is still prone to certain hereditary health problems.
A reasonably wide range of information on general poodle health and health conditions is published by the Poodle Health Registry, providing the owner of the standard poodle with a good amount of data on breed health and illness as a whole.
The three most commonly reported health conditions in descending order as of the 2007 survey by the Poodle Health Registry were listed as Addison’s disease, gastric dilation volvulus (GDV) and thyroid issues.
We will look at these and some other standard poodle health conditions in more detail below.