Dog have died and half are still alive, ranges from 10 to 13 years. Individual dogs may live well beyond the median of their breed. The breed with the shortest lifespan (among breeds for which there is a questionnaire survey with a reasonable sample size) is the Dogue de Bordeaux, with a median longevity of about 5.2 years, but several breeds, including Miniature Bull Terriers, Bloodhounds, and Irish Wolfhounds are nearly as short-lived, with median longevities of 6 to 7 years. The longest-lived breeds, including Toy Poodles, Japanese Spitz, Border Terriers, and Tibetan Spaniels, have median longevities of 14 to 15
Dog anatomy as the German Shepherd Dog, are called mesocephalic and dogs with a pushed in muzzle, such as the Pug, are called brachycephalic. Today's toy breeds have skeletons that mature in only a few months, while giant breeds, such as the Mastiffs, take 16 to 18 months for the skeleton to mature. Dwarfism has affected the proportions of some breeds' skeletons, as in the Basset Hound. All dogs (and all living Canidae) have a ligament connecting the spinous process of their first thoracic (or chest) vertebra to the back of the axis bone (second cervical or neck bone), which supports the