Pedigree dogs don't just look good - they keep you alive for longer

To own a beautifully-bred English Setter or Springer Spaniel is to enjoy a certain social cachet.

People are more likely to come up and make conversation than they would if you are sporting a Pit Bull Terrier, and you will look the part at countryside events.

However, new research has identified a far more critical reason for selecting a top pedigree dog: you will probably live longer.

A massive study encompassing the entire population of Sweden has found that those living in a household with a dog have a 20 per cent lower risk of early death compared to those living without.

But, according to the statistics, any old dog won’t do.

Owners of pointing dogs like English or Red Setters enjoyed a substantial 40 per cent reduced mortality risk over the 12 years of the study, while Beagles and Blood Hounds conferred a 37 per cent benefit.

People with dogs from the retriever family, such as a Springer Spaniel,  can rely on a 26 per cent lower chance of early death, but in bad news for mongrel lovers like Richmal Crompton’s infamous Just William character William Brown, owning a mixed-breed dog yields virtually no advantage at all.

The researchers believe the improvement in cardiovascular health and the consequent life expectancy is driven by how demanding a given breed of dog is to exercise.

Simply put, dogs that need a long walk every day tend to have more healthy owners.

However, mild-mannered, friendly dogs like retrievers are believed to punch above their walking weight because their approachability means their owners are more likely to socialise with other people, which itself improves wellbeing, leading to better cardiovascular health.

The Kennel Club last night welcomed the new study, which is published in Scientific Reports, as proof that pedigree dogs are best.

The research also showed a striking correlation between health and dog ownership among people living on their own, revealing a 33 per cent reduction in the risk of early death.

Professor Tove Fall, a vet and epidemiologist at Uppsala University who helped lead the study, said: "A very interesting finding in our study was that dog ownership was especially prominent as a protective factor in persons living alone, which is a group reported previously to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death than those living in a multi-person household.

“Perhaps a dog may stand in as an important family member in the single households.”

She added that, alongside the benefits from exercise and wellbeing, living with a dog may improve the bacterial makeup of the owner.

Approximately 100 times bigger than any similar study, the new research included dog owners aged between 40 and 80 for 12 years from 2001.

Owning a mongrel was associated with only a 2 per cent reduced mortality risk, but Professor Fall said this could be explained by the fact that unhealthy people tend to come from lower socio-economic groups and are more likely to buy cheaper animals.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “There are so many benefits to dog ownership, both on an individual and societal level, and the study confirms what dog owners already know – that owning a dog keeps people active, social and physically fitter in many cases.

“Particularly interesting is the fact that the benefits to humans of owning pedigree dogs is noticeably higher than owning mixed-breeds.  The great thing about pedigree dogs is their predictability in terms of care requirements, including how much exercise they need."