Health
A UK Kennel Club survey puts the average lifespan of the breed at 12 years. About one in five lived to 15 years or more, with the longest lived dog living to 18.25 years.
Though an athletic breed that has been bred for a natural look, the Tibetan Terrier is still susceptible to a variety of health problems, especially those related to the eyes and joints. These health problems can include canine hip dysplasia, Luxating patella, Progressive retinal atrophy, Lens luxation, Cataracts and Heart murmurs. Tibetans also have a history of being somewhat allergic to dairy, wheat and grains. Because of these potential health conditions Tibetan Terrier clubs recommend purchasing from breeders who participate in eye and hip testing, such as the Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF) and Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA).
In addition, Tibetan Terriers can carry the genetic disease Canine Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis, called Batten disease in humans. Research is on-going to find the gene(s) responsible for this progressive disease in both Tibetan terriers and humans. A DNA test has been developed to identify this gene in several breeds of dog, including the Tibetan Terrier.
Read more about this topic: Tibetan Terrier
Famous quotes containing the word health:
“I am astonished at the singular pertinacity and endurance of our lives. The miracle is, that what is is, when it is so difficult, if not impossible, for anything else to be; that we walk on in our particular paths so far, before we fall on death and fate, merely because we must walk in some path; that every man can get a living, and so few can do anything more. So much only can I accomplish ere health and strength are gone, and yet this suffices.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Most days I feel like an acrobat high above a crowd out of which my own parents, my in-laws, potential employers, phantoms of “other women who do it” and a thousand faceless eyes stare up.”
—Anonymous Mother. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 2 (1978)
“To get time for civic work, for exercise, for neighborhood projects, reading or meditation, or just plain time to themselves, mothers need to hold out against the fairly recent but surprisingly entrenched myth that “good mothers” are constantly with their children. They will have to speak out at last about the demoralizing effect of spending day after day with small children, no matter how much they love them.”
—Wendy Coppedge Sanford. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, introduction (1978)