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Agria Breed Profiles 2016-2021

Agria Breed Profiles contain valuable information about which diagnoses occur within which breeds, and how the breeds stand in terms of health compared to other breeds.

Agria insurance data – Dog breed statistics 2016-2021

The breed statistics are based on data from Agria Djurförsäkring, Sweden. The primary goal regarding Breed Profiles is to provide a basis for Swedish breed clubs in their health work within their breeds. The first profiles were submitted to the Swedish Kennel Club and the various breed clubs in 2002 and covered the years 1995–2002. Subsequently, Agria has presented three updates; 1995–2006 (about 100 breeds), 2006–2011 (about 130 breeds) and 2011–2016 (about 180 breeds). This version covers the years 2016–2021 (about 180 breeds) and, just like the previous version, is available in Swedish and English.

Dog giving paw

Great emphasis has been placed on calculating statistical measures using scientifically accepted methods. However, the included data is affected by insurance conditions, date of new subscription, the dog owner's decision regarding veterinary visits as well as choice of treatment and approach when the veterinarian makes a diagnosis and treats the dog. These factors will therefore vary over time.

To reduce the risk of misinterpretation, the material is mainly presented in the form of a comparison between each breed and the ‘All Breeds’ group. It is assumed that changes and influences will be similar between breeds. As this is the fifth presentation of breed statistics for dogs and more are possible, we believe that this form of comparison is the most appropriate to prevent misinterpretation or over-interpretation of the statistics.

Breed Profiles 2016–2021 are presented in the same format as the previous update 2011–2016. The essential thing is that the material is relatively constant when calculating the occurrence of a disease. The reader will want to know if the disease rate of their own breed is increasing or decreasing over time. Due to continuous changes in the database and insurance conditions, only comparisons between the frequency of the breed and the group ‘All Breeds’ can be made. The relative risk compared to ‘All Breeds’ in the previous updates (1995–2006, 2006–2011, 2011–2016) can be compared to the relative risk in this version (2016–2021). Differences between the breed and ‘All Breeds’ can be caused by changing disease frequency in the breed, in ‘All Breeds’ or both. However, clear changes in the breed's risk are worth noting as the entire data base covers more than 1.58 million Years-at-Risk.

Background and interpretation

The frequency is calculated on dog-years-at-risk (AUR), which refers to the time that each dog was insured during the period 2016–2021. A dog that has been insured for a year generates 1.0 AUR, a dog insured for six months generates 0.5 AUR. Frequencies are given as the number of dogs that registered an event (veterinary care or death) per 10,000 years. A dog that has more than one event within a diagnostic category is counted only once per category, but is counted separately within each new diagnostic category. Categories where fewer than 8 dogs suffered a compensable injury (veterinary care or death) are not reported. A breed can contain several coat type or size variants.

The frequencies used to measure deaths and veterinary care events are Mortality and Morbidity.

Mortality: Number of deaths per 10,000 years.

Morbidity: Number of animals with one or more veterinary care events (VVH) per 10,000 years.

To interpret the horizontal bar graphs 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 where the breed is compared to ‘All Breeds’, the following applies: The further the bar extends to the right, the more common the diagnosis (higher frequency). If the bar for the individual breed is about the same length as the bar for ‘All Breeds’, the condition is as common for that breed as for ‘All Breeds’. For conditions where the breed bar is longer than that of ‘All Breeds’, the breed has an increased risk compared to ‘All Breeds’.

If the bar for the breed is shorter, the breed has a lower chance to hit compared to ‘All Breeds’. Charts 4, 6 and 10 express the relative risk in numbers for the individual breed compared to ‘All Breeds’. Relative Risk, see interpretation in diagram 4.

Note: No assessment of statistical significance has been made, which means that we present the statistics without interpreting why they look the way they do.

Note: There is no upper age limit for how long a dog can be insured for veterinary care, but the number of insured dogs decreases with increasing age. Life insurance automatically expires at a certain age, depending on breed. Limitations in the insurance conditions affect the statistics, for example behavioural problems or preventive measures are not compensated by the insurance and are therefore not shown in the statistics. Veterinary care events (Morbidity) are visits where the cost exceeded the fixed deductible and Agria paid compensation. Deaths (Mortality) generally only include injuries where a veterinarian has stated the cause of death, but in some cases of acute illness or accidents, the dog owner and witnesses have certified in writing that the dog died.

To get an overall picture of the health status of the breed, the reader must take part in the information in the Breed Profiles, but also read about the health problems of the breed published by other sources. It is especially important for breeds with a small number of insured dogs.

News in ABP 2016–2021

Chart 3, general causes

In this version, the way diagnoses are reported differs from the 2011–2016 version, which in many cases results in a larger number of events if you compare the versions with each other.

Version 2011–2016: If a dog is diagnosed with abdominal pain, liver unspecified and vomiting/diarrhoea on different occasions, all are counted in the area "stomach/intestine" and registered as 1 event in diagram 3.

Version 2016–2021: The dog receives the same diagnoses as above on different occasions, but here it counts as three separate events because they are different specific diagnoses even though they are organised within the same general category.

New charts, 5, 7 and 8

Chart 7: The bitches are compared with the ‘Bitches All Breeds’ (approximately half the base)

Chart 8: Males compared to all males ‘All Breeds’ (approximately half the base)

Chart 5: Both sexes compared to both sexes ‘All Breeds’ (unchanged since 2011–2016)

Divided breed profiles

Three breed profiles where variants were previously lumped together are now reported separately: Welsh Corgi Pembroke, Welsh Corgi Cardigan, Chihuahua short and long hair, and German pointer short and rough hair.

Designer breeds

Two common designer breeds have now received their own profiles and are no longer included in the Mixed Breed profile. This applies to the Cockerpoo and Labradoodle.

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The most common diseases and injuries of mixed breeds (and some not-so-common ones)

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