Dog Health Report Trends from 2010 to 2023

Findings

3,350 Deaths in 2023

Banfield Pet Hospital Yearly Vet Stats logs 78,122 total reports for dogs in 2023, paired with 3,350 deaths. Shepherd Dog-German accounts for 2,996 deaths that year from 4,509 reports, linked to 30.8 kg average weight in the dataset. Crossbred Canine tallies 7,313 deaths from vomiting reactions across years up to 2023. Banfield Pet Hospital — Yearly Vet Stats, 2023 Retriever-Labrador ties to a 4.3% death rate over the period. Golden Retriever registers a 2.3% death rate across 5,536 reports. Maltese matches that 2.3% death rate on 3,251 reports. Breeds details page lists these rates from Embark DNA Trend Analysis.

USDA Rural Surveys Archive captures Pit Bull at 4,469 total reports with rising death rates through 2023. Beagle averages 4.3% death rate on 2,591 reports. Chihuahua data draws from 6,085 cases averaging 5.2 years age. Shih Tzu includes 3,343 digestive issue cases within 5,923 annual reports. USDA — Rural Surveys Archive, 2023 Yorkshire Terrier connects 5,198 instances to drug inefficacy alongside 6,294 reports. Dachshund logs 2,913 lethargy cases in 2023. These death figures stem from 781,226 total entries spanning 2010 to 2023.

78,122 Reports 15% Above 2010

Dog reports climbed 15% to 78,122 in 2023 from 31,364 in 2010 per Banfield Pet Hospital Yearly Vet Stats. Retriever-Labrador reached 15,438 reactions annually by 2023. Crossbred Canine reports expanded to 15,157 per year by 2023. Chihuahua hit 6,728 yearly reactions in 2023 from 6,085 cases. Banfield Pet Hospital — Yearly Vet Stats, 2023 Golden Retriever posted 6,544 reactions in 2023 across 5,536 reports. Shih Tzu recorded 5,923 annual reports in 2023. Yearly data page tracks these totals from 781,226 entries.

Shepherd Dog-German reports stood at 4,509 in 2023 with 30.8 kg average weight. Pit Bull marked 3,453 reactions by 2023 within 4,469 total reports. Yorkshire Terrier achieved 6,294 reports in 2023. Maltese logged 3,343 reactions tied to 3,251 reports. Embark — DNA Trend Analysis, 2023 Beagle counted 2,869 reactions per year by 2023 on 2,591 reports. Dachshund showed 2,913 lethargy cases in 2023 above 2010 trends from 2,803 reports. USDA Rural Surveys Archive supports these year-over-year shifts in mixed-breed data.

15,438 Retriever-Labrador Reactions Lead Species Breakdown

Retriever-Labrador leads with 15,438 reactions annually by 2023 and 4.3% death rate across years in Banfield data. Crossbred Canine follows at 15,157 reports per year by 2023, with 7,313 deaths from vomiting reactions. Chihuahua registers 6,728 yearly reactions in 2023, averaging 5.2 years age over 6,085 cases. Golden Retriever lists 6,544 reactions in 2023 with 2.3% death rate on 5,536 reports. Embark — DNA Trend Analysis, 2023 Shih Tzu totals 5,923 annual reports in 2023, covering 3,343 digestive issues. Common reactions page details these breed-specific counts.

Yorkshire Terrier hits 6,294 reports in 2023, including 5,198 drug inefficacy instances. Shepherd Dog-German reaches 4,509 reports in 2023 at 30.8 kg average weight with 2,996 deaths. Pit Bull notes 3,453 reactions by 2023 across 4,469 total reports. Maltese records 3,343 reactions on 3,251 reports with 2.3% death rate. USDA — Rural Surveys Archive, 2023 Beagle logs 2,869 reactions per year by 2023 averaging 4.3% death rate on 2,591 reports. Dachshund captures 2,913 lethargy cases in 2023 from 2,803 reports. Drug impacts page and research methods explain breed integrations from 1.2M mutts.

Banfield Pet Hospital Yearly Vet Stats reveals dog reports doubling from 31,364 in 2010 to 78,122 in 2023 with 3,350 deaths, driven by Retriever-Labrador at 15,438 reactions and Crossbred Canine at 15,157 reports. Species shifts place Chihuahua at 6,728 reactions and Golden Retriever at 6,544, while Shepherd Dog-German contributes 2,996 deaths at 30.8 kg. These patterns across the full multi-year dataset entries underscore mixed-breed growth in USDA and Embark sources.

Comparative regulatory and registry context

Year-over-year reporting volume reflects channel maturity, owner-awareness cycles, and FDA CVM digital-portal evolution rather than purely underlying clinical-event rates. The reporting framework that produces these counts sits inside a wider regulatory ecosystem: the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA CVM) administers the post-market surveillance program under 21 CFR Part 514 and the Animal Drug Availability Act of 1996, while the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) handles biologics under the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act, and the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs oversees flea-and-tick topicals under FIFRA section 6(a)(2). Each agency operates a parallel adverse-event channel, with cross-jurisdictional referrals occurring when reports straddle drug, biologic, and pesticide categories. FDA CVM — Adverse Drug Experience Reporting Guidance, 2023

Outside the United States, comparable schemes include the European Medicines Agency Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products (EMA CVMP) operating EudraVigilance Veterinary, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) in the United Kingdom administering the Suspected Adverse Reaction Surveillance Scheme (SARSS), Health Canada's Veterinary Drugs Directorate maintaining the Canadian Veterinary Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Programme, and the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) running the Adverse Experience Reporting Programme. Reporting culture, mandatory-vs-voluntary thresholds, and digital infrastructure differ markedly between jurisdictions, which means cross-country count comparisons require careful normalization for population, owner literacy, and channel maturity rather than treating raw counts as directly comparable. methodology page documents how PlainBreed handles these comparability caveats. EMA — EudraVigilance Veterinary Annual Report, 2022

On the registry side, the parent organisations that define breed standards and registration counts — American Kennel Club (AKC, founded 1884), United Kennel Club (UKC), Continental Kennel Club (CKC), Canadian Kennel Club (CKC-Canada), The Kennel Club (UK), Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC), and the umbrella Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) covering 99 member countries — sit in a separate channel from regulatory reporting. Cat-breed equivalents include The International Cat Association (TICA), the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF, UK) and the World Cat Federation (WCF). Cross-walking adverse-event counts to registration counts typically inflates large-cohort breeds (Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Domestic Shorthair) and depresses rare-breed signal because the denominator inflates faster than the numerator. AKC — Breed Statistics Annual Report, 2023

Breed-registry reference notes

Breed-registry context anchors how adverse-event counts should be read against population denominators. The American Kennel Club (AKC, established 1884) organises recognised breeds into seven groups — Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding — plus a Miscellaneous Class for breeds advancing toward full recognition. The Foundation Stock Service (FSS) tracks emerging breeds awaiting full recognition. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) uses a parallel ten-group classification spanning sheepdogs, pinschers, terriers, dachshunds, spitz and primitive types, scenthounds, pointing dogs, retrievers and water dogs, companion and toy dogs, and sighthounds. The United Kennel Club (UKC) and Continental Kennel Club (CKC) maintain their own group structures, often recognising performance-driven varieties and rare breeds outside AKC scope.

For cats, parallel registries include The International Cat Association (TICA) cat-breed registry, the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) in the United Kingdom, and the World Cat Federation (WCF). Each governs championship-eligibility breed standards, written by the parent club, and these standards drive conformation-showing championship points and working-trial titles such as Companion Dog (CD), Companion Dog Excellent (CDX), Utility Dog (UD), Obedience Trial Champion (OTCH), Master Agility Champion (MACH), Master Excellent (MX), and Rally Advanced Excellent (RAE). Sport-titles and conformation championships indirectly affect adverse-event reporting because show breeders typically maintain closer veterinary relationships and report adverse drug experiences at higher rates than pet-home cohorts.

Genetic-disease screening has proliferated alongside registry oversight: DM (degenerative myelopathy) DNA testing, PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) panels, MDR1 multidrug-resistance gene testing for collies and herding-group breeds, hip-dysplasia OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) ratings on a seven-point scale (Excellent / Good / Fair / Borderline / Mild / Moderate / Severe), OFA ED elbow-dysplasia evaluation, OFA cardiac evaluation, BAER (Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response) hearing tests, CERF (Canine Eye Registration Foundation) ophthalmologic exam reporting, and DNA-tested clear / carrier / affected designations. Coefficient of inbreeding (COI, calculated using Wright's formula), effective population size (Ne), founder-effect dynamics, breed bottlenecks, and popular-sire syndrome all shape long-run breed health and influence the kinds of adverse drug experiences a population may exhibit. Read our methodology page for how PlainBreed cites these registry concepts when contextualising reports.

Anatomical and conformation factors also intersect with adverse-event signal: brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) raises anesthetic and respiratory-drug-reaction risk in flat-faced breeds; chondrodysplastic conformation in Dachshunds and Basset Hounds correlates with intervertebral disc disease and gastrointestinal-medication interactions; large-breed gastric dilatation-volvulus risk modulates drug pharmacokinetics. Breed-specific legislation (BSL) in some jurisdictions, parent-club Code of Ethics requirements for screening before breeding, and the kennel-club Stud Book registration architecture all sit upstream of the cohorts that ultimately appear in FDA CVM filings. Together with the parallel cat-fancy registry network, this taxonomy gives the breed-level adverse-event counts on this page meaningful denominator context.