Living data · the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study
The Golden Retriever Lifetime Study (Morris Animal Foundation) has followed 3,044 golden retrievers from puppyhood, recording their health every year for life. It is the closest thing dogs have to a lifetime cohort study. Here is what the published data shows so far, cited to each paper.
Around 70% of the deaths recorded so far were cancer-attributed. These are the cancers the cohort has faced.
The most common cancer in the cohort: 233 of 3,044 dogs (7.65% crude; incidence rate 1.10 per 100 dog-years). Because the study is ongoing, lifetime risk is higher than the crude rate: a survival estimate puts cumulative incidence near 16% by age 12. Males had ~1.3x the odds of females; hemangiosarcoma was 120 of the 223 cancer endpoints recorded by 2021.
Interim cumulative primary-cancer endpoints (of 223 total) as of 2021-05-31; 79% subtyped. Study ongoing, so this is a running count, not final incidence. The shared canine-human driver landscape is on the comparative-oncology page.
Interim count as of 2021-05-31 (22 high-grade by 2022). Frequency, clinical features, and survival are characterized in Stratton et al. 2026.
Interim count as of 2021-05-31 (~13 by 2022). The molecular driver landscape of canine vs human osteosarcoma is on the comparative-oncology page.
What the lifetime record shows beyond the tumors.
248 of the 352 deaths recorded by 2021-05-31 were cancer-attributed. The denominator is deaths-to-date; the study is ongoing.
Foundation progress statement (not yet peer-reviewed): mild signs at an average age of 9.7 yr, moderate signs at 11.4 yr. Lower-confidence than the peer-reviewed rows.