Golden retrievers and boxers had the highest rates of cancer, the leading cause of canine death over all. In several toy breeds — Chihuahua, Pekingese, Pomeranians and toy poodles — cancer was much less common. For them, the leading cause of death was trauma.

Diseases of the nervous system were the most common cause of death in older dogs, while gastrointestinal disease affected dogs of all ages equally. Death from diseases of the musculoskeletal system was common in larger breeds, but the big dogs suffered less from neurological and endocrine ailments.

The authors acknowledge that the study is retrospective and subject to errors of classification of breed and disease. Still, a co-author, Kate E. Creevy, an assistant professor of veterinary internal medicine at the University of Georgia, said that knowing what kinds of diseases a breed is prone to is helpful. “We can use that information to avoid disease rather than treat it.”