Maltipoo lifespan: how long they live and what cuts it short

Maltipoo lifespan is usually given as 12–15 years, and some dogs live longer. Nobody has studied maltipoos specifically yet, but both parent breeds are long-lived: poodles in a large UK study had a median lifespan of 14 years.

Below: what the data actually says, what shortens a small dog's life and what each life stage looks like.

Maltipoo lifespan: what the data says

The best numbers we have come from a study by McMillan et al., published in Scientific Reports in 2024. The authors analysed data on 584,734 dogs in the UK. Maltipoos weren't a separate group, but poodles and small dogs were.

A median means half the dogs lived shorter and half lived longer. A maltipoo is a small dog with a long muzzle, and one of its parents is a poodle with a median of 14 years, so 12–15 years sounds reasonable. It's still an estimate, not a measured result.

Does a maltipoo live longer because it's a cross

A popular belief says crossbreeds are healthier than purebred dogs. A large study did not confirm it. The Royal Veterinary College analysed records of 9,402 dogs: cockapoos, labradoodles and cavapoos compared with their parent breeds, including poodles. Across 57 common conditions, 86.6% of comparisons showed no difference. The cross was at higher risk in 7.0% of comparisons and at lower risk in 6.4%.

Maltipoos weren't studied separately, but the conclusion holds: being a cross doesn't protect against the parents' diseases. More on this in are mixed breeds healthier.

What shortens a small dog's life

There's no single trick that adds years. What you can do is reduce the risks that are typical for small dogs:

1. Teeth. In dogs under 6.5 kg, periodontal disease is diagnosed up to 5 times more often than in dogs over 25 kg. It affects 28.9% of toy poodles. Brush your dog's teeth with dog toothpaste, ideally every day.
2. Extra weight. Every extra kilogram on a 4 kg dog is 25% more body weight, and the joints and kneecaps carry all of it. A fluffy coat easily fools the eye, so check the ribs with your hand.
3. Injuries. Jumping off the sofa and bed, falls from a child's arms. Give your dog steps or a ramp, and use a harness instead of a collar to take pressure off the windpipe.
4. Inherited conditions. Portosystemic shunt from the Maltese, PRA from the poodle. Ask about the parents' health tests before you buy. The full list is in maltipoo health problems.
5. Hypoglycaemia in puppies. The smallest puppies have little in reserve, and their blood sugar can drop between meals. A puppy up to 4 months eats 4 times a day.

Maltipoo life stages

Senior dogs are more often fussy about food. What to change for an older dog is covered in caring for a senior dog.

Zuzi is 6

My maltipoo Zuzi is 6, so she's in the second half of the adult stage, about 2 years from the senior threshold. She weighs 4–4.3 kg and isn't spayed, so by the RER formula (70 × body weight in kg^0.75 × 1.3) she needs about 255 kcal a day.

She eats one 180 g jar of ZoozyJars a day plus a few treats, and sometimes a piece of apple or a few blueberries. She has never eaten dry or mass-market dog food. I'm not claiming that will make her live longer; no food can promise that. At this stage the boring things count: stable weight, teeth and a yearly vet check-up. For everything else about the breed, see our maltipoo guide.