What does the age of a dog and a person depend on?

The dog is the first animal to be tamed by humans. These four-legged friends have been accompanying people since ancient times, one might say on their heels. And it is unfortunate that the lives of these faithful pets are much more fleeting than the lives of their owners. Consider what factors determine the age of the dog and the person.

The story of the taming of four-legged friends

The friendship between man and dog began in ancient times. It is still not fully understood who was the first ancestor of a four-legged pet - a wolf or a jackal. Opinions were divided, and it is believed that already then the separation of dogs began according to various external signs and character traits. A tamed wolf was more suitable for hunting, and a more restrained jackal guarded homes. Growing up from a small puppy, the dog became part of the family. And, unfortunately, after many years, it became apparent that the life of a pet is much shorter than a human. For example, a teenager who has a four-legged friend from infancy will not even have time to communicate with him as an adult. A loyal pet will turn out to be a decrepit old man. It is generally accepted that almost always people live 7 times longer than dogs. But this indicator may vary depending on the size of the dog and its weight. Consider the data in the table below.

Dependence of a dog's life expectancy on its body weight

As the main indicator for comparison, the weight of the pet is always used. In this table, the internal cells of the table are the life expectancy of a person. All information is averaged data resulting from years of research.

Table "The ratio of the age of the dog and man"

The table of the age of the dog and the person clearly shows their ratio depending on the weight of the pet. But is this always the main indicator? Let's see what other factors affect the life expectancy of a four-legged friend. And also later in this article we will pay special attention to the importance of the main characteristics of the pet - its breed.

What determines the age of a dog and a person?

Agree that not always the main reason that affects the life span of a pet is its size. Many cases can be noted when small ones, for example, lapdogs did not live up to ten years, and large hunting dogs served faithfully and faithfully for more than fifteen. The following are the main factors that may affect in one way or another the correspondence between the age of the dog and the person:

1. The size. On average, the life expectancy of small dogs can be about 1.5 times higher than large ones.
2. Breed. Mongrels, as a rule, live a little longer.
3. Floor. As in humans, the female half is less susceptible to many diseases and more hardy.
4. Sterilization. This factor can extend the life of the pet for several years.
5. Conditions of detention. No doubt, pets will delight you with their communication for a longer time.
6. Individual characteristics. Despite all the reasons listed above, each dog has its own characteristics, data from birth. After all, even in one litter there can be both strong and weak puppies.

How did different breeds of dogs appear?

In ancient times, domesticated animals were universal: they guarded the dwelling and went hunting. Later, people began to notice differences in the habits, characters and abilities of pets. One dog was an excellent watchman and at the same time could not be distinguished by tracking a wild beast. The other, on the contrary, was eager for battle and successfully fulfilled hunting duties thanks to the impulsiveness of his character. Thus began the division of dogs into main groups of breeds: security, hunting and decorative. Then each of them was gradually sorted into more specific groups, depending on the purpose. For example, hunting groups were grouped by type of activity (burrows, hounds, cops, small animals, large prey, etc.), and decorative animals by external characteristics. A lot of work in this area went to breeders. After all, purebred dogs must strictly meet certain requirements. In this regard, they are more susceptible to various diseases, which means that the age of the dog and person will be treated not as 1 in 7, but in a slightly different way.

The mongrel is not a purebred animal at all.

Do you think your dog is “without clan, without tribe”? But it turns out that all the mutts are heirs, possibly even several breeds. Having absorbed all the best, many of them, like the ancient universal dog, can successfully perform the functions of both a watchdog and an active hunter, if necessary. In addition, these loyal friends are much stronger in health of the pampered thoroughbred brothers. Agree that few people are particularly worried about the need to instill yard dogs from various diseases. Sometimes this is even beneficial, as they develop stronger immunity. So, the probability of getting sick with something decreases, increasing life expectancy. Therefore, with good care and favorable conditions of keeping, the correspondence between the age of the dog and the person will clearly demonstrate that mongrels quite often can be much stronger than thoroughbred pets.