A dog is not just a friend of man. Its content is also a great responsibility. Therefore, caring owners sooner or later come up with questions about what human age the pet corresponds to, in what physical condition it is, what factors can affect life expectancy, and how to prolong the life of a pet. In the article, we will consider how to calculate the age of a dog, how many years a pet is considered a puppy and what affects the life expectancy of a pet.
How to determine the age of the dog?
If the owners sheltered the pet from the street or took it from the shelter, it is quite natural that they are wondering how the dogs age is considered and want to know how much the four-legged friend lived. To determine it, first of all, you should study the condition of the dog’s teeth. At 10 years, a lack of part of the teeth and the presence of large areas of tartar are possible. To a greater extent, this depends on the standard of living of the dog, therefore, for a more accurate result, the following factors should be analyzed:
- Eye condition. With age, the protein of the eye becomes cloudy, and vision weakens.
- Appearance of wool. The young dog’s hair is shiny, grows back quickly, skin is taut. In a mature animal, gray hair and sagging skin are observed.
- The condition of the internal organs. It can only be determined using x-rays or ultrasound examinations.
Why know the age of the dog?
To maintain the health of the pet and prolong its life, it is important to know the age of the dog. It is necessary for veterinarians for timely vaccination. A young animal needs to perform the procedure annually, then the frequency decreases, since the immunity is already formed, and the injection can become an unbearable burden on the pet's body.
It is necessary to calculate the age of the dog in order to know when to sterilize the dog. Experts recommend surgery for animals no older than 9 years of age, regardless of whether there is a history of childbirth. Surgical intervention for older dogs in the future may cause neoplasms. Just like early sterilization up to 5 months of age, it seriously harms a fragile body.
For males, a castration procedure is performed. The owners themselves determine when and whether to manipulate. The main thing here is the health of the pet. Sometimes an adult and a healthy dog tolerates surgery better than a young and sick animal. Castration is advisable to do during the maturation of the dog. After seven years, even if the dog is healthy, it is dangerous to do so.
The easiest way
The most affordable way to calculate the age of an animal relative to a person is to equate one canine year with seven human years. This technique was widespread in the middle of the last century with the filing of veterinarians, who proceeded from the average human life expectancy. The age of the dog is considered as follows: 7 years of human are 10 canine. Due to the simplicity of calculations, this method is widespread, however, it does not take into account many social aspects.
A person is almost a quarter or a third of his life under the care of his parents, he studies, learns the rules of behavior in the family and society. The animal does not have such an opportunity. Thus, the puppy's one-year-old age corresponds to fifteen years of age.
In the table you can see the age of the dogs in translation to human.
Lebo Theory
French veterinarian A. Lebo in 1953 put forward a theory after studying the general stages of growth and development of the human body and dogs. It takes into account the active period of growth and development of the puppy. Lebo compared puberty, adulthood, and life expectancy.
According to the theory, the first year of a dog’s life is equivalent to 15 years of a person’s life. Next, you can calculate the age of the dogs as follows:
- a two-year-old animal corresponds to a person at the age of 24 years, therefore, the second year is already equal to 9 human years;
- every next year lived corresponds to four human ones.
It is worth noting that this theory does not take into account the individual characteristics of the development of the dog depending on the size of the breed.
Kleiber's Law
According to Kleiber’s law, the metabolic rate, depending on the weight of the animal, indicates that large animals should live longer. However, an attempt to link the dependence of age and the metabolic law of “three quarters” was a failure. Moreover, in dogs there is an inverse relationship: representatives of small breeds live much longer. In fairness, it is important to note that Kleiber’s law works on other warm-blooded representatives of the animal world from the size of a mouse to an elephant.
The ratio of human and canine age directly depends on the breed of the animal. The age of a dog can be calculated as follows: for a 78-year-old person, there are: 10-year-old dogs of the breed of giants, 12-year-old large-breed representatives, 14-year-old dogs of medium breeds and 15-16-year-old small-breed pets. This phenomenon is observed among mice, horses and even humans, however, in dogs it is most pronounced.
Therefore, the general rule for the animal kingdom that relates life expectancy to the heartbeat of an animal does not apply here. According to him, the heart makes 1 billion contractions in a lifetime. The heart rate of small breeds is higher, while they live longer. So, the weight of a mastiff is 80 kg, which is 40 times the weight of a chihuahua, respectively, according to Klaiber’s law, he must live 2.5 times longer. In reality, it lives 1.5 times less. Most likely, the whole point is that the concentration of IGF secreted over a lifetime inhibits the natural process of cell death, which is lower in small-breed dogs. As a result, their aging is slowed down, and the risks of age-related diseases are reduced.
Determination of age by teeth and body condition
Veterinarians and dog breeders are able to determine the age of the dog by the teeth, its appearance.
The main factors for determining the age of the teeth:
- teeth erupt by 1.5-2 months of age;
- milk teeth begin to change to permanent from 4 months;
- teeth change stops at 8 months of age;
- when the dog reaches two years of age, bone formations begin to grind;
- at 7 years, the effects of grinding can be observed on each tooth;
- at the age of 9-10, the teeth begin to fall out.
The main factors determining age by body condition:
- in an aged animal, the clarity of sight fades;
- young dogs are active, the physique is tightened, the musculature is expressed;
- in dogs at an early age, the coat is shiny, silky and soft to the touch.
If all these factors are taken into account, you can determine the approximate age of the pet without the help of a specialist. For example, a dog at the age of 15 will not run after you and willingly bring a wand, it will not be able to chew on bones and will have vision problems.
At what age is a dog considered a puppy?
There are no clear time lines. They determine at what point in what age the dog is a puppy, and from what age - an adult dog. It all depends on a number of indicators and factors: breed, growing conditions, genetics, food quality, the presence or absence of training. On average, in most animals, the main period of physical development and psycho-emotional formation occurs in the first year of life.
There are several stages of development of dogs:
- Sucking. It lasts from the moment of birth until the mother stops feeding the puppy milk.
- Puppy. This period lasts from about one and a half to six months. Equated to a child of 10 years of age.
- Young growth. At this time, the dog is undergoing hormonal changes, which lasts from six to 12 months. In a year, the age of the dog corresponds to 15 years of the person.
- Ripening. This period of life lasts from one year to three years, the appearance of the dog is formed and the character is manifested. At three years of age, the dog is equal to 28-30 years of human life.
- Further, the dog is considered a sexually mature individual. At 10 years old, the animal can be considered a “novice pensioner”, at 20 years and older - an old man.
How many dogs live
At home, dogs of small breeds live up to 20 years, medium - up to 15 years, large individuals - up to 8-10 years. It is also worth considering the breed and the risk zone, since the dogs that are bred are predisposed to certain pathologies.
Almost 10 years ago, the British Veterinary Academy conducted an interesting study. His results were very impressive and showed that dogs visually (face, body size) resembling wolves live longer than animals bred by selection.
A little less than half of pets die from old age, while only 8% of this indicator reaches the age of fifteen. The cause of death in 64% of dogs are all sorts of diseases or euthanasia. Among the diseases leading to death, cancer occupies the first place, followed by pathologies of the cardiovascular system.