So, how old is your dog, really?
Most of us grew up with the idea that a dog aged each year by about 7 years. Meaning that if the dog was 3 chronological years, he/she would be about 21 in dog years. However, that is not the accurate way to calculate a dog’s true age. According to veterinary sources, a dog ages as such: the first year is about equivilant to 15 of our years, the 2nd year the dog ages about 9 years, so he would be the equivilant of a 24 year old. From that point on, for each calendar year, the dog would age about 4 years, until the dog was over 14 years old, then their aging process would slow down to about 2 1/2 years for each one of our years. So a 15 year old dog, if it is aged correctly would be about 74.5 years old, rather than the 105 years we would get if using the 7 year rule. The true calculation is much more realistic and one can equate the dog’s theoretical age to what should be happening physically with the dog at that time.
For example, it is not rare to see a dog go grey around their muzzle once they start getting a bit older. This is a sign of a dog’sage, however, don’t automatically assume that the dog is old, because just like people, dogs can get prematurely grey.
However, one thing that physically does occur as dogs age is the cloudiness that dogs develop in their eyes. This is a hardening of the lens protien in the eye, but it is not the cataracts that we associate with old age in humans.
There is no exact lifespan for a dog. However, the rule of thumb seems to be that the larger the dog, the shorter the life span. Large dog breeds have an average life span of 7-12 years, while some of the very small dogs can live to 18-20 years. So much of a dog’s lifespan is also dependent on the dog’s quality of life at the home where they live as well as the preventative care they are given during their life.
Check out how the Japanese treat their elderly dogs in a previous entry.
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