How To Tell Your Dog's ''True'' Human Age

PetSmart - PetSmart

If you ask most Pet Parents to tell you their dog's age in human years, most of them would multiply their dog's age by seven. However, the old rule that one dog year is equivalent to seven human years doesn't exactly add up. In fact, the dog-to-human year ratio actually is higher when the dog is younger and decreases as they get older.

Depending on the breed, a dog is generally still considered an adolescent anywhere from 8 months to 2 years. The aging process in human years picks up a bit after that and when he reaches the age of 6 , he has aged as much as a 45-year-old human. At 10, he's like that of a 65-year-old human; at 12, a 75-year-old and at 15 a 90-year-old human.

To determine your dog's "true age" in human terms, count the first full year as 15 human years, the second full year as 10 years and all the following years as 5 years each. In other words, to determine a 5-year-old dog's age, you would add the following: 15+10+5+5+5 = 40 years old.

- Information used in this report was compiled from various veterinary sources by Nick Saint-Erne, DVM, PetSmart

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