Dog Vs Human Ages
Is your dog a teenager, a young adult, a
senior?
MetPet.com Staff Writer
The common unit of measure to compare dog years to human
years is:
1 human year = 7 dog years
Different breeds of dogs age at vastly different rates so this
rule of thumb only goes so far. Giant dogs like Great Danes and St. Bernards may have a life expectancy of under 10
years. Chihuahuas might still be going strong at 15. You can think of some
dogs as either aging faster or simply not living as long as others. In any case, a
life that is significantly shorter than the average human life is one of the difficulties that dog lovers face.
|
Dog
years
|
Human
equivalent years
|
|
1
2
5
10
15
20
|
21
25
40
60
75
100
|
Alternatively,
since dogs reach maturity in about 1 year, that could be seen as 16 in human
terms. Then add about 7, 5 or 4 years for every year your dog ages
depending on the size of your dog.
Giant breeds examples: Great Danes, Mastiffs
Large breeds: Retrievers, Collies
Small breeds: Chihuahuas, Pomeranians
A 5 year old giant
breed dog would
then be:
(5-1) x 7 +16 = 44 in human terms
A 5 year old large breed dog would then be:
(5-1) x 5 + 16 = 36 in human terms
A 5 year old small breed dog would then be:
(5-1) x 4 + 16 = 32 in human terms
|
|
Human
equivalent years |
|
Dog
years
|
Giant breed
|
Large breed |
Small
breed |
|
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
|
16
23
30
37
44
51
58
65
72
79
86
93
100
|
16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
56
61
66
71
76
81
86
91
96
101
|
16
20
24
28
32
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64
68
72
76
80
84
88
92
96
100
|
Specific breeds such as Border Collies and
Bulldogs can have shorter life expectancies than their size would suggest.
This could be because Border Collies lead hyper active lives and Bulldogs are
essentially dwarfed Mastiffs and share the shorter lives of their ancestors.
Beyond genetics, good nutrition, daily exercise,
medical care, a warm family environment and an interesting life all serve to
increase the lifespan of your dog. Note that the average lifespan of a dog
in the US has doubled in the last several decades. The basic dog hasn't
changed as much but the care of dogs has changed dramatically for the better.
|
