This article is written for those who love animals and keep them at home. Well, specifically it will be about dogs. Every breeder or just the owner of these lovely creatures thought once: what is the age of my pet in terms of human years? And each at least once wanted to correlate the age of the pet with his own.
Dogs grow and develop much faster than humans and therefore live less. Growth and development depend on many factors, including the breed of the dog. Thus, people who somehow study the topic of the age of dogs by human standards, still have not come to an unambiguous conclusion and a single answer. Therefore, there are a lot of theories that reveal this topic. Below are some of them.
Simplified method
This technique is called simplified. Its essence is to count one dog year for 7 human. This is the easiest way and the oldest. In order to calculate how old the dog is by human standards, it is necessary to multiply its actual age by seven.
Back in the 20th century, veterinarians came to this technique. The fact is that the average duration of human life is 70 years, while the dog's life is on average 10 years. How to calculate the age of a dog by human standards? One canine year of life corresponds to seven human ones.
The minus of the technique is that it does not take into account social issues. Since a person for a rather long period of infancy and childhood depends on his parents, and this is almost a third of his life, and does not have independence, he can not be compared, for example, with a one-year-old dog. The animal can not afford to depend on the elders longer than a small stretch of life, which occupies one tenth of the dog’s entire life. Thus, a puppy of 3-4 months old is quite independent, and a dog at the age of one year old already quite understands what they want from it, and can fulfill its protective functions. Such a dog can be compared with a 15-year-old teenager. So, the simplified technique does not stand up to criticism.
Theory of Le Bo
Back in 1953, the French veterinarian Le Bo conducted research, having studied in detail the stages of development and growth of the body - animal and human. He found out that there are common stages for the studied. Thus, he created his own technique for calculating the age of dogs. In it, he took into account the characteristics of the canine organism. Based on his methodology, it turned out that a one-year-old dog by human standards will be 15 years old, a two-year-old - 24.
The ratio of the age of the dog and the person is as follows: the second year of the pet's life is equivalent to 9 human ones. Each subsequent actual adds 4 human. But do not forget that this technique does not take into account the characteristics of the breed and size. Thus, in a large and small dog, age by human standards can vary, even if the actual one is the same.
Kleiber's Law
The second way to determine a dog’s age by human standards is called Kleiber’s law. Its essence is that the weight and size of the animal affect its lifespan. That is, by linking the life span to the metabolic law of “three quarters,” Kleiber wants to prove that a larger pet lives longer than a small one. In fact, if we take into account the pedigree features, everything turns out to be exactly the opposite. Small dogs live longer than their large brethren.
Despite what has been said above, Kleiber’s law should not be questioned. The fact is that it is valid, but relative to the size of other animals. For example, an elephant lives longer than a mouse. But the thing is that among the warm-blooded animals, the dog takes the place assigned to it, regardless of breed and size. And its lifespan is considered an average for the whole species.
The age of the dog by human standards will vary in individuals depending on the breed. Thus, 78 human years can be equated in giant breeds to 10 years, in large breeds to 12 years, in medium breeds to 14 years, and in small breeds to 15-16. This inverse of the general dependence of the phenomenon within the species manifests itself not only in dogs. This phenomenon can be observed in mice, horses, and even humans. Its peculiarity in dogs is that in them it is observed most vividly.
An approximate calculation table can be seen below.
Dog age
Gerontologists have found out a curious fact: its aging depends on the size of the dog. The eight-year-old toy terrier is different from the eight-year-old Doberman. In order to objectively assess the age of the dog, it is customary to divide the breed into 4 weight categories. The first category includes pets weighing less than 10 kg, that is, small breeds. In the second category - medium, which weigh from 10 to 25 kg, in the third category - large, from 25 to 45 kg, well, they are considered to be giant from 45 kg and above.
Up to three years, inclusive, all dog breeds develop in exactly the same way. Thus, how old is a dog "humanly" if it is three years old? Approximately age is 28 years. After this milestone, dogs of giant breeds grow old, while the pace of their development does not decrease. This phenomenon contradicts Le Bo's theory. In small dog breeds, the aging stage slows down, and the stronger the less the dog weighs. Thus, in small breeds each next year after three is equated to 4, in medium breeds - to 4.5, in large breeds - to 5 years.
Most often, owners are interested in how many years pedigree dogs live. But here a lot depends on the breed itself and its features. For example, dogs have an eternal problem with the cervical vertebrae and stomach. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the diseases of the breed in advance and regularly inspect the pet with a veterinarian.
This rule also has exceptions. For example, the Beagle breed. The average weight of a pet is from 8 kg to 14 kg, therefore this breed belongs to the average. The first year of life of this breed is 20 years by human standards. But otherwise, the above data can be relied on with a clear conscience, as they apply to most known dog breeds.
Dog developmental stages
Pets, like people, go through certain stages of growing up. This is a puppy, teenager, adult and old pet. It is worth paying attention to the fact that by the actual age of 2 years, the dog stops developing and growing. Up to this age, it is worth providing the pet with all the conditions suitable for the full development, both physical and intellectual. This does not mean that a dog older than 2 years cannot be taught anything or instilled in it certain skills, but the older the animal, the more difficult it is to re-educate it. In this, pets are similar to humans. It is at a young age that dogs are usually taught something. Older seniors will only be trained by experienced dog handlers.
Puppy
It is clear that the puppy grows and develops much faster than the child. For example, if we start from the formation of milk teeth, then in a puppy they appear on the 20th day of life, and in a child by six months.
A puppy can eat solid food calmly at the age of 3 or 4 weeks, while a child can only eat at 4 months of age.
Teenager
The ratio of the age of the dog and the person in this case is uneven. If at 10 weeks of age the puppy is already considered a teenager, then the child becomes a teenager by only 12 years old. At the age of 10 months, the dog usually has fully formed permanent teeth. In the case of people, this process ends at 18, or even 25 years.
Adult
Here is a question that interests dog breeders: an adult dog - at what age? It turns out that since 2 years. Compared to our age, this is approximately 20-28 years, depending on the breed. Starting from this age, dogs develop differently. We can say that by the age of five our pet can be compared with a 40-year-old person, it is at this age that the heyday of his strength falls.
Old dog
An elderly dog is considered as early as 8 years old, she is aging. Thus, by human standards, she can be given 55-60 years.
But do not forget that in the world of animals, in the same way as in the world of people, there are long-livers. Among dogs, the age of centenarians is 20 years, which, when compared with humans, corresponds to 90 years. It is a known fact that one dog lived for more than 29 years.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to say: we are responsible for those who have been tamed, which means that, regardless of the breed, age and size of the animal, it is worth taking good care of it and not depriving yourself of attention. Dogs live much less than us, but they love sincerely and dearly, because we are all that they have.
Come again to your pet and pay attention to him, because for happiness he needs so little, and he will answer with love a hundred times stronger.