As dog owners, we’ve always wondered their ages in terms of human years. And we’ve been told to simply take a dog’s age and multiply that by seven. As a rule of thumb, it gets the job done. But it’s inaccurate, especially early on in a dog’s life according to those in the know such as Jesse Grady, a veterinarian at the vet clinic of Mississippi State University.
Studies now show that dogs age much more quickly during their first five years and then slower and slower later on. For example, it never made sense that the equivalent of a 7-year-old human would be able to give birth to puppies.
But there are still exceptions to consider such as breed-specific characteristics (including the size of a dog) and a dog’s general health.
Essentially, a two-year-old dog is between 10 and 20 human years old (10 for smaller dogs, 20 for larger.)
– A six-year-old dog between 35 to 50 human years old.
– An eight-year-old dog between 40 and 65 human years old.
– And a ten-year-old dog somewhere between 50 to 80 human years old.
While still not perfect, this should give you a much better idea of your dog’s age relative to human years.
