How old is your dog in human years?

Sometimes it is easy to forget how fast Rover is really aging; they live in dog years; and especially when they are springing around without any signs of slowing down.  

Six Life Stages  

Nutrition needs, exercise requirements and preventive veterinary care changes through a dog’s life.

1. Puppy (birth to 6-7 months): Major physical and mental changes.
2. Teen (until 1-2 years of age): Sexually mature but still physically growing.
3. Adult (until middle of life expectancy): Socially mature and finished growing physically
4. Mature / The new 30s (Until three-quarters of the expected lifespan)
5. Senior (the last quarter of expected lifespan): Start to eat less, sleep more and less enthusiastic for exercises
6. Geriatric (Beyond life expectancy) – Physical health can quickly decline; best to have bi-annual health check

Dog Age to Human Years

Converting dog age to human years is valuable because it reminds pet parents the true life stage their dog is in.  It can be easy to forget their real age when they are still bouncing around like a puppy. 

The most well-known is still one dog year equals seven human years.

One popular version assumes a one-year old dog is like a 15-year old human teenager, a two-year old dog is 24 in human yeas and after that, each dog year is approximately 4 to 5 human years.

A more recent version is built by geneticists at the University of California; using a relatively new concept in aging research - the epigenetic clock. All dogs have this clock too. The epigenetic clock tracks aging in dogs just as in humans.

So far, the scientists have focused on Labrador Retrievers. Based on DNA data, they found human and the labs’ life stages seem to match up - our life expectancy works out to be the same as that of the labs. Though you can see from the following table, the DNA clock for dogs ticks way faster initially than the human one and then slows down. If your pup is not a lab, (this writer included), the scientists are working on expanding beyond the labs.

Every dog is unique. You know your dog the best. The knowledge of life stage is a good starting point to refine preventive health care for your furry companion: modify diet, adjust exercise intensity, paying attention to behaviour changes which may be caused by medical concerns common to the life stage.