Let’s clarify how to calculate dog years without making mistakes.
Over the years this very curious question has often been discussed: how do you calculate dog years? There have been many responses and studies. Let’s find out here how to calculate a dog’s years exactly, compared to ours.
What are dog years?
As we all know, the life expectancy of dogs is not comparable to those of us humans. Many people want to know how to calculate dog years, just to be able to understand their life conditions. The best known and most popular method to calculate dog years is to multiply their age by 7. For example, if Bobby is currently 5 years old, the actual age compared to our years will be 35 years. Truth or legend?
In fact, what we know is that in order to establish the real age of the dog, the size of our furry friend also plays a significant role. In fact, the maximum size reached by the dog in adulthood already reveal its average and maximum age. Thus, for a large or very large dog, a year will be worth much more than 7 years. In contrast, one year of a small dog´s life corresponds to about 6 “human” years. Small in appearance but tenacious in life, small dogs have a much longer life span than large dogs. A Chihuahua can live as long as 20 years while a Great Dane usually has only 9/10 years of life.
Which method should we use to calculate dog years correctly?
Generally, we can say that a year of our four-legged friends´ life corresponds to 15 years for humans. When it comes to puppies, however, this calculation is less rigorous and more approximate: a three-month-old puppy, for example, could be considered as a three-year-old, always ready to play and prone to long daily naps. A 6-month-old puppy, on the other hand, could already correspond in terms of age to a 10-year-old child, who is much more autonomous, curious and prepared to learn.
When the little one is one year old, its effective age will be 15 years and at age two they will be 24. Once adulthood is reached, it is therefore necessary to add about 4 years to each dog year to establish the actual age. An elderly large dog who is 9 years old can be compared to a grandfather of 70, whereas small dogs can be defined as “old” when they are around 16. Now that you know all about dog years, how old is your dog?