Calculate the dog's age 🐶 in human terms
Enter the dog's age into the calculator
If your pet were a person, how old would he be.
Every owner of these wonderful creatures has asked themselves this question. Our pets mature before our eyes, and in the first years of life their development strongly resembles that of human children, but if your Chihuahua or German Shepherd is already 3 or 4 years old. There are more than a dozen methods and practices for calculating the age of a dog, from stereotypical and folk to scientific and modern. Our calculator for converting dog years to human years works on a complex formula that includes a scientific theoretical approach and practical comments from veterinarians.
Methods and formulas for calculating the age of a dog
Folk formula for counting
There is an opinion that each year lived by a dog is equivalent to 7 human years. But even an inattentive owner understands that this formula does not work. A one-year-old Jack Russell Terrier is already ready to have puppies, should we say that our own children at 7 do not yet know where they come from. And a 10-year-old Husky on a walk will tire even the most athletic owner, although according to this formula he is already 70 years old.
Scientific method of tracking dog aging
Dogs, like people, undergo a DNA methylation process with age. In 2019, a group of scientists from the University of California San Diego studied the methylomes of 104 Labrador Retrievers up to 16 years old. Comparing with human methylomes, scientists found a nonlinear dependence that shows that dogs mature much earlier compared to humans, and with age, their aging process slows down. The researchers derived the formula - age = 16 * ln (dog's age) + 31 years. According to this formula, a 3-year-old Caucasian Shepherd would be 49 in human years, and a 20-year-old Corgi would be 79. Our calculator is based on the nonlinear dependence of this study and has adjusted coefficients based on data from pet insurance companies and veterinary clinics.
How insurance companies and veterinarians assess a dog's age
As a basis, the methodology of the American Veterinary Medical Association is often used. An important factor is the size of the dog, as researchers have determined that every 2 kg of weight reduces the life span by about a month. The reason is not yet known, but statistics show a correlation between weight and age.
Main principles in converting the age of your pet to human
- Dogs mature quickly in the first 2 years of life, and with age, the aging process slows down compared to humans.
- The formula to count 1 year of a pet's life as 7 human years doesn't work, the nonlinear dependency works.
- Size affects age, the bigger the dog the faster it ages