Just How Old Is Your Dog?

For as long as I can remember, people have been calculating their dog’s age this way- one human year is equal to seven dog years, but it turns out that’s really not true. 

You probably know someone whose dog lived to be 17 or 18 maybe even your own dog did, but think about it- you probably don’t know any 119 year old people.  So researchers at the University of Georgia came up with what they say is a more accurate way to calculate dog years.

Dogs actually age at different rates depending on their size and their aging slows down as they get older.  Wouldn’t it be nice if that were the case with humans?

Here are the rules to come up with a small dog's age:  

1.  The first two years of a small dog's life are each 12 and a half dog years.

2.  After that, dog years are different by breed.  Each year is 4.32 dog years for dachshunds, 4.87 dog years for Chihuahuas, 5.55 dog years for cocker spaniels and 7.65 dog years for French bulldogs. So an 18-year-old dachshund is really 94 in dog years not 119.

 Here are the rules to come up with a medium dog's age:  

1.  The first two years of a medium dog's life are each 10 and a half dog years.

2.  After that, the dog years are different by breed.  Each year is 5.74 dog years for Labrador retrievers, 5.33 dog years for pit bulls and 13.42 years for bulldogs.

And here are the rules to come up with a big dog's age:  

1.  The first two years of a big dog's life are each nine dog years.

2.  After that, each year is 7.84 dog years for German Shepherds and 8.90 years for boxers.  So a two year old dachshund and a three year old German shepherd are both 25 in dog years.

Source: BBC