Ask Mike: The scoop on dog years
Hey Guys,
I can never remember how many liters are in a gallon or what 18 degrees Celsius means in Fahrenheit, but there is one conversion I never forget. The number of dog years in a human year.
The answer, of course, is seven, but how did that come to be? Is there a reason why we say a dog ages seven years for every “real” year?
Well, kind of. I covered this topic back in 2004 for Ask Yahoo!. Originally, the idea was to divide the average human life span by the average dog life span. A fine idea, but it’s often not very accurate in practice. First off all, as Snopes explains, most dogs reach adulthood by the time they are 18 months (even though they might not act like adults). Now, 18 months for a dog would be equal to about 10 or 11 years of age for a human. And, we all know a 10-year-old kid is about as far from an adult as you can get.
A conversion site on the Web suggests that a better formula might be to say a dog ages 10.5 years during each of his or her first two years of life. After that, the dog ages about four dog years for every human year. You can also go further by noting the differences between breeds, sizes, and general physical condition of the pooch.
And that’s the scoop on dog years. Got any questions you’d like me to answer in a future blog? Please leave a comment below.
Thanks for reading,
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That’s interesting, but you may as well still call it 7 years. The difference from 7 and 4 is 3, and difference from 7 and 10.5 is 3.5, so its barely a change.
This is further confused by the fact that dogs (like most animals) do not have adolescence (period between childhood and adulthood).
Hey Mike, I was wondering what your thoughts are on the topic of online censorship? For instance, isohunt.com was recently asked by the US government to censor out some searches like “final fantasy x .iso” or “Green Lantern 2003″ and things that allow people to torrent and play games/watch movies without actually paying for them. I’m all for protection, but I’m against censorship, especially online. If the US government is willing to censor this, isn’t that saying that they’re ok with censoring news? Anyways, what are your thoughts on the matter?
My algebra teacher, is a complete nerd. It’s cool though, ‘cuz we talk about things like this all the time. He said that he read, that a dog’s heart beats 7 times faster than a human’s. He said that it was based on the fact that all animals’ hearts beat about the same amount of times, just at different speeds. I’m not sure how accurate that is, but it makes sense.
It is a change, that makes my dog 5 years younger. I wish I was five years younger!
i have heard its now 5 years for every human year
@ Lord of Darkness…..unless your dog died at the age of 5, your math is quite off.
Good questions and thoughts!
I think you answer yourself Mike.
“most dogs reach adulthood by the time they are 18 months (even though they might not act like adults)”
These days many girls are having their period at that age, which for many is a sign of adulthood.
However, they might not act like adults at this age…
Wow! Of all the useful conversions you could remember, you remembered the most pointless of all of them! What you call “human years” are actually solar years, based on how long it takes the earth to complete one orbit around our sun. This number (~365.25 days) applies just as well to dogs as it does to fish as it does to humans.
Hey Mike, do you know how magnets work?
Reply to: Paul Wimsett
I do notice that cats have a period of time where they are larger than kittens, but not fully grown, and can breed (although very dangerous for females). Would this qualify as adolescence?
Pretty good revision on the traditional formula. I’d further revise it by making the first year 14, second year 8, 3rd to 10th year 5, and the remaining years 4. My longest lived dog was a black lab mix that lived to nearly 20 years old! Easily a centenarian for any dog. She would have been 102 years old in human years.
Certainly the 7 dog years to human years ratio is only a rough approximation, and in most cases a highly inaccurate one. It’s not uncommon to hear of many dogs living to age 15 or more. I owned two myself. How many humans do you know of that have made it past 100? Dogs are capable of reproducing at one year of age. How many humans have you heard of reaching sexual maturity at age 7?
Here’s a more realistic longevity ratio of human to canine that I think most vets would concur with:
1 = 15
2 = 25
4 = 30
6 = 40
8 = 50
10 = 60
12 = 65
14 = 70
16 = 80
18 = 90
20 = 95
Did you really have the time to figure all this out?
Huh, whaddaya know. So that means that if a dog lives to be, say, 17 in human years (Although that’s a loooong time), it would be…. Well, old in dog years.
What I want to know in the future Ask Mike’s, if why we have “SysRq”, ‘Scroll Lock”, and “Pause|Break” keys on our keyboards when 98% of compute programs don’t even use them..
To the person claiming “The difference from 7 and 4 is 3, and difference from 7 and 10.5 is 3.5, so its barely a change.”
The change is quite big, actually
1 = 10.5 // 7
2 = 21 // 14
3 = 25 // 21
4 = 29 // 28
5 = 33 // 35
6 = 37 // 42
7 = 41 // 49
You see how it goes? At 7 human years, the age of my present dog is 41. But according to the old formula, she would be 49. That’s a full human year added on because of the ‘approximation’.
As someone who works with animals (specifically dogs) for a living, I’d like to say that while 7 is the “magic number”, the secondary method is the “official” standard used by many (of not most) professions of animal care/service. That is, where the first two years of the dogs life are 10.5 years, and every following year is 5.
How did you get so popular?
every single person i know goes by the theory that 1 human year= 7 dog years
It is not as simple as 7 dog years per human year. Dogs can breed at 1 year old and are fully grown at 2.
So the best rule of thumb is they are 15 at one year old and 25 at 2 years old. every year thereafter can be considered 5 years.
I am good friends with a vet, so the “dog years” thing I am well aware of.
There is no standard “dog years”, because the “dog years” change according to the size and breed of dog. For example, my border collie x pitbull is a large dog, around 8 years old. According to the “7 year” rule, my dog would be 56; however, according to the vet, he is well into his sixties.
The “10.5 for the first two years” would keep my dog closer to his age, which is a better estimate.
However, for small dogs, the years would be fewer as they have a longer life expectancy.
you miss the point 100% its not about when they start dateing or graduate high school,,Its about life and how long they live,,,does anyone care that 18 is an adult,,,answer NO
I don’t like the notion of dogs (or cats) aging faster than we do, I’d rather prefer thinking of them living their lives on a faster pace, or, maybe, in a different time universe. That makes it easier to overcome the losses of loved pets I had, now that I’m 44.
ACTUALLY I heard that they scrapped this idea because people wondered why little dogs could “outlive” people due to this ‘times the age by seven’ rule.
This was the near year span I heard. The first two years is times two, than you add two to every years.
Here’s a table
Human years = doggy years
1 = 7
2 = 14
3 =16
4 =18
5 =20
6 =22
7 =24
8 =26
9 =28
10 =30
11 =32
12 =34
I remember hearing a female comedian who knew for sure God was cruel. Her reasoning, husbands last a lifetime while a dog only lasts 15 years. It wasn’t hateful, just funny.
Do any of you vets know what a Pomerainian/Miniature Pincher mix would be in dog years, if his age in earth years is 8? (In case it matters, I think his Pomerainian genes are more dominant than his Miniature Pincher genes.)
According to the 7 years “rule”, 56.
According to “10.5 for the first two years…”, 51.
According to “15 at 1yr old, & 25 at 2 yrs old…”, 55.
Which is the most accurate for this breed?
YOU AN I r great friends with DVM. an i ‘am also agreeing with you , as i also ask my vet that has been takeing care of all of my animails 4 a great maney years !!! so there ya have it !
you just made my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there are 7 dog years to our 1 year. 3 litters plus make a gallon of water.
“Now, 18 months for a dog would be equal to about 10 or 11 years of age for a human. And, we all know a 10-year-old kid is about as far from an adult as you can get.”
Well, not exactly. Humans say we reach adulthood at 18, but when we’re talking about how old we have to be before we can reproduce, 11 is about right. That’s when I hit puberty, and pretty much every one of my friends hit it at that age, too. So actually, aging seven years for every year is right on the dot for dogs (generally).
But, how do you explain the aging difference between a Toy Breed and a Giant Breed? Both a Chihuahua and a Tibetan Mastiff at age 12 years would calculate to be either (7×12) 84 or (21+10×4) 61, depending on the method used. The Chihuahua is in mid-life but the Mastiff is geriatric. There is no “one size fits all” method for calculating equivalency ages between dogs and humans.
the first year of a dog’s life= four years, the2nd =three years, from that point on it’s seven years!
I remember reading somewhere that when a dog is a year old, that’s equivalent to a human’s seven, and you add five for each consecutive year after that:
1 = 7
2 = 12
3 = 17
4 = 22
5 = 27
6 = 32
7 = 37
…and so on.
Thats a good lesson that i didnt know thanks!
How do I tell what age my dog is?? She has been living with us for about 6 years now, but I’ve known her for over 7 I think. She has white hair on her belly, chin (do dogs even have chins? lol) and paw… And she’s a black dog, normal size for a dog though.
there are 7 years in a dog year simple as that.
I would really like to know your thoughts on time. does it exist? I have heard theories about how time exists and because people tend to work with math equations that never change have this thought process that life never changes and therefore time does not exist. i have also hear about the theory of parmedadies who thought of the idea that motion is impossible because you would have to go through an infinite number of steps in order to get to your possible location and therefore time does not exist. i have heard about how time does not exist because when you snap you hear it before you see it and that is because your brain has to compute the information and therefore time does not exist. The only time i did hear about how time exists is when i was told of a story about how light travels as such a speed per second and seconds is a form a time that we keep for the sun going up and coming down so therefore there must be time. i want to know you’re opinion on weather or not time exists to you.
I just wanted to share this with everybody,I have two daughters and a son and there all fine young adults.we lived in a town in farmington,ct. years ago. my daughters were much younger.we lived in area that had animals comming on are property constinely.one day i was setting on the front steps drinking a coffee and my two daughters were playing in the grass to the right of me and are dog rex a 12 year old golden retreiver was lying in the grass across opposote me,when all of a sudden rex took off like a bullet towards the girls.a big old raccoon had jumped the fence and was almost apon the girls..well well ill tellya i dont know who was making more noise rex or the raccoon..but rex was playing for keeps,he was like a locamotive at full throttle.and he was out for justice on his domaine that he protects.and thats what he did he protected those two little girls.,,,,you never seen a raccoon change direction,jump a fence and wave good by to rex with a big relif….if rex could have jumped that fence he would have too. he sure tried.but he saved the girls from harm. rex was a hero.sadly rex passed away three years later but he lived and he was loved.he was everybodys rex.
Pretty good revision on the traditional formula. I’d further revise it by making the first year 14, second year 8, 3rd to 10th year 5, and the remaining years 4. My longest lived dog was a black lab mix that lived to nearly 20 years old! Easily a centenarian for any dog. She would have been 102 years old in human years.
To me this dose not matter in any respect ,I was taught 7 and that was is and will allways be, good enough for me but Not every one is me..and some enjoy the details and debates.Now a turtle..That to me is interesting..How some live past our life norms and trees!.I honestly do not understand how anyone can study these wonderful life holders and doubt God exsists in the same breath.
So, I was wondering how long it takes one piece of gum to travel through a person’s digestive system? I have heard some say 6 years and other say 6 days. What is the actual average?
I just had this talk with my Veterinarian and she said that since there really isn’t any sure way to know that the majoriety of vets call it 7 years for every year for a dog and 8 years for every year for a cat that is a larger size and 9 years for every cat that is a smaller breed and sometimes they say that the smaller breeds like the miniature breeds of dogs also follow the smaller cat years of 9 years. She said that once they get up in age they are all considered elderly at the age of 7 years in human years but can live with good health and proper nutrition as long as 20 years for some breeds of both. Hope that helps.
I think the best formula would be 11 years for the first two years, and then 7 years for each of the following years. Here is the math behind it- at age 2, the dog would be 22 in dog years (11 x 2= 22) Which would mean after 18 months, the dog would be about 16.5 years old (18 months = 3/4 of 24 months (22 dog years). 1/4 of 22= 5.5 therfore 3/4 of 22= 16.5) 16.5 is much closer to adulthood than 10 or 11. After 2 years, the dog is now 22. Start counting by 7 until the dog’s usual life expectancy which is normally 10. (8 years after the dog is 22) 7×8= 56. 56 + 22= 78. 78 is in the range of the average Western life expectancy which is anywhere from 71-81. At 10 years the dog would be old, as well as 78 in dog years which would sync up with the average western human being.
But I dont get who even cares about dog years?Why should there even be dog years? They age quicker than we do, so what! They reach maturity at 18 months not at between 10 and 11 dog years. Makes no sense to me
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The number of dog years to a human year is 1; it’s only that they live a 7th of our life span that idiots are obsessed with this.
The mayfly lives for only a day, so we may as well say that there’s 80 human years to a mayfly day, which would equate to 29,200 years on a year ratio, give or take a decade or so.
And why are people only focsing on dog years if it’s so important; why not cat years or hamster years….seriously….
Actually, dog years are not equivalent to 7 human years. The first year of a dogs life is 15 human years. Throughout their second year, they grow into mature dogs and by the time they reach 2, they are approx. 24 in human yrs. After that, it is 4 human years per every dog year. To make it easier to understand, a dog hits puberty at 6 – 8 months, and a human at 10-12 years. No child is hitting puberty at 7 years old. and a 14 year old human is not fully mature, as a 2 year old dog is. Also, dogs do have a period when they go through adolescence, unlike what one of the comments said. There is no mammal that I can think of that doesn’t. It starts between 6 to 8 months, and goes until 15-24 months. This is normally the hardest time raising a dog.
Another conversion I’ve heard is first dog year equals 18 human years. After the first year, it’s one dog year for 5 human years. So a 10-year old dog would be like a 63-year old human.
Unfortunately all of the above is incorrect. Since a year = the amount of time required for the Earth to orbit the Sun, one year for a dog is exactly the same as one year for a human. Unless there are some dogs indigenous to the other planets or moons of our solar system of course
Muzz’s scale is similar to one given to my by a friend (who also happens to be a vet). Speaking from experience with my 3 labs (given the general idea that labs mature a bit slower than a lot of breeds) I can see that our 1 yr old lab is very much a “teenager” and our 3 yr old labs seem to be fully mature “adults”. I would say they fully matured somewhere between 2 and 3 years.
All dogs have different dog years. Some breeds live twice as long as other breeds. Dog years are a ridiculous concept, neither scientific nor entertaining.
Reply to: Paul Wimsett : Dogs have a period of “teen years” I.E. Labs at 1-3yrs. considered adults but it’s their teen years in mental “maturity” the step between puppy and adult dog
Definitely interesting. I probably make Cesar Milan itch as I HUMANIZE my “KIDS”.
I have 2 little girls (10 lb) that are 15 months old and I am sure they are going thru their TEENAGER stage.
Although they have tons of toys and activity one has all of a sudden decided to chew my shoes. The other one who used to listen well has decided to look at me with an FU attitude and not listen at all.
Point being BEHAVIOR is an added way to gauge age.
Oh and PS
I think little dogs live longer as they are more spoiled and live primarily indoors. No fact just opinion.
I don’t understand why there even has to be a formula as to figuring out how old a dog really is. The day it’s born to that exact day of the following year is … 1 year. From then on, it continues. It doesn’t make sense (at least to me) that we need to subtract 7 & 4 from 10.5 to really know how old a dog is. I’m just saying.
Ages of dogs from 5-12
a 6 year old=40 in human years
7=44 human years
8=48 human years
9=52 human years
10=56 human years
11=60 years
12 in dog years=64 human years
What I post it is true.Think your dog is old.If it is 20-24
in dog years then thats true.Lets see.
20=94
21=97
22=100
23=103
24=106
Mike is wrong.I know a website that shows ages.
Go to http://www.http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/age.htm
You can find the truth there.A dog will mostly go +9 +4 or +3 or maybe + something else.You will see a dog age and to find its human age add 9 7 4 3 or i dont know.Remember go to the website i told you its http://www.http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/age.htm.Thank you.
When i worked at a vets office we were told that small dogs its 5 years and med 6 and large 7 it goes by that because of the size of the organs and then it makes them age faster the bigger they are from my under standing
hahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahaha my dog is 6 how old is he
really
With the 1:7 formula, a dog who is 20 years old would be the equivalent of 140? I wouldn’t think so; the other formula comes to 93 years, a more likely age. And it’s right, the only thing you need to know is – when can a pet be considered “adult” and when do “old age problems” start to show up? The latter is important to give them the right kind of medical treatment, and there’s also special food for elderly pets. But I don’t see the need for a formula translation to human equivalent age either.
Whatever the math, I know one thing, its not long enough! My beloved Beagle Kodie passed at the age of 14.5 years due to kidney failure three years ago.
I held her in my arms when she was 8 weeks old, and held her in my arms for the last time at the vets 14.5 years later as she passed. No matter were she ended up thats where I want to go when I pass.
I thought dogs only lived like 12 to 13 years on average?
It sounds strange, because average human life expectancy is about 80 years, and this formula would mean the equivalent for dogs would be 61.
I have an 86 year old grandfather and a 12 year old schnauzer. The dog is rather senile, my grandfather is as alert and active as always. My admittedly inexpert opinion is that this formula is off.
There is an age calculator that I found online. I use it sometimes for figure the age for my pets. It’s kind of accurate according to what Mike said. It’s pretty much what my vet said too, that it’s not just 7 years.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/community/content/community/pets/guides/calculator.html
There is one for cats too if anyone is interested. http://www.calculatorcat.com/cats/cat-years.phtml
Hey Mike,
What’s a human year in Galapagos tortoise years? Or whats a Galapagos Tortoise year in human years?
Paul Wimsett, you said that dogs don’t have a period of adolescence, but actually they do. As Mike said, one-year-old dogs are sexually mature, but still act like puppies. These dogs are the equivalent of middle school-aged humans: they still have the mind of children although they now have adult bodies, and they haven’t quite figured out yet what to do with them.
WOW YOU WRTE WAAAAAYYYYY TO MUCH STUFF ON HERE!!!!!!!
Hey, Mike!
I would like to find out about the myth of the ships in the bottles. How do they get them in there? I’ve heard that they fold their sails, but… If that were they case, how do they unfold them? Please, help me!
If dogs lived in a different time universe as one person said, it would never be found out with the science we have, as of know, its all fantasy.
So how old is my dog if she is 15 years old
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this article and the rest of
the site is extremely good.