People are constantly trying to calculate the age of their pets in order to understand what level of development they correspond to. By habit, a person compares the age of the animal with his age, comparing physical abilities, health and overall well-being. Somehow it turned out that the age of the dog in human years was calculated, multiplying the life span of the dog by 7. Experts argue that this coefficient remains true only for some cases, in other situations the coefficient varies from 4.8 to 14!
Comparison of dog and human age
Dogs develop much faster than humans, but their life span is much shorter. On average, the dog lives 10-12 years, but it is individual and depends on nutrition and exercise. So, the shepherd dog named Blyu lived 29 years and became the official record holder for life expectancy. It is also known that large breeds of dogs age a little faster than small ones due to the heavy load on the bones. Thus, for each dog the age is desirable to be calculated strictly individually, taking into account the breed. In order to understand the correspondence between the age of the dog and the person, it is necessary to understand the stages of the development of the animal. Intensively the dog develops during the first two years of life. So, 1 year of the dog corresponds to fourteen years of human life (coefficient 14), and at 2 years the dog can be compared with a 24-year-old man (coefficient 12). Every year the age coefficient starts to decrease and in the end is only 4.8. At this point, the dog reaches 21 years, which happens very rarely.
More accurately, the human age of the dog can be determined by using the dog's age and human age table, developed by the famous cynologist named Gino Punetti. It provides the coefficients for each year of the life of the pet, and immediately indicates the corresponding age of the person.
Stages of a dog's life
American cynologists made another recount, breaking the entire life period of the animal into several groups:
- Infancy . Lasts up to seven weeks. During this period the puppy opens his eyes and starts to crawl, and on the 20th day he has teeth and tries to chew. From the third to the seventh week the animal learns to communicate with other dogs. During this period he uses facial expressions and sounds, remembers special poses, tries to show aggression.
- Childhood . Lasts 2-8 months. After the formation of the nervous system, the dog begins to become attached to the person. From 7 to 12 weeks, the dog is better acquainted with the place of residence and the new owners. This period coincides with the "period of fear" in the dog, when any shock can affect the nature of the pet. The dog is actively growing, its teeth are changing.
- Maturity . From one year to 10 years. The growth of the dog gradually ceases and the mass is recruited. The animal can be well educated , very active and friendly.
- Old age . From 11 years to the end of life. The dog can detect diseases, it becomes less mobile, prefers a passive rest. At this time, the animal must be patient and try to alleviate the possible diseases.
But what if the age of the pet is not known reliably? How in this case to calculate the approximate age and then make a comparison of the age of the dog and the person? For this it is desirable to use external signs that give information about life expectancy.
Examine the teeth. Remember that the first milk teeth appear on the 20-25th day of life. Milk incisors cut through on the 30-35 day, and molars to the second month. By 10 months the animal loses all temporary dairy, and by the year she has new white sharp teeth with characteristic tubercles on the incisors. After this, it is possible to begin to determine the age by grinding the canines and erasing the tubercles.