Quote:
Originally posted by bwind22
It's more of a rule of thumb than a fact really because in the first year of their life, dogs age more than 7 human years. I think they hit their teens by the end of year 1 and then their aging slows down a bit.
This is my understanding of it...
Year 1 - The dog ages to early teens.
Year 2-??? Dog ages approx 6.5 dog years to every human year.
So when you factor in the first year with the rest of their life, it averages out to probably about 7 dog years per human year, but like I said, it's more of a rule of thumb.
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Here's an answer to the question from Cecil Adams on 'The Straight Dope'
I've seen various formulations for this over the years. One of the simplest and most sensible goes like this: The first year of canine life is equal to 21 years of human life--in other words, the puppy grows to adulthood. Every additional dog year is equivalent to four human years. Thus a 10-year-old mutt is the equivalent of 57 human years old (9 x 4 + 21). Likewise, the Alpo dog is not 98 (14 x 7) but 73 in human terms (13 x 4 + 21).
The formula jibes reasonably well with the known landmarks of canine life. Dogs reach middle age when they're 6 or 7, which works out to 41-45 in HY. Life expectancy for most is 12-15 years (65-77 HY); occasionally one manages to creak along until age 20 (97 HY). That makes a lot more sense than saying a 20-year-old dog is 140, and it sure saves on the candles, too.
--CECIL ADAMS