CORRELATION BETWEEN HUMAN AGE AND DOG AGE

Assoc. Prof. LE VAN THO
Technical supervisor BIO-PHARMACHEMIE

Nowadays, there are more and more people who care a lot about their pet life expectancy. They often consider the real age of dogs equal to human age. However, what is the most accurate way to convert dog age into human age equivalently is still a controversial topic.
Dogs mature faster than humans, passing the juvenile stage to adult in only a few years. Dog life expectancy varies depending on some factors such as environment, breeds, health status, hygiene condition, activities and diet. Some breeds like Spitz and Fox terrier can live up to 18-20 years, while others like Boxer and German Shepherd can only live 12-13 years.

Although small dog breeds tend to live longer than larger dog breeds, they are able to mature faster in their first few years. A large dog can reach maturity slower in the beginning but is considered as middle-aged at 5-6 years old. A small dog cannot be considered as geriatric until it reaches 9 years old.

Nowadays there are many opinions assume that a 1 year old dog is equal with a 7 year old  person, and conversion by multiplying a dog's age to 7 to find the equivalent human age. This calculation does not really correct because the fact is that a 1 year old dog is mature enough to reproduce, while a child is 7 years old still far from reproductive age.
The following table shows the relationship between dogs age and human age can be accepted, by multiplying the dog's age with coefficient (varies by stage) in order to find the equivalent human age (by Gino Pugnetti, 1994).
 

However, the size and magnitude of the dog breeds are different, so people divided into 3 groups of dogs:

Small sized dog (under 9kg)

Medium sized dog (> 9 kg and <20 kg)

Large sized dog (> 20 kg)

Each dog group have different average life span, through which we can refer the graph below (The Blue Ridge Veterinary Services, 2013) to convert the age of dog to human age in each dog group mentioned above.
 

Both of the calculations are only relatively meaning and have a few minor differences between the authors propose the conversion method, but definitely owners will be pleased with the two calculations just mentioned above.
  In summary, to help your pet stay healthy, owner should concern about nutritional problems for poorly, stuned growth dogs or during treatment, dog should eat more preparations BIO-MILK FOR PET to help dog recovered quickly. Fully vaccination, periodic deworming with BIO-RANTEL or BIVERMECTIN 0.1%, protect the coat always be smooth and free from skin diseases caused by external parasites by using BIO-SHAMPOO 1 Care ...  These are the most effective ways to maintain a good health and longevity of your pet.