Recognizing and calculating a dog’s age is a particularly important issue for people who would like to adopt a four-legged companion from a shelter. How can you estimate how old a dog is? We explain.
How can you estimate a dog’s age from its teeth?
To estimate the age of a dog we have, for example, adopted, we should pay attention to several factors. One of the easiest methods of assessing a four-legged companion’s age is to check the condition of its teeth. Usually, a dog’s first teeth appear after the third week of life. They emerge in the following order: incisors, molars and canines—they are white and extremely sharp. Around the fourth month of life, permanent premolars appear.
It is worth knowing that puppies have 28 milk teeth, which they lose at around five months of age. After seven months, a dog should already have all 42 permanent teeth. At first they are white, but later tartar appears on them and they begin to wear down. This phenomenon is observed between the ages of 3 and 5. Around the age of 10, the incisors begin to fall out, followed by the premolars and finally the canines. More information on how to recognize a dog’s age from its teeth can be found at: https://blog.piesotto.pl/jak-okreslic-wiek-psa/.
How can you estimate a dog’s age from its coat and behavior?
We can also estimate a dog’s age by assessing its coat, eyes or skin. Over time, a four-legged companion’s eyes become cloudier, white hairs and warts appear. The first gray hairs can most often be observed on the muzzle. They appear there at around five years of age. Between the ages of 8 and 10, a dog’s head may become completely gray. Age can also be estimated by observing a four-legged companion’s behavior. The older the dog, the less energy it will have, the more sleep and rest it will need, and the worse it will respond to external stimuli or perceive other animals.
How do you calculate a dog’s age?
Knowing a dog’s age, we can convert it into dog years. The method according to which one human year equals seven dog years does not always work and is quite inaccurate, because dogs age at different rates depending, among other things, on their breed, weight and size. Three-month-old dogs weighing up to 10 kg are already 3 years and 8 months old in human years. A one-year-old animal is about 15 years old. A three-year-old is 28, a six-year-old 42, and a twelve-year-old 64. For dogs weighing 11–20 kg, these statistics are similar, although at the age of 12 they are 75 in “human” years. Large dogs weighing between 20 and 40 kg are 3 human years old at 3 months, a one-year-old dog is 12 human years old, a three-year-old is 24, a six-year-old 47, and a twelve-year-old as many as 89.