How to Determine Your Dog's Age and What to Do to Keep Him Young

 Is your “puppy” still a puppy? Use this table to accurately find out how old your dog is, so you can be sure that you’re giving them the right care for their age.

Did you know that dogs age much faster in the first two years of their lives than at any other time? When your dog is one year old they will be about the equivalent of age 14 to 15 in human years. By the time they reach the actual age of two years old they will be about equivalent to 23 to 24 years old in human years. From then on, they will gain about four human years for every actual year they age until they reach five years old. Once they reach the age of five, heavier dogs will begin to age faster than light dogs. Generally, smaller dogs tend to live longer and age slower than large dogs, though there are plenty of exceptions to the rule.

The age breakdown looks like this:

• Real age 1 year–Human age 14-15 years
• Real age 2 years–Human age 23 to 24 years
• Real age 3 years–Human age 27 to 28 years
• Real age 4 years–Human age 31 to 32 years

I know this news is especially shocking for those with larger dogs but if you keep them on a strict, healthy diet with plenty of exercise they will not only look better but they will feel better too! While we can't stop the numbers from going up we can stop our dogs from aging in an unhealthy way!