Happybowwow

How to determine the age of the dog

If a pet has got into a family as an adult or a grown puppy, then most owners are interested in the question of how to determine the age of the dog, and this is absolutely correct. After all, dogs of different ages have their own needs for both nutrition and walking and grooming.

Content

Why know the age of the pet

Why know the age of the dog

There are a number of reasons why owners should know how old the pet is:

  • Firstly, this is necessary in order to instill your four-legged friend in time. Most vaccines are administered by age. A young animal is vaccinated once every 12 months. But when it reaches maturity, vaccination is carried out much less often, since the immune system at this age begins to weaken and the viruses introduced with vaccination can harm the dog's body.
  • Secondly, to determine the period suitable for mating . This is especially important for owners of bitches to calculate the beginning of estrus .
  • Thirdly, to calculate a convenient time for castration or sterilization . Not all people want to deal with offspring, so they resort to the services of veterinarians. But the fact is that too early surgery, as well as in old age, can harm the dog. Most veterinarians recommend carrying out this procedure at the age of 6-7 years, without looking at whether the dog had a birth or not. Many owners castrate or sterilize a pet in order to prolong its life cycle, to help avoid health problems - oncological formations, prostatitis, prolapse of the uterus, genital infections, etc.

In addition, those who volunteer, attach homeless animals, work in shelters and veterinarians, must be able to determine the age of dogs. After giving the four-legged friend to a new family, it is necessary to provide all the available information about him.

There are several options for calculating the age category of dogs.

Basic methods for determining age

It should start with the fact that experts divide dogs into several age groups:

  • puppies - dogs from birth to two months;
  • young individuals - up to one and a half years;
  • adult dogs older than 18 months.

Specialists most often use the method of evaluating a dog’s teeth. This principle is based on the regularity of the appearance of teeth, their abrasion, and then the period of their change and abrasion of the permanent dentition. Like humans, dogs change them once, and if she lived in suitable conditions, had good nutrition and the right bite, then her age can be determined as accurately as possible.

Determining the age of the dog's teeth

How to determine the age of the dog's teeth? The following features are observed:

  • if there are no teeth in the oral cavity at all, then we are talking about a newborn baby who is at most two weeks old;
  • at three weeks, the puppy begins the process of teething;
  • front incisors appear at one month of age;
  • on the 35th day, the molar teeth are cut out in the puppy, while the teeth are molar;
  • in a baby 1-2 months with normal development, the entire dentition is present.

If the puppy has not erupted all its teeth by the age of two months, it means that it has significant health problems and it would not hurt to show it to the veterinarian.

The following age sign in dogs is a change of teeth:

  • In the period from 2 to 4 months, the front incisors of the puppies change, including the hooks. Such an increase in age is determined by the fact that different breeds of teeth change in different ways.
  • In the period from 3 to 5 months, the lateral and secondary teeth are replaced.
  • By six months, the puppies have milk fangs, and the growth of new ones begins.
  • Complete tooth replacement occurs at six, a maximum of eight months.

The final step in calculating puppy age is 12 months. The dog is already formed, has a muscular corset, and often there is a full coat (but not all breeds). Teeth of one-year-old dogs are snow-white, with tubercles (usually a dog bites fleas with them ) and resemble a serrated knife blade.

In the future, it is precisely the tubercles, which have an unusual trident shape, that are the determining link for determining the age of the pet. It is at the level of their abrasion that professional veterinarians and dog handlers look, if necessary, how old the dog is. Their condition is divided into several stages:

  • Two years. At this time, the dog has abrasion of the tubercles on the lower hooks. After this, no special changes occur.
  • Four years. By this period, the tubercles of the hooks on the upper jaw are erased, the enamel coating of the teeth loses its luster and becomes dull.
  • Five years. Complete erasure of the tubercles on all incisors occurs, blunting of the fangs is often observed, the enamel acquires a noticeable yellow hue.
  • Six years. Significant changes are taking place at this time - the incisors change shape (have a concave shape), and determining the correct bite becomes very difficult. Enamel turns yellow even more.
  • Eight to ten years. Abrasion of teeth is pronounced, fangs become dull, teeth, in addition to obvious yellowness, can become covered with plaque. Often there is the formation of tartar.
  • Over ten years old. At this age, the dogs teeth begin to stagger, fall out, caries often develops. This is the most obvious sign of the pet’s advanced age.

Other age methods

If it is not possible to determine the age by the teeth, then you can try to do this by appearance and behavioral characteristics:

  • The young pet has well-developed muscles that can be felt when stroking. In addition, the young animal spends little time sleeping, being more in motion.
  • An old dog has a flabby muscle corset, and obesity is often diagnosed. The dog quickly gets tired on walks, sleeps more. Visible corns appear on the elbows and joints.

Such signs are very similar to human ones, because the old man is much less active than the young.

Determining the age by the state of the coat may not give reliable results, since not only age affects the coat, but also a lot of factors. In addition, in some breeds it is generally absent.

But if there is a comprehensive assessment of the qualities of the dog, then silky coat with shine is a sign of a young animal. And if it is dull, heterogeneous, with gray hair (especially in the muzzle area), then this may indicate that the animal is elderly. But you should also know that gray hair with pigmentation disorders can be in young individuals.

You can try to determine the age of the pet by the eyes. The young dog has clear eyes, most often with a cheerful, mischievous brilliance. The old dog has some kind of hazy eyes, especially the pupils, lacks transparency, the look no longer has enthusiasm and playfulness, funny sparks. Often the eyes become more deeply set, the animal may have a decrease in vision and various eye diseases . But the turbidity of the eyeball can also signal the presence of the disease.

Comparison of the age of a dog and a person

Comparison of the age of a dog and a person

Many owners are interested in information on how to determine the age of a dog by human standards.

Modern experts have found that the old calculation system, where one year of a person is equal to seven years of a dog, is absolutely wrong. After all, the development of dogs proceeds differently in different life periods. For example, only in the first year of life does an animal undergo a lot of changes - from a milk puppy to a mature dog, that is, when compared with a person - from a newborn baby to a 16-year-old. It turns out that the seven-year calculation is not at all suitable for these calculations.

At two years old, the dog corresponds to 25 human years, that is, it is a fully developed, adult animal. That is, in a year a pet overcomes a ten-year human period, it becomes more serious and obedient, its behavior is significantly different from that of a puppy.

After two years, the development of a beloved pet slows down significantly. And from that time on, you can make a classic calculation - 1 year is 7. But in this case, given the individuality of the dog and its belonging to a particular breed, the result will be average.

Everyone knows that small dog dogs do not age as fast as large dogs, and their life cycle is much longer. Their age is calculated on the basis that one year corresponds to five human. Medium-sized dogs live six human years per year, and representatives of large breeds live seven.

Attentive attitude to the beloved dog, good and caring care will help to maintain her health and prolong her youth.

You are the first to learn about new articles about dogs.

Happybowwow recommends:


шесть = 11