Think You Know Your Dog's 'Real Age'? Think Again

DETROIT (WWJ) - So how old is your dog in human years? Most veterinarians agree that the old "dog years" method of multiplying each year by seven is not accurate.

WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeil spoke with Dr. Timothy Schacht of the Jefferson Veterinary Center in Detroit.

"I think, historically what they've done is take the life expectancy of humans and divided that by the life expectancy of dogs and come up with a number," said Schacht. "But maturation and development is more pertinent."

According to Schacht, dogs and cats mature much more quickly than people in the first two years of their lives.  He said that if you go by the age-times-7 method it would be impossible for a 1-year-old dog to give birth.

Experts say a better formula would be 12 years for the first year of a dog's life, then adding four each year after that.

Schacht said it also depends on the size of the dog, and he doesn't really see a lot of value in giving a dog a human age.