A new method to determine how old a dog is

To find out how old a dog is, until now almost all of us have used a universal formula that will probably be familiar to you: one year of a dog equals seven of your years. Thus, according to this method of calculation, a 7-year-old dog would be about 70 human years old. And a dog that would have reached the venerable age of 14, twice that, would be... 140 human years! The latter gives us an idea of why some researchers have long considered this method of calculation to be not entirely accurate.

The 1:7 formula is not a very clear reflection of where a dog is at its biological point compared to a human of the same age.

In fact, dogs reach puberty at 6 to 12 months of age, which is 3.5 to 7 years according to human time. Following the above example, we see clearly: a 12-month-old female dog can have offspring, which is obviously impossible for a human of similar age.

In addition, there are significant differences in longevity between the dogs themselves. For example, dwarf dogs tend to live much longer than large dogs.

Clearly, our two species age at very different rates, but a new method for determining a dog's age, developed by researchers at UCLA School of Medicine and published in the journal Cell Systems, focuses more on biological age than chronological age. We're going to tell you what it consists of and why it's the best way to calculate a dog's age in human years.

Calculating years based on a dog's actual aging process

This newly developed formula for determining a dog's age in human years is based on an analysis of the changes that occur in the "methyl" groups of molecules and carbon atoms in dogs and humans.

Thus, it is a matter of examining the changes that occur at the chemical level in the body's cells to determine which genes are turned on or off.

Formula is adaptable to different animal species

In fact, this method serves not only to determine the age of dogs, but can also be easily adapted to different species. The researchers' goal was to create a procedure for measuring the age of animals that would help veterinarians make more accurate estimates than the classic 1:7 rule. The new method will also help us better understand how dogs age and what changes occur in their bodies as they age.

In this way, we will be able to develop more effective treatments for her health problems and, in particular, more effective methods of dealing with aging.

The golden rule for determining how old a dog is as a human: he's one year old, you're thirty (approximately)

Now you're probably wondering: do I have to use complicated mathematical formulas to find out how old my dog is?

The authors of the study tried to make it as accessible as possible. To do that, they've shared a chart where you can see how old your dog is. It's as simple as this.

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Following this method, we verified that the age of the dog at the age of 8 and a half years is about 65 human years.