Veterinaria La Hacienda

by State Library and Archives of Florida

Dog Years Human Years

The life expectancy of any dog is commonly expressed in terms of dog years by us and it depends entirely on the dog’s breed, size as well as the dog’s surroundings. Various other factors affect the life expectancy of a dog. A dog’s life span changes according to the diet provided to him and also by the number of medical problems the dog tends to face over the years.

The average life span of the small dog like Chihuahua is about 15 to 16 years, while medium sized the dogs like Border Collies have a life span of 10 to 13 years. It can be noticed big dogs like Great Dean live up to only 7 to 8 years. The calculation of the life expectancy of particular dog can be accurately done with the help of “size or the specific breed calculator”, which is said to be one of the most accurate age measurement schemes available. The size or specific breed calculator gives approximate results about the dog’s predictable lifespan based on the size as well as the breed of the dog.

It is generally assumed that, on an average, “one human year equals to seven dog years”. This statement may not be appropriate, since the first two years are jointly represented by 18-25 years in such schemes and because the entire ratio cannot be generalized for all the dogs though, they belong to different sizes and breeds. An exact ratio of dog years vs. human year cannot be formulated. However, some obvious features remain similar between both aging humans and dogs.

It is generally assumed that the human equivalent of a one-year dog is supposedly fully grown by both mental and physical aspects. Dogs like humans tend to develop advance muscular features as they grow along with a similar mental development. Through a major dog study, it has been estimated for dogs of all breeds and sizes that, nearly “64 percent of dogs” were euthanized because they were affected with some kind of diseases. Only 8 percent of the total dogs live beyond 15 years and nearly 16 percent of them die yearly due heart diseases and cancer. Human lives are not terminated even if they suffer from rare and incurable diseases; and this is the main reason why the lifespan of an average human being is reasonably long.

The effects of aging in dogs is said to be dormant for several years. But like humans, dogs to undergo physical changes as well. The first sign of aging in dogs is said to be the decrease in its activity levels. The sleeping period in these dogs also becomes longer. The canines experience a drastic change in their skin condition, limb usage, appetite and they experience tooth loss as well. Their sense of hearing and vision also diminishes gradually. Older dogs tend to experience stiffness in their body. All these obvious signs of aging can even be found in humans. The human years are extended only because of advance modern medicine and various other drugs that are designed to deal with symptoms of old age.

Dogs and humans may not have the same physiology, yet some obvious similarities can be noticed when both species age. Dog years and Human years may not be directly related by some advance equation, but to the naked eye the equivalence of corresponding features of Dog years and Human years are quite visible.

Tillman the skateboarding bulldog from the iphone commercial. All clips are from January 2007. Tillman was a little over a year old at the time and is a much better skateboarder now. Tillman does not belong to me, to find out more about Tillman contact Mike Maguire sportsagent82@yahoo.com A little history of this first video. I Filmed the video using a just purchased Panasonic Lumix TZ1. I was bicycling through Venice Beach California when I came upon the skateboarding dog. This was probably the only time I used the Lumix’s wide screen movie mode. I suspect one of the biggest reasons my video was selected, second only to the awesome Tillman, was not much user generated 16:9 content was available on youtube.(iphone is 16:9) Originally the first video had the soundtrack “Giving In” by linkin Park. Once the video appeared in iphone commercials I panicked and removed the video from youtube because of the attention and I had no rights to use the song. As time approached for Apple’s release of the iphone with youtube, youtube contacted me and requested I reinstate the video without the soundtrack. Youtube wanted users to be able to view the skateboarding dog in the store and after purchasing their iphone. Unfortunately youtube gave me only a few hours to re-edited video before the iphone release. The original background sound on most of the clips was ruined by hysterical laughter from a woman watching Tillman so I cut and pasted sound in from other parts of the video to cover …
Video Rating: 4 / 5