Surely many of you sometime have you met a little dog on the street. Or, if you collaborate with some animal shelter there is always someone who brings a dog about which everything is unknown. And it is possible that you did not know how old the dog was.
That is why in this post we are going to guide you a little about how to identify the approximate age of dogs, the equivalent of human age. And in addition to what are the needs of the dogs according to their age.
I have found an abandoned dog, how old can it be?
We may have ever met a dog that looked like lost or abandoned. At this time you can contact the police, who will take care of the dog. Or, contact a protector or take him to the nearest veterinary center. The first thing is check if you have ID chip. If they have it, they will contact their owners. But if not, we will start by identifying how old the dog may be.
One of the easiest ways to identify the approximate age of dogs is to look at their teeth..
Age of dogs: dentin the main technique to determine it
First of all, tell you that generally the teeth of dogs is composed of:
- The incisors, are those that are more externally. Its function is to cut.
- The canines, are distributed after the incisors. These are responsible for tearing the food.
- The premolars, are continuous to the canines. They serve to grind.
- The molars, are the ones at the bottom of the mouth. Like premolars, their function is also to grind food.
The deciduous dentin
After commenting on this, we will talk about the Deciduous dentin. Puppies, like humans, have a first dentin, This first dentin is the decidual, which is nothing more than what we popularly know as the "Milk teeth".
It is quite common that during the change of milk teeth, some dogs have some retention of a tooth. The most commonly retained tooth is the canine.
The formula dental decidual of a puppy is 2 (i 3/3, c 1/1, p 3/3) = 28
We explain what this means. To do this, we are going to make an imaginary line of the puppy's truffle downwards, thus dividing the mouth into the right part and the left part. In addition to dividing it also into the upper and lower jaw.
We go by parts:
- In the upper jaw we have: 6 incisors (3 on the left and 3 on the right, starting from the imaginary line that we have made previously), 2 canines (1 left and 1 right), and 6 premolars (3 left and 3 right).
- In the lower jaw for this case we have exactly the same number as in the upper one.
- In total, they have 28 deciduous teeth.
Permanent dentin
The permanent tooth formula of a adult dog es 2 (i 3/3, c 1/1, p 4/4, M 2/3) = 42
Same as in the previous step:
- In the upper jaw we have: 6 incisors (3 on the left and 3 on the right, starting from the imaginary line that we have made previously), 2 canines (1 left and 1 right), 8 premolars (4 left and 4 right), and 4 molars (2 left and 2 right).
- In the lower jaw we have: 6 incisors (3 on the left and 3 on the right, starting from the imaginary line that we have made previously), 2 canines (1 left and 1 right), 8 premolars (4 left and 4 right), and 6 molars (3 right and 3 left).
- In total, they have 42 deciduous teeth.
Determining the age of dogs: Eruption and wear of teeth
We can determine the dog's age if we know when the deciduous and permanent teeth erupt.. In addition to the wear of these.
Fundamentally we will focus on the wear of the incisors. The upper incisors have three lobes in their crown and the lower two. This is known as fleur de lis. In the previous photo you can perfectly see the fleur de lis present in puppies.
Wear always begins with the central lobe. When they are already worn, the incisors on their friction surface undergo an ovalization process, that is, they become rounded.
Then We attach a table that relates age with the state of the teeth.
| State of dentintion | Dog's age |
| Deciduous dentin eruption | 3-6 weeks |
| Eruption of the permanent incisors | 3-5 weeks |
| Eruption of permanent canines | 5-7 months |
| Shaving of permanent teeth | 2-6 years |
| Ovalization | 7-10 years |
| Incisor drop | 10-16 years |
| Canine drop | 16-20 years |
What is the age of dogs in human years?
It has been popularly believed that a dog's year equals seven humans, but nothing to do with what the latest studies say. In terms of development and growth, the first two years of a dog's age represent many more years than in humans. In the table that we have attached below, there is what equates the age of dogs with human age, very roughly. It also takes into account that large dogs age much earlier than small and medium breed dogs.
A roughly it can be said that during the first two years of a dog's life each year is equivalent to twelve human years. After two years of dog life, each year represents four years of human life.
Needs according to the age of the dogs
Once we have seen how to identify the approximate age of dogs, and the equivalence of the age of dogs to human age, We will give you some small tips on how to cover the basic needs according to the age of your dog.
The puppy and growth
Since we decide that a puppy is part of our family we have to take into consideration several things. A puppy needs a feed that is highly caloric, since it has a high activity and is in continuous growth. At this age, when puppies are growing, they have a high demand for calcium and phosphorus.
We must also offer you toys with which they develop their physical capacity and mental agility. One of the toys that I consider the best, on a personal level, are those of the KONG brand (buy here). You can put the special KONG pasta inside (you can buy it here), or the feed or sweets that your dog likes best. It is a very appropriate toy because they develop smell, this keeps them busy and relaxes them, and because they are made of a material that makes them very appropriate for the stage they are in with the change of dentin.
Clarify that it is important to choose the size well so that it is suitable for your puppies and there are no accidents. Even so do not leave them without supervision when they are playing.
They also exist for adult dogs (you can buy it here), even for strong jaws (you can buy it here)
The advice that we give you for this stage is that you buy suitable teethers for your puppies. Another good option that we usually recommend in veterinary centers is that you offer your puppies a frozen carrot, which is previously washed. This relieves pain and inflammation of the gums and is beneficial for the dog.
The best age to spay dogs
Another point to take into consideration is the sterilization of your pet. around 6-7 months in small and medium breeds, and at 9-10 months in large breeds. It is the best time to sterilize them because their hormones are still more regularized, in females we avoid the subsequent development of mammary tumors and pyometra, and in males prostatic tumors. In addition to avoiding litters that we will not take care of later, our furry ones will gain considerably in quality of life.
The adult dog and its maintenance
In the adult stage the dog has very different needs. For example, in the nutritional needs we will be based on the activity that the dog has, since a French bulldog who lives in an apartment is not the same as a Breton who lives in the country.
They need a food that is high in protein but less caloric than that of puppies. There are numerous feeds that include glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, these compounds help improve the quality of the joints. It is especially important in large dogs and breeds with a predisposition to osteoarthritis, such as Labradors.
My dog is getting older, what needs does a senior dog have?
Dogs from 8 years of age decrease their physical activity, and therefore their nutritional needs change. Older dogs may have more sensitive gums than usual, some loose teeth, and others that have already fallen out. For these reasons The food that we offer them has to be easy to chew, as well as being palatable. For this reason, some of the feed in their senior range are croquettes of a smaller size and less compact. On the other hand, it is advisable to give dry food that contains less fat and, also in this way, the accumulation of tartar on the teeth is reduced.
As dogs age, they tend to have nutrient absorption problems, so it is quite common for some specific feed for this age to have a contribution of Vitamin C y Vitamin E higher than for other ages, in this way aging is counteracted.
In addition to taking care of your nutrition, It is recommended that from the age of 8 you do a complete review of their health. It is common that over the years they end up having kidney problems, heart problems, diabetes, endocrine problems, vision and hearing problems. Many of these problems with a good veterinary follow-up and correct medication make the quality of life of our grandmothers maintain quite well.
With these last tips we finish this post. We love being able to guide you, however, remember that your veterinarian is the one who has the history of your furry dogs and who particularly knows the clinical evolution of them. Therefore, it is important that you take it at least once or twice a year to the vet. The veterinary team is the one who can really help your dogs.