Remember, the indicators below can be influenced by many outside effects. RE: diet, genetics, exercise and even neutering. However, this is a fascinating read and, if you are like us, we checked our pup right after writing this article!

Teeth

All dogs like humans start out with what we laughingly call puppy teeth which could be used as hypodermic needles or as replacements set for a piranha. These start to drop out around about 18 weeks though some of the smaller breeds may start a few weeks before this. By six months all the puppy teeth should be replaced by adult teeth, however the dogs will still have a need to chew as the teeth need to set in the gums and this can take up to a year.

Diet

If you feed raw food especially with raw and meaty bones that they can really gnaw on, then this action keeps teeth fairly free of the normal build of plaque, gum infections, and tartar. Avoid the large marrow bones, especially if they have been cut length ways, these can break and damage teeth especially the upper carnassials, the three pointed teeth that can split and get infected.

Hair Skin and Coat

As in humans the hair and skin can give an indication of age. Greying round the muzzle and round the top of the head and the eyebrows can indicate onset of middle to old age, but be aware that some breeds grey far earlier than others. Reddish, yellow, or gold colour dogs often go white at the top of their head and their muzzle in middle age.

Eyes

There is something called lenticular sclerosis that can affect many dogs. It normally starts between six and eight years of age depending on size and breed. This condition is often mistaken for cataracts especially in the later stages. Dogs do get cataracts but sclerosis is far more common and can be an indicator of a dog’s age.

The early onset of this can be distinguished by thin lines across the lens of the eyes, later on say aged eight the pupil will start to get a slight grey, white, or bluish tinge.

General Abilities

Dog jumping. If your rescue dog is slow and sleeps more than he is awake then he is probably in late middle to old age. Arthritis, incontinence and weight gain can also be an indicator of old age.

A bad odour that does not appear to go away even after washing is also an indicator of dogs past their middle age and moving into old age.

The ability to jump into cars, stiffness, and joint pain though not totally the domain of old age can also be an indicator. Hearing can deteriorate in the later years though the dogs sense of smell rarely declines to any serious extent.

Dogs Ages in Human Terms

There are many old wives tales regarding dogs, most are totally incorrect, lets take one in particular. How to calculate a dogs age in human terms. The most common answer you will receive is one dog year for every seven human years.

This calculation is totally incorrect, bears no resemblance to how dogs age and their relative ages to humans. Working the calculations below, the one year old would not be like a sweet 7 year old.

As a general rule of thumb it should be fifteen for the 1st year ten for the 2nd and then four for every year thereafter. This is only an approximation. There is a chart that works on size and breeds that makes it far more accurate.

It has been noted that a dog’s fur may become coarser and drier as he ages. Also, statistically a female dog does tend to live a year or two longer than her male counterpart. Also, tinier dogs can live almost twice the age of their larger brethren!

These are things we have heard about and observed and they all have to do with age and how a dog is being taken care of.

If you would like to read more about dogs and aging please check out Doglistener. There is more insightful information and maybe one day you too will become and expert at telling what ages your friends dogs are!