Dear T. Abby,

I want to figure out how old my beagle, Snotts, is. Dad said to multiply how old he is by 7. That just doesn't seem right. How do you calculate dog years into human years?
          Thanks, Rex


Dear Rex,
Thanks for your question - it's a common dilemma. Somewhere the classic formula of one dog year equals seven in human years came to be popular. However, it's really a poor estimate on your dog's "human" age. First imagine a 7 year old human. If 1 pet year is supposed to equal 7 human years, then that would mean a 7 year old kid would have already gone through puberty and be at full height already.  And if a typical average sized dog lives about 15 years, that would be equal to the average human living over a hundred years. The 1:7 formula also does not take into account that smaller dogs live longer.

Rather than use 7 as the standard, a more accurate way is to use 4 for small dogs, 5 for medium, and 6 for large. Use 15 years as the starting point for your dog's first year - that is a typical age a child has reached or finished puberty and already had their growth spurts. Then multiply the remaining years by the number best suited to its size (4, 5, or 6).
For example, if Snotty (a medium dog) is 8, then he would be 15 + (7x6) = 57.
     Yours truly, T