

Keep an eye out for warning signs that your senior dog is experiencing health issues related to their age so you can alert your vet during your next visit. Have the vet check their mobility, oral care, and vision in addition to their normal vaccine updates and wellness checks to make sure your pup is aging comfortably. They may be more prone to injury or pain as they age, so go to the vet for more wellness checks or as frequently as medically necessary. Like puppies, senior dogs have more health needs than adult dogs.

Healthy adult dogs may only need their annual wellness checkup and vaccines. Adult dogs, however, do not have to go to the vet as frequently. You will need to go to the vet several times as they grow for wellness checks and vaccine administration. Puppies, or dogs under 1 year of age, will need their vaccines and boosters on a set schedule during their first year of life. Your vet will be able to talk to you more about the stage your specific dog is in as well, as the medical needs of that age. The age at which they reach these stages varies based on breed and weight. Generally, dogs have three “stages” in life: puppyhood, adulthood, and senior years. Having an idea of how old your dog is compared to your own age can help you provide better care for the period of life they’re in. Whether it’s diseases that are more likely to pop up in adult dogs or the simple effects of time on joints and teeth, adult and senior dogs do not have the same needs as each other, much less puppies. This is why serving puppy food to your dog for their first year of life is so important: it keeps them fueled and helps puppies get the nutrients they need to grow.Īs your dog ages, they will experience different health issues related to the stage of life they’re in. For example, puppies are filled with energy, and therefore have different nutritional needs to keep them fueled than older dogs. Your dog will have different health and nutritional needs based on the stage of life they’re currently in. Why Is It Important to Know My Dog’s Age in Human Years? Instead, they have a condensed life span that causes them to age many years compared to 1 “human year.” Since many dogs have the energy of a puppy well into their senior years, it can be rather difficult to guess their age.Įveryone has heard the rule of dog years to human years that tells us that one year of a dog's life is equal to seven years of a human life, but is that accurate? Surprisingly, that figure is widely accepted among pet health experts, but there are variations in how the dog to human age ratio works, and most of them have to do with either the size or the breed of the dog. How old is your dog? Dogs don’t age at the same pace as humans do.
