How Do You Convert Human Years to Dog Years?
For decades, people have used the phrase “dog years” to compare stages in dogs’ lives to similar stages in human lives — such as whether they’re children, teens, adults, or seniors. There’s a common misconception that one human year is equivalent to about seven dog years, but it’s not all that simple. According to the American Kennel Club (AKC), a 1-year-old medium-sized dog is roughly equivalent to a 15-year-old human. The second year of that dog’s life is around nine human years, and after that, each year is about five years. This varies from dog to dog, though, especially since large dogs tend to age faster than smaller dogs. The AKC estimates that a smaller dog, like a Pomeranian, is around age 56 after 10 years, while a very large dog, like a Great Dane, would be more like 79.