Dog years? Most of us think of dog years as the equivalent of 7 human years for one dog year. Recently when going to my vet they had a new chart that showed a correlation between a dog's weight and their "age" - meaning the heavier a dog was the older it was.
As far as human years, I took a test online about a month ago that told me I was 3 years younger than my actual age because of my lifestyle. Apparently, being boring is extending my life. However, the site suggested that I could live 2 years longer if I started flossing religiously, and since I plan to live long enough to drive my children and grandchildren crazy, I have started flossing a lot!
Today I received an email from the same website that promised to tell me my dog's real age. Since I have 3 dogs, and only one is a senior, I just tested Murphy, my 11 year old black Lab. The site asked all kinds of lifestyle questions about Murphy, and what he eats, and what his personality and activity level are like.
I was happy to find out that he is 63 years old, which is 7 years younger than his age/breed average. Not too shabby for a dog that would forsake me for anyone with food for him.
Here is the link if you would like to see how old your dog is:
http://www.dogage.com/reg/regassess.aspx?cbr=RA66_RA
The test does take a few minutes so be patient. I am happy to know that Murphy should be with my family for more years than I thought!