{"id":4212,"date":"2018-12-11T09:55:54","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T15:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.diamondpet.wearewoodruff.xyz\/?p=4212"},"modified":"2025-12-18T09:27:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T15:27:25","slug":"debarking-pet-myths-one-human-year-equals-seven-dog-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/blog\/culture\/myths\/debarking-pet-myths-one-human-year-equals-seven-dog-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Debarking Pet Myths: One \u201cHuman Year\u201d Equals Seven \u201cDog Years\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d a monthly series dedicated to addressing common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs and cats.<\/em><\/p>\n

When asked how old your dog is, do you answer with two numbers \u2014 your dog\u2019s age in \u201chuman years\u201d and in \u201cdog years?\u201d If you do, you\u2019ve got a lot<\/em> of company. Virtually all dog owners know<\/em> that you multiply a dog\u2019s age in calendar years by seven<\/a> to arrive at his or her age in dog years.<\/p>\n

While widely believed, the one-to-seven formula is a myth, one that has been around for a long time. And if you\u2019ve been multiplying your cat\u2019s age in human years by four, that\u2019s not quite right either.<\/p>\n

We now know that simple multipliers don\u2019t accurately compare a dog\u2019s age \u2014 or a cat\u2019s age \u2014 with ours. However, the fact remains that dogs and cats age more rapidly and have shorter life spans than we do. Not only do dogs and cats age differently from people, but they age differently from each other, and this difference is based partly on size and breed. Dogs vary tremendously in size and longevity (think Chihuahua versus Great Dane), while cats are fairly consistent in size and life expectancy.<\/p>\n

Where did this myth originate?<\/h2>\n

No one really knows how or where the myth started, although researchers have been intrigued for centuries by the ratio between human and canine life spans. The earliest known reference dates back to a 1268 inscription<\/a> in the floor of Westminster Abbey, which calculated the date of Judgment Day using the life spans of various creatures, including dogs and people.<\/p>\n

At some point in the 1950s, people noted that an average, medium-sized dog would, on average, live one-seventh as long as its human owner, assuming optimal healthcare. It was at that time that the seven-dog-years-for-every-human-year equation began. The problem, however, is that not all dogs are medium in size.<\/p>\n

A better approach<\/h3>\n

Like people, each dog or cat matures at a different rate, and each has different needs as they age. Rather than trying to equate dog or cat age to human age, veterinary experts recommend using life stages for managing pet health and well-being. That also makes sense when you consider that human health recommendations are based on life (developmental) stage rather than exactly how old you are in years.<\/p>\n

An American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) task force identified five life stages for dogs as part of their guidelines for wellness care. The canine life stages<\/a> include puppy, young adult, mature adult, senior and end of life. These life stages are similar to the feline life stages<\/a> identified by the\u00a0AAHA and American Association of Feline Practitioners (now called the Feline Veterinary Medical Association): kitten, young adult, mature adult, senior and end of life.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that life stages don\u2019t start and stop abruptly. Instead, they gradually phase in and out. In other words, your dogs don\u2019t automatically become \u201cseniors\u201d on their seventh birthday. And if your dogs and cats are aging pets, remember that their age is just a number! Healthy, well-cared-for senior pets can have long life spans. You just may need to make some adjustments, including more frequent veterinary visits, to help keep them comfortable in their geriatric years.<\/p>\n

The next time you take your pets to visit the veterinarian, ask about their life stages and what health concerns and recommendations are associated with them.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d a monthly series dedicated to addressing common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs and cats. When asked how old your dog is, do you answer with two numbers \u2014 your dog\u2019s age in \u201chuman years\u201d and in \u201cdog years?\u201d If you do, you\u2019ve got a lot of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Pet Aging: Does One \"Human Year\" Equal Seven \"Dog Years?\"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Discover the truth behind the \"seven dog years equals one human year\" belief & learn how pets truly age. Explore dog life stages to better manage pet health.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[158,275],"tags":[13,10],"class_list":["post-4212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-myths","tag-culture","tag-dog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}