For many years, we have been led to
believe that one dog year is equivalent to seven human years. Although
multiplying a dog's age by seven may work out as a good estimation
for the middle years of its life, it is not accurate enough to represent
a true comparison at either ends of its lifespan.
When we think carefully about it,
a one-year-old dog is obviously at a much more advanced stage in
its life that a seven-year-old child. These questions have since
made veterinarians reassess the situation and come up with a more
realistic conversion. This means allowing fifteen years for the
first year of your dog's life, nine years for the second and then
four years for each consecutive year after that (this conversion
chart can also be used for calculating your cat's age):
Dog Years
|
Human Years |
|
6 months
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years
5 years
6 years
7 years
8 years
9 years
10 years
|
12 years
15 years
24 years
28 years
32 years
36 years
40 years
44 years
48 years
52 years
56 years |
This is still only a rough guide,
as the size of the dog - along with diet, exercise and health -
also plays a large part in the aging process. However, understanding
your dog's age will help you to determine what stage it is at in
its life and enable you to provide the appropriate care.
See also: Best
Dog Breeds for Seniors , How
to Pick a Dog from a Shelter .
Secondly, you might want to check the dog's food. Cheap food with a lot of "meal" (bone meal for example) or corn may not have adequate nutrition for your dog. I feed our dogs Solid Gold and Orijen to our dogs, though foods such as Orijen (with no grains and low carb), Flint River, any premium dog food low on grain fillers and bone meal are also good.
Thirdly, you should take your dog to the vet to make sure the dog doesn't have an underlying problem such as a thyroid problem or mange (there are two kinds of mange) or even dermatitis. Make sure your dog doesn't have fleas; fleas cause scratching and of course the dog will lose fur when it scratches itself.
Lastly, people have a misconception about shaving a dog down. The dog is STILL going to lose the same amount of hair...it will just be shorter! In the long run, it is not a solution. You are just lessening, slightly, the amount of fur in your home. (Some people think cleaning up short hair is worse than cleaning up longer hair - I'd rather Swiffer up longer hair.)
We have supposedly "non shedding" dogs but let me say that even "non shedding" dogs STILL shed. ALL DOGS AND CATS SHED FUR.
Keep on brushing...believe it or not, it helps!
GOOD LUCK!