Wink is fast approaching his 13th birthday and someone was asking how old that was in human years, since, for a Cavalier, anything over 8 years old is considered impressive.
The old rule of thumb was to simply multiply the dog age by 7 to get the equivalent human age. Not so anymore. They’ve figured out a more precise formula through factoring DNA changes over time. Though the general rule that bigger dogs age faster than smaller dogs still holds true.
An Inside Science article explains, “Scientists concluded that every 4.4 pounds of body mass reduced a dog’s life expectancy by about a month. The reason why is still unknown, though Kraus puts forward several possibilities, including that larger dogs may succumb to age-related illnesses sooner and that the accelerated growth of large dogs may lead to a higher likelihood of abnormal cell growth and death from cancer. Scientists plan future studies to better explain the link between growth and mortality.”
If you’re looking for something more precise, try this Dog Age Calculator, which also factors in the specific breed.
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