All your life, you heard the same calculation: one dog year equals seven human years. You multiplied your pet’s age and had your answer.
It turns out that formula was never accurate. In 2020, a team from the University of California, San Diego analyzed the DNA methylation of more than 1,000 dogs of different breeds and sizes, published in the journal Cell Systems, and found a completely different pattern: dogs age very quickly at the beginning of their lives, and then that pace slows over the years.
According to the new chart, a 1-year-old dog is equivalent to 15 human years. At 2 years old, it is already 24. At 5, it only reaches 36. And at 12, it reaches 68. The curve is not a straight line as we believed: it is almost an explosion of early maturity. If you have a dog, this chart will probably rewrite everything you thought about its real age.
