Vet explains the equivalent of dog years to human years – and we’ve been doing it all wrong
When we need important life advice (such as figuring out whether we should treat our dog like a naughty teenager or a cranky old man), we go right to the fountain of knowledge itself – TikTok.
We kid.
But in some cases, professionals have found a way to try and educate people through the platform – and veterinarian Dr. Hunter Finn is one of those people.
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The TikTok vet
Dr. Finn is a “Texas-based Integrative Veterinary Expert,” according to his blog. And we checked – he’s legit. In fact, he graduated from Louisiana State and – after his career was paused because of a cancer diagnosis – he began his practice in 2019 and also maintains an interest in human health and fitness.
That means there are lots of shirtless shots of him on Instagram.
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He has 1.6 million followers on TikTok, so we can’t argue with his influence. And one of his most popular clips is an explanation of how to properly figure out your dog’s age in human years.
Dog years
So, it’s important to note that there’s no agreement across the board on this issue because, well, why would there be? There’s really no reason to measure your dog’s age in human years. Not even humans act their own age.
But one this animal experts can agree on is that the old trick of figuring out your dog’s age by counting each year of their life as 7 human years doesn’t really work.
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Over 4.9 million people have now seen the video, so allow us to explain in case you don’t do the whole TikTok thing.
He begins by asking: “Okay, so you know that one saying that one human year equals seven dog years?”
“It’s not true,” he proclaims.
Instead, he says by the time your dog is 1, they’re actually 31 in human years!
Say what?
We feel shook, don’t you? It’s hard to think of our still-year-old puppy as a 31-year-old.
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But the good news is that not every year of a dog’s life equals 31 years – in fact, the numbers get scaled-down in each progressive year. A 2-year-old dog is 49. Life goes by quickly!
And your 7-year-old dog? He or she is 62 in human years! At 8 years, they’re 64.
We have to admit, we kind of hate this math. But Dr. Finn isn’t trying to ruin our day, he’s just trying to get us to understand how best to take care of our pets as they age.
Backing it up
The TikTok vet isn’t just pulling numbers out of thin air for the clicks. There’s some science behind all of this.
Researchers at UC San Diego published a study pointing out just how important is it to realize that by the time your dog is 3 years old, you truly can’t expect them to operate like a puppy anymore. Their bodies are older than you realize.
“I have a six-year-old dog—she still runs with me, but I’m now realizing that she’s not as ‘young’ as I thought she was,” one of the primary researchers pointed out.
Before you get depressed, just realize that all this tells us is that dogs age at a different rate than humans d0 – and to some extent, we always knew that.
But one last thing
Now, if you know anything about dogs, you know that nothing about them is “one size fits all.” A chihuahua can live over a decade longer than a Great Dane. So these numbers are going to be a little different based on breed and size.
You can find various experts with various opinions on the exact numbers, but it’s the lesson that’s important, not the details. Just remember that your dog has different needs as they get older and they age faster than humans – even if they’ll always be your baby.
Be sure to scroll down below to see Dr. Finn tell it his way.
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@dr.hunterfinn♬ Steven Universe – L.Dre
Source: TikTok – Dr. Hunter Finn, Dr. Hunter Finn (blog), UC San Diego, Bored Panda