How can I tell how old my dog is?
This is a question that we often get from sitter and owners who work with Rover. Help the community out by answering them in our forum!
3 Answers
There are many factors that come to play when revealing a dog's age, but teeth will show an approximate age in most mammals. There are too many things to go over and list here for what you can look for, so I'm attaching an interesting read. A visit to the vet can aid you in assessing your dog's age as well.
A great way to estimate your dogs age is by their teeth, although this is something typically better performed by a veterinarian. Keep in mind, however, that this is always a guess, and unfortunately there is no way of truly knowing how old your dog is if you don't have records of it's past.
Look at your dog's teeth The best way to guess your dog's age is from the condition of its teeth. Puppies get all their baby teeth in by the time they're about 8 weeks old, and permanent teeth won't start to show up until they're around 3½ months old. All permanent teeth will be in by the time a dog is about 7 months old. These will stay clean and white until the dog's a year old. Up until 3 years old, the teeth will show some dullness and tartar build-up will begin only in the back teeth. From 3 to 5 years of age, all the teeth will show tartar build-up and wear. After your dog is 5 years old, the teeth will look very worn and possibly diseased